- The question that predicts the project best is the first one: what do you need to know about my business? A designer who asks about your customers builds for leads. One who asks for your colours builds for looks.
- Ownership isn't automatic. Under Canada's Copyright Act the author owns the work first, and a transfer only counts in writing, signed. Put it in the contract.
- Register the domain in your own name. Whoever holds the registration controls your address, and prying it loose from a designer who stopped answering is miserable.
- Speed is checkable before you hire. Only 48% of mobile sites pass Google's Core Web Vitals (HTTP Archive, 2025), so ask to see the scores of sites they built.
- A ranking guarantee is the loudest red flag there is. Google says plainly that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking.
- Score it simply: one red flag earns a follow-up, three means walk, and a guarantee, a missing contract, or a domain in their name ends it on its own.
Ask questions that make a designer show you their process, not their portfolio. The 18 below are grouped by stage, and each comes with the answer you want to hear and the answer that means walk away.
Any designer can show you nice screenshots. What a portfolio can't show you is whether they asked the owner a single question about customers, whether the site loads on a phone, or who ended up holding the domain. Those are the things that decide whether a website makes you money or quietly costs you.
I build websites for local businesses, so this is the list I'd want a client to bring to me. Where it helps, I've added how RMCM answers. Hold me to the same standard.
What should you ask before they design anything?
Ask about process and proof first. These four questions show whether a designer builds around your customers or around their portfolio, and you can ask all of them before you've spent a dollar. Google's own checklist for hiring search help starts in the same place: ask for examples of prior work and client success stories (Google Search Central, 2026).
01 What do you need to know about my business before you design anything?
This one predicts the whole project. Discovery is where a site gets shaped around how your customers decide. A designer who skips it is guessing with your money.
They ask who your best customers are, what those customers type into Google, which jobs make you the most money, and what a good lead looks like. Then they ask about your competitors.
"Send over your logo, your colours, and a few sites you like." Every question is about looks. None are about leads.
02 Who will actually do the work?
The person who sells you the project isn't always the person who builds it.
Names. You know who designs it, who writes it, who builds it, who answers your emails, and whether any of it gets subcontracted.
"Our team takes care of that." The salesperson vanishes after the deposit and you never find out who touched your site.
How RMCM answers: one person, me, from the first call to launch. No account managers and no handoffs.
03 Can I see live sites you've built for businesses like mine?
A mockup proves someone can make a picture. A live site proves they can ship one.
Three or four live links you can open on your phone during the call, ideally service businesses like yours, plus an owner or two you're allowed to phone.
Only screenshots and concept work, links that no longer load, or "we can't share references for privacy reasons."
04 What happened to those sites' leads or search traffic after launch?
A redesign is supposed to change what the site does, not only how it looks.
Numbers with a source: Search Console clicks, tracked calls, form fills, before and after. Bonus points if they separate what the site did from what the season did.
Awards, adjectives, and "our clients love it." Or a huge percentage with no way for you to check it.
How RMCM answers: in the 29 days after Magic At My Door's rebuild, its non-branded clicks a day rose 143% while searches for its own name stayed flat. That's from Search Console, and the case study shows how it was measured.
What should you ask about price and scope?
Ask for the scope in writing, line by line. Most budget fights come from things nobody wrote down: who writes the copy, how many revisions you get, and what happens when the project stalls. If you want a reference point first, here's what a custom website costs in Toronto.
05 What exactly is included in the price, and what costs extra?
Two quotes for "a website" can describe completely different jobs.
An itemized scope: how many pages, who writes the copy, which forms and features, basic SEO setup, hosting, and what one extra page would cost.
One total, and "it depends" for everything else. You can't compare that quote to anyone else's.
06 How many rounds of revisions do I get?
Revisions are where timelines and invoices quietly grow.
A number, written down, and what happens once that number runs out.
"We'll sort it out as we go." With nothing in writing, every round turns into a negotiation.
How RMCM answers: one round of revisions per deliverable. More rounds are fine, and only get quoted if they change the agreed scope (RMCM terms).
07 What do you need from me, and by when?
Most late websites are waiting on the client. Usually it's the copy and the photos.
A short list with dates: your services, photos, logins, and either your copy or a time to interview you so they can write it.
No list at all. Then the timeline slips, and somehow it's your fault.
08 How long will it take, phase by phase?
A real timeline has phases you can hold someone to.
Dates for discovery, design, build, and launch. A small local site doesn't need a whole season.
"Six to eight weeks, depending." No phases, no discovery step, nothing on a calendar.
How RMCM answers: most builds ship in 5 to 7 days, in that order: discovery, design, build, launch. The speed comes from a tight process. Every step still happens.
09 How do payments work, and what happens if the project stalls?
Payment terms tell you how much of the risk you're carrying.
Payments tied to milestones, like half up front and half at launch, and a written rule for what happens if either side goes quiet.
The full amount up front, or no written agreement at all.
How RMCM answers: half before work starts, half on completion. If a project waits on materials for more than 30 days, it gets rebooked into the next open slot.
WANT A SECOND OPINION BEFORE YOU SIGN?
Get a free RMCM audit. I'll read your current site and tell you straight what a new one would need to do, no pitch, no pressure.
START WITH A FREE AUDITWill the site actually get found and get calls?
Ask how the site will earn traffic and turn it into calls. Search structure, speed, and accessibility all get decided during the build, and each one is harder to fix afterwards than to get right the first time.
10 How will the site help me show up on Google and Maps?
You are listening for a plan in plain English.
A page for each main service, headings written around what customers actually search, LocalBusiness schema (code that tells search engines your name, area, and hours), fast mobile pages, Search Console set up in your name, and details that match your Google Business Profile.
"We guarantee page one." Google says it directly: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google (Google Search Central, 2026). Here are more red flags from SEO pitches.
11 How fast will it load on a phone, and can you show me?
Speed is the one claim you can check during the call. Google's guideline is a Largest Contentful Paint, the time it takes the main content to appear, of 2.5 seconds or less (web.dev, 2025). Fewer than half of mobile sites pass all of Google's Core Web Vitals (HTTP Archive, 2025).
They open PageSpeed Insights, paste in a site they built, and walk you through the mobile result while you watch.
"It's a modern site, speed is fine." Demos only on a desktop. A full-screen video playing in the hero.
How many sites pass Google's Core Web Vitals?
Field data from real Chrome users across millions of sites. Toggle between phones and desktop.
That's the case for asking to see real scores. If roughly half of all mobile sites fail, a designer who hasn't built speed into the process has coin-flip odds of handing you one of them.
12 What's the one thing you want a visitor to do on each page?
A site without a plan for the click is a brochure.
They name the action, call, book, or request a quote, show you where that button sits on a phone screen, and explain how calls and form fills will be tracked.
An answer about animations and fonts. No plan for the button at all.
13 Will the site be accessible?
In Ontario, businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees must make their public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA (Government of Ontario, 2026). Smaller businesses aren't covered by that rule, but their customers still use screen readers and zoom. WebAIM found detectable WCAG failures on 95.9% of the top million home pages (WebAIM, 2026).
They build to WCAG 2.0 AA from the start and can say what that means in practice: readable contrast, alt text on images, labelled form fields, and a site you can use with only a keyboard.
"A plugin handles that after launch." Accessibility gets built in from the first layout. Here's what AODA actually asks of a small business.
The six accessibility failures WebAIM finds most often
Share of the top one million home pages with each failure. Toggle the year to see which ones are getting worse.
Most of those six get decided in the build. Contrast, form labels, empty buttons, and page language come from how the site was designed and coded, which is why you ask before the build starts.
Who will own the site when it's done?
You should, but only if the paperwork says so. Under Canada's Copyright Act, the author of a work is its first owner, and an assignment isn't valid unless it's in writing and signed by the owner (Copyright Act, s. 13). Plenty of owners find this out when they try to leave and the designer won't hand over the files.
14 Who owns the design, code, and content once I've paid?
This is the one that bites people when they try to switch designers.
"You do, once it's paid for." And the contract says so, in writing.
"We license it to you while you're a client." Or an agreement that doesn't mention ownership at all.
How RMCM answers: once it's paid for, the site, the pages, and the content are yours, on your domain under your own accounts, with no licence fees.
15 Whose name is the domain registered in?
The domain is your address. Whoever holds the registration controls it, and the registrant carries sole responsibility for its registration and use (ICANN).
Yours. You own the registrar login, and the designer gets access as a user if they need it.
"We'll register it for you to keep things simple." Simple for them. If they disappear, so does your control of the address.
16 Where will it be hosted, and can I take it with me?
Hosting decides whether you can leave.
Hosting in your account, or a written handover process, built on standard code with no licence fee to keep it running.
A system only they can log in to, or a monthly fee that takes the site offline the day you stop paying.
What happens after launch?
Launch is when you need the designer least and depend on them most. Ask how edits, fixes, and reporting work before you sign, because that's where the stranded-owner stories come from.
17 How do everyday edits get made, and by whom?
Hours change. Prices change. You will want to swap a photo. Find out how that works before launch day.
Either you can change the everyday things yourself and they show you how, or there's a fast, clearly priced way to get them changed. Either way, you know which before you sign.
Nobody can tell you how a price change gets made, who makes it, or what it costs.
18 What support do I get after launch, and what does ongoing help cost?
Something always needs a fix in the first few weeks. The question is who pays for it.
A defined window for fixing anything that's broken, written rates or a plan after that, and Google Analytics and Search Console set up under your own accounts.
Silence after the final invoice, or a monthly fee nobody mentioned until month two.
How do you score the answers?
Count the red flags. One means a follow-up question. Three means walk. And three of them end it on their own: a ranking guarantee, no written contract, and the domain in the designer's name.
Ask every designer the same questions in the same order, and write the answers down. Comparing three people on the same 18 answers tells you far more than comparing three portfolios.
Score the call you just had
Tap every red flag you heard. Starred ones are dealbreakers on their own.
No red flags yet. Check a reference, then compare the scope line by line.
★ Dealbreaker
Here's the whole list on one screen. Screenshot it before the call.
| # | Ask | Walk away if you hear |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What do you need to know about my business? | "Send me your logo and colours" |
| 2 | Who will actually do the work? | "Our team takes care of that" |
| 3 | Can I see live sites like mine? | Screenshots only, no references |
| 4 | What happened to their leads after launch? | Adjectives, no numbers |
| 5 | What's included, and what costs extra? | One total and "it depends" |
| 6 | How many revision rounds? | "We'll sort it out as we go" |
| 7 | What do you need from me, by when? | No list, no dates |
| 8 | How long, phase by phase? | No phases, no discovery |
| 9 | How do payments work? | Everything up front, no contract |
| 10 | How will I show up on Google and Maps? | "We guarantee page one" |
| 11 | How fast on a phone? Show me. | Won't run PageSpeed with you |
| 12 | What should each page get people to do? | Fonts and animations, no button plan |
| 13 | Will it be accessible? | "A plugin handles that" |
| 14 | Who owns it once I've paid? | "We license it to you" |
| 15 | Whose name is on the domain? | "We'll register it for you" |
| 16 | Where is it hosted, and can I leave? | Only they can log in |
| 17 | How do everyday edits get made? | Nobody can say |
| 18 | What support after launch? | Silence after the invoice |
Frequently asked questions
Should I hire a freelancer or an agency to build my website?
How many web designers should I get quotes from?
Is it a red flag if a web designer uses AI or templates?
What should I have ready before I contact a web designer?
So which designer should you hire?
The one whose answers you can check. Live sites you can open, numbers with a source, a scope in writing, a contract that hands you ownership, and a domain in your name. A designer who welcomes all 18 of these questions has usually answered them before.
If you're in the Toronto area and want someone who works this way, here's how hiring RMCM works: one person, a fixed price published on the pricing page, and most sites shipped in 5 to 7 days. The same approach took Magic At My Door's site health from 52 to 90 and E&M Equipment's from 31 to 90. Start with the free audit and you'll hear how I answer these before you commit to anything.
