Your website is often the first handshake a customer gets

For a small business or a local trade, a website is not a vanity project. It is the place where a stranger decides whether to trust you. Someone searching on their phone at nine in the evening, looking for a reliable electrician, a hairdresser who can fit them in on Saturday, or a café open before work, is making a snap judgement. A clear, quick, well-built site earns the call. A clunky one quietly sends that person to the next name on the list, and you never even know it happened.

That makes choosing a web designer a commercial decision as much as a creative one. Here is how to compare your options without getting lost in jargon.

Start with what your business actually needs

Before you look at a single portfolio, write down what the site has to do. Be honest and specific, because this list is what you will measure every designer against.

• Generate phone calls, enquiries or quote requests
• Show off finished work with a gallery or case studies
• Take bookings or appointments online
• Sell products or take deposits
• Answer the basics quickly: opening hours, areas you cover, whether you offer free estimates

Also decide who will update the site day to day. If you want to add photos of a completed job yourself without paying someone each time, you need a site you can edit easily. Say so upfront. A designer who only builds complex bespoke systems may be overkill for a three-page site with a contact form, and a generalist may struggle if you need online booking.

Read portfolios the way a customer would

A portfolio is a sales tool, so look past the pretty pictures and test the work itself.

• Open the sites on your phone. Most local searches happen on mobile. Check that pages load quickly, text is readable without zooming, and the phone number is tappable.
• Use the sites. Submit a contact form or try a booking. Does it work, and does anything break?
• Look for businesses like yours. A designer with several builders, plumbers or salons in their portfolio already understands your customers and the questions they ask.
• Check local awareness. Do the sites mention the towns and areas they serve? Are there map listings and clear location information?
• Check the dates. Recent work tells you far more than a showcase from six years ago.

Questions worth asking before you commit

A good designer will welcome these. If any of them make someone defensive, that is useful information.

• How will people actually find the site, and what will you do to help it appear in local search results?
• What happens after launch? Is there training, support, or a maintenance arrangement?
• Who owns the domain name, the hosting account and the design files?
• What exactly is included in the price — copywriting, photography, image licensing, revisions?
• If I want to move to another designer in two years, how straightforward is that?
• How quickly do you handle updates, and what do they cost?
• Can I speak to two recent clients?

Red flags to walk away from

• No written quote, or pricing that stays vague until you have signed something
• Promises of "page one of search results" — nobody can honestly guarantee that
• Registering your domain name in their own name rather than yours
• No contract and no clear scope of work
• Pressure to sign quickly, or discounts that expire tomorrow
• Portfolio sites that are slow, broken on mobile, or obviously the same template with a different logo

Money, timing and ownership

Expect to pay a deposit, with the balance split across milestones so you are never paying everything upfront. If the designer is VAT registered, ask whether the figures quoted include it — a 20 per cent surprise at invoicing stage stings.

Be realistic about timing, and be aware that most delays come from the client side. A designer cannot build your site until you supply photographs, text and answers. Good ones will chase you, but they cannot invent your story.

Ask for annual running costs in writing: hosting, domain renewal, maintenance and any licence fees. Small monthly sums add up over three years, and you should know them before you start.

Finally, make sure everything is in your name or freely transferable — domain, hosting and site files. A website you cannot take with you is not really yours. Ask the boring questions, check the work on your own phone, and choose someone who talks about your customers rather than just their design awards. That is usually the designer who will still be answering your emails two years from now.