Most Fraser Valley businesses hire a web designer roughly once every five years, which means they hire without knowing what to ask, and end up with a pretty site that’s slow, invisible on Google, and impossible to update. These ten questions fix that. Ask them before you sign anything.
1. “What PageSpeed score will my site hit?”
The right answer is a number, ideally 90–100. If they don’t measure it, they don’t optimize for it, and Google ranks on speed. A vague “it’ll be fast” means it won’t be.
2. “Is it hand-coded, or a page builder?”
Neither is automatically wrong, but page-builder (Elementor/Divi/Wix) sites are usually heavier and slower. If they build on a page builder, ask how they’ll hit the speed number in Q1. (We hand-code precisely to avoid that fight.)
3. “Will it be built to rank, or just to look nice?”
On-page SEO, schema markup, and local keyword structure should be baked in from day one, not sold as a separate project later. A beautiful site nobody finds is an expensive brochure.
4. “Who owns the domain, content, and code?”
The answer must be you, outright. Some designers hold your domain or host you hostage so you can’t leave. Walk from that.
5. “How long until it’s live?”
For a small-business site, weeks not months. Most of ours go live in 7–14 days. Six-month timelines usually mean a stalled “send us your content” loop.
6. “Do you write the content, or do I?”
“Send us your copy” is where projects die. A good designer drafts your pages and you approve, you’re the expert in your trade, they’re the expert in what converts.
7. “What happens after launch?”
Sites need updates, security, and hosting. Ask what care costs and what’s included, so “done” doesn’t mean “abandoned.” (Ours: optional care from $99/mo.)
8. “Can I see sites you built that rank locally?”
Not just pretty screenshots, actual live sites you can Google and find ranking. Portfolio ≠ performance.
9. “Is the price fixed and in writing?”
Open-ended hourly builds balloon. Get a fixed scope and price. And beware the extreme low end, a “$200 website” almost always needs $500 of add-ons to actually function, and still won’t rank.
10. “Do you understand the local market?”
A designer who knows the Fraser Valley, that Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Surrey are separate local search markets, that your customers search “near me” on mobile, will structure your site to win locally. A national template shop won’t.
The quiet 11th question: does the site fit the rest of your marketing?
A website is one piece. The businesses that win connect it to lead capture and follow-up, so a visitor who calls at 9pm gets answered and booked instead of hitting voicemail. If your web designer only thinks about pixels, you’ll still leak leads through a beautiful funnel.
That’s why we build websites as part of one system, web design, SEO, and AI lead capture together. Hiring for a site in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley or Surrey? Book a free consult, bring these ten questions and ask us every one.
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