How to Choose the Right Web Developer for Your Project

Plenty of website problems start before any design work: a vague scope, a domain registered in someone else's name, or old pages that disappear at launch. The checks below catch those problems while switching developers is still cheap.

Look at live sites, on your phone

Portfolio screenshots show how a site looked on its best day. Open the live sites instead, on your phone, and use them as a customer would: find a service, find the phone number, fill in the form. Run one or two through PageSpeed Insights to see how they load.

Check that the sites still belong to working businesses, and ask what the developer built on each one. Each case study in our portfolio links to the client's site while it is live, so you can run the same checks on our work.

Settle who owns what, in writing

Before you pay a deposit, agree on who owns each of these. You should hold the account, and the developer should be added as a user.

• The domain name, registered in your name, with the login stored somewhere you control.
• Hosting, in an account you can open, or a written note of where the site lives and how it moves if you leave.
• The code or the builder account, including the right to hand it to another developer.
• Google Business Profile, Search Console and Analytics, with you as the owner.
• Photos and written content you paid for.

A developer who resists any of this is showing you how a breakup would go.

Ask for a proposal with line items

A one-line quote for "website" can't be compared with anything. Ask for the pages, features and integrations listed separately, each with a price, plus a list of what is excluded. Our website cost guide shows how to read that breakdown, with a worked example.

When one quote is far below the others, check whether it leaves out writing, photos, redirects or launch checks. Compare what each price includes before you compare the totals.

Find out how the old site will be handled

If you already have a website, every URL Google has indexed and every page other sites link to needs a redirect to its new address. Ask to see the list of old URLs and where each one will point before launch day. Our post on the signs a site needs a redesign covers what else a rebuild has to protect.

Match the tool to the job

Some developers build every project on the same platform. A brochure site you want to edit yourself can live on a builder. A site that calculates prices, takes bookings or publishes dozens of service pages is usually better as a custom build. Ask why the developer recommends a platform for your project, and listen for a reason tied to your business.

We offer both: web design for sites that mainly explain what you do and bring in calls, and custom web development when the site has a job to do.

Ask what happens after launch

A site needs small changes for as long as it exists: a new service, staff photos, holiday hours, a form that stops sending after an email change. Ask who makes those changes, how you request them, how they are billed, and how quickly urgent problems get looked at.

Ask what happens if the developer stops working with you, too. A clean handover means you receive the accounts, the code and a short note on how the site is built.

Questions for the first call

• Which of your live sites is closest to what I need, and what did you build on it?
• Who will do the work, and who do I talk to day to day?
• What do you need from me, and by when?
• How many rounds of changes are included at each stage?
• Where will I review the site before it goes live?
• Which accounts will be in my name at the end?

Red flags

• No live work to show, or only mockups.
• A domain or hosting account that will be registered to the developer.
• A price with no list of what it includes.
• Promises of first-page rankings by a date.
• Pressure to sign before you have a written scope.

If you'd like us on your shortlist, send a few details about the project. We're based in Cedar Grove and meet clients in person across North Jersey.