The Playbook · HIRING
How to choose a web design company without getting burned
You choose a web design company the same way you choose a contractor: by looking at finished work that is still standing, calling the people who paid for it, and asking who exactly holds the tools. Six checks below, in the order I would run them if I were hiring for my own business. None of them needs a technical bone in your body.
Who actually does the work?
Ask this first, before price. At most agencies the person selling you the site never touches it. The work passes down a chain, account manager to designer to developer to copywriter, and every handoff adds a fee and loses a detail.
The answer you want is a name. One person, or a small team you can meet, who will design it, code it, and pick up the phone in month four when a form breaks. Here that name is mine: the person who built the homepage, playable court and all, is the person who builds yours. If the answer is a process diagram, keep walking.
Is their own work still live and still working?
Open three of their client sites on your phone, on cellular. Time how long each takes before you can read and tap. Then find the phone number. If it takes more than one tap, or the number does not dial, they shipped a site that looks fine and works badly.
The stranger test
Pretend you have never seen the business. In three seconds, can you tell what it does, where, and what to tap next? A designer whose portfolio fails this will fail it on your site too.
What do the numbers look like, in writing?
A real quote has three parts: what is included, what it costs, and when it lands. My own floors are public: Signature builds from $2,500, Flagship builds from $5,000, with the six-question estimate on the start page giving a range before anyone talks.
Be suspicious of a low number with no scope, and of a high number with no timeline. Both mean the surprise comes later, as change orders or as month six with nothing live.
What happens after launch?
A site is a starting line. Hosting, security updates, content changes, a broken plugin at 9pm: someone has to own that. Ask what a month of care costs and what it covers. Mine runs $149 to $749 a month, month to month, and the plans page says exactly what each tier does.
If the answer is a retainer that starts at $150 to $500 a month with the work done three layers below the person you talk to, you are paying for the layers.
Can they show you the SEO, not just say it?
Every quote says SEO now. Ask to see it. On a finished site, right-click and view the source: is there a title that names the service and the town, a description, structured data, a sitemap? Those are the basics, and the basics are what most agencies skip because clients cannot see them.
The question most owners forget
Ask who owns the domain, the hosting account, and the code when you leave. The right answer is you. If it is not written down, assume it is them.
What should you do tonight?
Run the free fifteen-minute audit on your current site, then run it on the portfolio sites of anyone you are considering. The company whose work passes on a stranger's phone is the one to call. If that turns out to be me, the number is below and the person answering is the person who builds it.
Questions owners ask
How much should a small business website cost in Chicagoland?
Custom builds that are designed to bring calls start around $2,500 and go up with scope; e-commerce and multi-location sites cost more. Anything far below that is usually a template with your logo swapped in.
Should I hire an agency or a freelancer for web design?
Hire whoever will personally build and maintain it and can show you live sites that pass the stranger test on a phone. Size matters less than who holds the tools.
What should be in a web design quote?
Scope, price, timeline, what happens after launch, and who owns the domain, hosting, and code. If any of the five is missing, ask before you sign.
Scored three or more leaks on your own site? That is what the free 60-second audit quantifies. Or skip to the fix: (847) 387-0244.
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