— Free checklist

How to Choose a Web Developer (Without Getting Burned)

A buyer’s guide for the non-technical owner about to hire someone to build a website — the questions that separate a careful team from a cheap churn shop, the red flags worth walking away from, and the things that must be in writing before you pay a deposit. Read it before your first call and you will sound like you have done this ten times.

Inside the checklist

Questions to ask before you hire 6
Red flags worth walking away from 7
What belongs in the contract and scope 6
Who owns the site, the code, and the domain 6
Hosting and maintenance after launch 6
How to compare quotes fairly 6
Signs of a senior team versus a churn shop 6

The full checklist

Questions to ask before you hire

Can I see three sites you built that are still live, and can I phone those owners?
Who actually does the work — your team, or a subcontractor I will never meet?
What happens when I need a change six months after launch, and what does that cost?
How do you handle a problem you did not foresee — is that billed extra or absorbed?
What do you need from me, and by when, so the project does not stall waiting on me?
If we stop working together, what exactly do I walk away owning?

Red flags worth walking away from

A quote that arrives in minutes with no questions about your business or your customers.
A price far below every other bid — someone is cutting a corner you cannot see yet.
Pressure to decide today, a “limited spot”, or a discount that expires on the call.
Vague answers about who owns the finished site, the code, or the domain name.
No written scope — just a friendly chat and a number, with the details “to be figured out”.
They cannot show you live work, or every example mysteriously went offline.
They want full payment up front before a single thing is built.

What belongs in the contract and scope

A written list of every page and feature you are paying for, so “done” is not a matter of opinion.
The number of rounds of revisions included, and the rate for anything beyond them.
A payment schedule tied to milestones — a deposit, a midpoint, and a final on delivery.
A launch date, and what happens to the timeline if you or they are late.
Who supplies the content and photos, and what the plan is if that content is late.
A plain statement that you own the finished site, the source files, and the accounts.

Who owns the site, the code, and the domain

The domain name is registered in your name and your company email — not the developer’s account.
You have the login to the domain registrar, not a promise that they “have it handled”.
The contract says the site files and source code are yours once paid in full.
You hold the admin account for the site itself, with the developer as a guest you can remove.
Any third-party accounts — analytics, forms, email — are created under your address, not theirs.
You could hand everything to a different developer tomorrow without asking permission.

Hosting and maintenance after launch

You know where the site is hosted, what it costs, and whose name is on that account.
It is clear who installs updates and security patches, and how often.
You know who to call when the site goes down, and how fast they answer.
Backups happen automatically, and you have seen proof one can be restored.
Maintenance is a plain monthly or yearly figure, not a surprise invoice after a problem.
Leaving your maintenance plan does not take the site down or lock you out.

How to compare quotes fairly

Line up each quote against the same written scope, not against a gut feeling about price.
Add a year of hosting and maintenance to every quote before you compare the totals.
Ask each bidder what is not included — the gaps are where the real cost difference hides.
A higher quote that owns the whole problem can cost less than a cheap one you must rescue.
Count the hours of your own time each option will demand, and price that in.
Treat a quote you do not understand as a warning sign, not a bargain.

Signs of a senior team versus a churn shop

They ask about your customers and your goals before they ever mention a price.
They tell you when something is a bad idea, instead of saying yes to everything.
Their past clients stayed with them for years, not one project and gone.
They explain trade-offs in plain words, without hiding behind jargon.
They put the boring details — ownership, backups, timelines — in writing without being asked.
They are still reachable, and still themselves, the week after you pay the final invoice.

Stuck on anything you found?

If a line on the list is keeping you up at night, that is exactly the kind of thing we fix. Write us two paragraphs and we reply within one business day.

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How to Choose a Web Developer (Without Getting Burned)

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