Skip to content
LuroWeb
PL

How to choose a web developer without regrets - 10 questions to ask first

After hundreds of audits I know how badly chosen collaborations end: a site with no access, no backups and no results. Ten questions to ask BEFORE the transfer, not after.

17 August 20268 min readŁukasz Rosikoń

A large share of my work is not building websites but rescuing them after previous developers: a site with no access credentials, a domain registered to an agency that no longer answers the phone, a backup that never existed. This article is the list of things I would check before transferring money if I were ordering a site myself - written by a developer who knows where the small print hides in this industry.

The warning signs

  • A portfolio without addresses - images of sites instead of links to live ones. A screenshot shows neither speed nor whether the site is even alive.
  • "Free SEO included" - SEO is work spread over months, not a checkbox in a bundle. "Free" often means typing in a page title.
  • A subscription where the site is never yours - the "€0 for the site, €70 a month" model usually means that when you cancel, you keep nothing.
  • A quote without questions - if someone names a price without asking what the site is for and where the content will come from, they are pricing a template, not your website.
  • Their own slow website - a company promising fast sites whose own page takes six seconds is testing your attention. You can check in half a minute with a measurement.

The ten questions

  1. Who will the domain be registered to? The only good answer: to you, on your account. A domain held by the developer is a leash.
  2. Will I get full access? Hosting, admin panel, code. "Why would you need that, we handle everything" is an alarm bell.
  3. What exactly does the price include, and what costs extra? Copy? Photos? An English version? Post-launch revisions - how many rounds?
  4. What load times do your portfolio sites have? A concrete number from PageSpeed Insights, mobile - not "everything flies here".
  5. Who writes the content, based on what? A good local-business site needs keyword research, not filler.
  6. What does the handover look like? A list of credentials, source files, plugin licences - in writing.
  7. What about backups and updates? Who makes them, how often, and where do the backups live - away from the server with the site?
  8. What does an hour of changes cost after launch? That number says more about your future costs than the price of the site itself.
  9. What happens if you disappear? Blunt but practical: with what I receive, could another developer pick up the work without rebuilding everything?
  10. Does the contract transfer copyright? Without a transfer (or a broad licence) you may not be legally able to rebuild your own website.

Contract and access

The minimum set the contract should guarantee: the domain in your name, hosting and panel access in your hands, copyright transferred for the design and content, a clear revision scope, and deadlines with consequences both ways. An honest developer is not bothered by these points - they propose them, because they protect both sides. Resistance to any of them is information.

After the launch

A website is not a project that ends - it is a tool that wears down. Plan upfront: who updates it (for WordPress - ongoing care or your own discipline), who measures results (a speed check quarterly, Search Console monthly) and when you will revisit the content. Overall costs are collected in the honest price guide, and the legal requirements in the GDPR checklist.

And a declared interest to finish: I am a developer myself, so this article is also my offer of transparency. You can ask me every one of the ten questions - you will get the answers in writing before you pay a cent.

Read next