How do you choose a web designer? Ask who will own your domain name, your website and its content, and make sure you get every login. Ask what happens if the designer disappears, what updates cost, and what the quote leaves out. Then look at sites they have built and speak to someone they built one for. Get the answers in writing before you pay.
I'm a web designer in Huddersfield, so I'm not neutral. Anything legal below has a source at the end, and none of it is legal advice.
Who owns the domain name?
Your domain name is your web address, like yourbusiness.co.uk. Check who is recorded as the registrant, meaning the person or business it is registered for. That should be you or your company.
A designer may register the domain for you, which is convenient. The risk comes when it's registered in the designer's name, or only sits in their account. Then moving it later depends on them answering your emails.
What counts is whose name is on the registration and who controls the registrar account. For .com and other generic domains, ICANN's transfer policy says registrants must be able to move between registrars, though a registrar can refuse in some circumstances. Whichever you have, ask how you would move the domain if you fell out with the designer.
A public lookup won't always settle it. Nominet's .uk WHOIS only shows registrant details if the registrant has opted in. So ask to see the registrar account, or ask for the domain to be registered in your name with you as account holder.
Who owns the website and its content?
Gov.uk's copyright guidance says that when you commission something, the first legal owner of the copyright is the person who made it, not you. That changes only if you agree otherwise in writing. Someone working under a contract for services, which can include freelancers, will usually keep the copyright unless the contract says otherwise. Employees are different, because their employer is usually the first owner.
So if your contract says nothing, the designer may own the design and code, and you may only have permission to use it. A designer may keep ownership and license the site to you, or assign ownership to you once you've paid. Either can work if it's in writing. If it's a licence, ask whether it ends if you stop paying a monthly fee. If it's an assignment, ask when it takes effect. If you're unsure what a clause means, a solicitor can read it for you.
Ask the same about stock photos, fonts, plugins and themes. Who holds those licences?
Will you get the logins?
You should end up with access to everything that keeps the site running:
- the domain registrar account
- the hosting account
- the site's admin area
- analytics and Google Search Console
- your Google Business Profile
- your business email
If the designer keeps admin access during the build, get the handover date in writing.
What happens if the designer disappears?
Any small supplier can go quiet. A freelancer may fall ill or change career. I'm a one-man business, so that includes me.
Ask who holds the logins. Ask whether you can have a full copy of the site files and database. Is the site built on something another developer could pick up? If you hold the domain, the hosting account and a backup, another designer can take over. If you hold none of those, you'll be negotiating.
Who handles updates, and what do they cost?
Websites need small changes after launch, like a new price or an opening time. Ask who makes them, how long it takes, and whether you pay per change or monthly. Ask what a care plan covers, such as security updates and backups, and whether there's a minimum term. Can you edit text yourself?
My care plans start at £50 a month. Whatever a designer charges, get what it covers in writing.
Where is it hosted, and who backs it up?
Hosting is where the site lives. Ask which company hosts it, whose account it's in, what it costs each year and when it renews.
Ask about backups too. How often, where they're kept, for how long, and whether anyone has ever restored one. The ICO says you must be able to restore access to personal data after a physical or technical incident in a timely manner. Its example is the 3-2-1 approach, which means three copies, two of them on different devices and one stored off-site. Enquiry form messages and customer accounts count as personal data.
What's in the quote, and what's extra?
A fixed price only helps if you know what it covers. Ask for the list. A good quote should answer these:
| Ask about | What you want to know |
|---|---|
| Pages and text | How many pages? Who writes the words? |
| Photos | Supplied by you, taken for you, or bought? Who holds the licence? |
| Forms | Where do enquiries go and where are they stored? |
| Old site | Will old page addresses redirect to the new ones? |
| Changes | How many rounds of revisions are included? |
| Running costs | Domain, hosting, email and care plan, with renewal dates |
My websites are £750 to £1,500, a fixed price agreed before I build anything. Most go live two to four weeks after we agree the brief.
What should the contract and payment terms say?
A contract can be short, but it should be written down. It should say what's being built, the price and when each payment is due. It should also say how many revisions are included, who owns what and when ownership passes, what happens if either side cancels, and the timescale.
Gov.uk says that if no payment date is agreed, a commercial payment is late 30 days after the invoice arrives or the service is delivered, whichever is later. You can agree a longer period than 60 days between businesses, but it must be fair to both. Agree dates anyway, and ask what you'll have in your hands at each payment.
What about cookies, a privacy policy and UK GDPR?
The ICO tells small organisations they need a privacy notice on their website if that's mainly how customers find them. Visitors must also be told that cookies are used and what they do. A privacy notice covers your contact details, what personal data you collect and why, and your lawful basis. It also covers who you share it with, how long you keep it, and people's rights, including how to complain. The ICO offers a privacy notice generator for small businesses, and its own example links to the notice from the contact form page.
Cookies are less clear-cut than they used to be. Most still need consent before they are set. The ICO's example of bad practice is a banner saying that carrying on using the site counts as consent.
Since the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 there are new exceptions, including one for statistics about how your own service is used. It applies only if you give clear information and a simple, free way to object. It doesn't cover using the data for something else, such as advertising. The ICO finalised its guidance on 29 April 2026.
Whether you need a cookie banner depends on what the site sets. Ask the designer to list every cookie and tool on it, such as analytics, maps and embedded video, and what each does. The privacy notice has to describe what your business really does with data, so decide who writes it.
If you run a limited company, gov.uk says the website must show your registered number, registered office address, where the company is registered, and that it's a limited company. A footer is a common place for it.
What about accessibility?
The Equality Act 2010 applies to all service providers, and gov.uk's guidance says they must think ahead and deal with barriers for disabled people. The Equality and Human Rights Commission's services code of practice, in force since 5 August 2026, says the duty not to discriminate also applies to services provided on a website. Whether a particular site falls short is a legal question, so I can't answer it for you.
The rules that make WCAG 2.2 AA a legal requirement cover public sector bodies and some charities. They don't set that standard for a typical private business. It's still a sensible thing to name in a quote. WCAG is published by the W3C. Its guidelines include text alternatives for images, making everything usable from a keyboard, and helping people avoid and correct mistakes. Ask whether the site will be built to WCAG 2.2 AA and how it will be checked. You can try a basic test yourself. Put the mouse aside and see whether you can get through the site with the Tab key.
Will people find the site?
Nobody can promise it. Google's guidance says no one can guarantee a number one ranking. It says to beware of anyone who claims to, or who claims a special relationship with Google. Its starter guide says some changes take effect within hours and others take several months.
A designer can fairly give each page a unique, accurate title, use readable page addresses and set up Google Search Console. Ask what they will set up, what results they expect and over what timeframe. Google suggests asking an SEO exactly that.
How can you check a designer's real work?
Look at live sites rather than screenshots. Open them on your phone, click every link and fill in a form. Then ask for a couple of past clients you can contact. Ask them whether the job came in at the agreed price and on time, and who answered when something went wrong.
Google's questions for hiring an SEO work here too, such as how long they've been in business.
Is it better to meet face to face?
I'm based in Huddersfield and meet people in person within about an hour's drive, which covers Huddersfield and much of West Yorkshire. Further away, we talk on video.
In my view, meeting in person has real advantages. I can see your premises and how customers deal with you, and a misunderstanding gets sorted in the room rather than over several emails. Some people find it easier to explain what they need across a table.
It has limits too. Living nearby tells you nothing about the quality of someone's work, so run the same checks whatever the distance. Most of a build happens on screen, where a video call works well.
If you'd like to put these questions to me, the first conversation is free. See a bit about me or get in touch.
