What platform and design are being proposed?
- Which platform or content management system do you recommend, and why does it fit our needs?
- Which parts are bespoke and which use a theme, template, plugin or third-party service?
- What will our team be able to edit safely?
- How will the design work across mobile, tablet and desktop?
- What would make you recommend a simpler or different approach?
- How dependent will the website be on this supplier or particular licensed components?
A familiar platform is not automatically the best or worst choice. Ask how it supports your content, editing, functionality, integrations and operating budget. The comparison between WordPress and bespoke websites explains common trade-offs.
Who is responsible for content and quality?
| Area | Questions to settle |
|---|---|
| Content | Who researches, writes, supplies, enters and approves copy, images, downloads and legal information? |
| Accessibility | Which standard or practical checks are in scope, and who fixes issues found? |
| SEO foundations | Who handles titles, descriptions, headings, canonicals, structured data, sitemap, redirects and index controls? |
| Performance | What will be measured, on which devices and connections, and how will third-party tools affect it? |
| Analytics | What is measured, who owns the account and how are consent choices respected? |
| Compliance | Who implements supplied privacy, cookie, company and sector-specific requirements, and who gives legal advice? |
A developer can implement appropriate controls and presentation, but your business must provide accurate claims, company details and information about how it operates.
What will you own and control?
- Who registers and controls the domain and DNS?
- Whose account holds the hosting, analytics, tag manager and email services?
- Who owns the design, custom code, written content and commissioned images?
- Can you export content and customer data in a useful format?
- Which licences stop or transfer if you change supplier?
- Will you receive administrator access and appropriate technical documentation?
Supplier-managed accounts can be convenient, but access, ownership and exit arrangements should be written down. Do not wait for a dispute or urgent migration to find out.
How will migration, redirects and testing work?
- Which existing pages, files, forms and data will be migrated?
- How will valuable URLs be retained or redirected?
- What happens to email, DNS and external services during launch?
- Which browsers, devices, forms, payments and integrations will be tested?
- Who completes content review and user acceptance testing?
- Is there a backup and rollback plan?
- Who checks analytics, indexing and errors after launch?
If the current site is being replaced, first establish whether you need a redesign or full rebuild. That decision changes the migration scope.
What happens after launch?
- What warranty or defect period is included?
- Where is the site hosted and what does that service cover?
- What proactive maintenance is performed?
- How is support requested, prioritised and charged?
- Which domains, licences, plugins and external services renew?
- How are future improvements scoped and released?
- How can the website move to another capable provider?
Read hosting versus maintenance and the guide to ongoing digital project costs before comparing proposals.
Choosing a website developer FAQs
Should a developer guarantee a Google ranking?
No supplier controls organic rankings. They can build sound technical foundations, preserve useful URLs, make content accessible to search engines and explain the work completed.
Should I provide all content before development?
Not always, but content structure and responsibility should be agreed early. Designing with representative real content avoids layouts that only work with idealised sample copy.
Where can I ask Probeck these questions?
Use the same checklist when discussing Website Design & Development with Probeck.