What to Do Before You Hire a Web Designer
Do This First. It Takes 20 Minutes.
Slick sales talk, pretty mockups, big promises. Then six months later you're stuck with a slow site that doesn't rank, doesn't convert, and can't be fixed without starting over. You can avoid most of that with a few minutes of basic due diligence.
A Simple Due Diligence Checklist
Here's what you should do before you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars with anyone.
Scan Their Website
Before you trust someone to build your site, run their own site through our scanner. It takes about 90 seconds and tells you everything you need to know.
If their site is slow, broken, or structurally weak — that is not bad luck. That is their standard. If they cannot build a solid site for themselves, they will not do it for you.
Free Website Scanner
Enter any URL below to run a full technical analysis. Takes about 90 seconds.
Ask for Three Real References
Not testimonials. Not screenshots. Not "we worked with a lot of great clients." Ask for three real references — actual people or businesses they've done work for, with live and operational websites right now.
If someone has been doing this professionally, there is no reason they shouldn't be able to provide this.
Scan Those Sites Too
Take the same scanner and run it on the three sites they reference. Again, this takes about 90 seconds per site.
You're looking for consistency. Structure. Performance. Not perfection — competence. If all three sites show the same problems, that's a pattern, not a coincidence.
Make Three Phone Calls
Call the references. Ask simple questions: Did the site actually perform once it launched? Was the work finished properly? Would you hire them again?
That's it. Three short phone calls can save you months of frustration and a lot of money.
One Last Thing
🚩 If They Can't Provide Three References, Walk Away
If for any reason they try to explain why they can't share three client references, stop right there. Here's what you'll hear:
"Everything we do is proprietary."
"Our clients don't want to be contacted."
That's bullshit. Full stop.
They're not working for SpaceX. They're not building internal systems for Walmart. If they're trying to sell you a $2,000 or $5,000 website, their clients are plumbers, electricians, contractors, small businesses — real people with real websites. There is no NDA problem here.
If someone cannot produce three real people they've worked with, it's not because they're protecting clients. It's because they don't have three people they've made happy.
It really is that simple.
Protect Your Investment
A website isn't a logo or a business card. It's infrastructure. It affects how you're found, how you're perceived, and whether people trust you enough to convert.
- Scan the site
- Check the work
- Call real people