Questions to ask any web designer before you pay a deposit

Before you pay a web designer a deposit, ask nine questions and get the answers in writing. None of them is rude. A designer who has thought about the work will answer all nine in a minute; a designer who gets vague on three of them has just told you what the next six months will be like.

We answer each one below with our own terms, not because ours are the only good answers, but because an example you can hold against another quote is more useful than a list of adjectives.

The nine questions

1. Whose name is the domain in? The answer you want: yours, from day one. The domain is the only part of a website that cannot be rebuilt elsewhere, and moving it takes time; ICANN notes a registrar may deny a transfer within 60 days of registration (Source: ICANN). Ours: "Your domain, your Google Business Profile, and your Google Search Console and Analytics are registered in your name from day one." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 4.)

2. What happens to my deposit if I cancel? The answer you want: a date before which it comes back in full, and a plain rule after. Ours: "The 50 percent deposit is fully refundable until the Work Starts date in your scope." After that, "the deposit covers the work already done and is not refunded; if you cancel, you receive the files for the work you have paid for." (Source: DarkTiger Studios refunds.)

3. What exactly am I buying? The answer you want: a written scope with a page count, who supplies the words and photos, how many revision rounds, and the dates. Ours: "The scope is the agreement. Anything not in it is a separate line item, quoted before it is built." A revision round is "one consolidated list of changes." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, sections 1 and 6.)

4. What do I get at the end, and who holds the site? The answer you want: the hosting project and the code in your name, or a written date when they move there. Ours: the site "is built under the studio's hosting and code accounts and transferred to accounts in your name on final payment, or, if you keep a Care Plan, held under the studio and transferred to you at no charge within five business days of your request." And: "We never hold your passwords." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 4.)

5. Do you promise rankings? The answer you want: no. Google's own guidance for business owners says "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google," and lists guaranteed rankings among the warning signs (Source: Google Search Central). Ours: "We do not promise search rankings, lead counts, revenue, or that any AI assistant will cite you; those depend on search engines, AI companies and your market, not on the site alone." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 5.) Google suggests its own questions for anyone selling search work, including "Do you follow the Google Search Essentials (previously known as Webmaster Guidelines)?" and "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe?" (Source: Google Search Central). Both are fair to ask a web designer who mentions SEO.

6. How is the site tested before it goes live? The answer you want: a named checklist, and the report handed to you. Ours: "Every site we build is run through the studio's delivery gate before handover and must pass with zero failures." Where a service page states a measured result, "that is what we deliver and we show you the measurement." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 5.) Ask to see a sample report before you sign.

7. What happens after launch when something breaks? The answer you want: a window of free fixes for anything in scope, then a clear price. Ours: "For 30 days after a site goes live we fix anything in the delivered scope that does not work as agreed, at no charge." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 16.)

8. How do I pay, and how do you handle my card? The answer you want: a split that matches the risk, through a processor, never a card number read over the phone. Ours: builds are "paid 50 percent as a deposit before work starts and 50 percent before the site goes live on your domain," and "Payments are processed by Stripe; the studio never sees or stores card numbers." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 2.)

9. If I stop paying the monthly plan, what happens to my site? The answer you want: it is still yours and it comes with you. Ours: the Care Plan "cancels any time with no further charges, and the site transfers to you free," with the hosting project, the code and a full copy handed over within five business days (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, sections 8 and 9).

One habit that covers all nine

Whatever the designer says, reply by email: "To confirm what we discussed..." and list the answers. Our terms say "Changes to an agreement are made in writing, and email counts." (Source: DarkTiger Studios terms, section 13.) Most designers will agree to the same. The ones who will not have answered a tenth question you did not have to ask.

How to use the list on a call

Print it. Ask the questions in order and write the answer next to each one while the designer is talking. Three vague answers in a row is a result, not an insult. One honest "we do not do that" is worth more than nine confident maybes, because it tells you where the edges of the work are.

Next step

Take the nine questions to any quote, including ours. If you want to see how we answer them before a call, the packages, prices and what every build includes are at /build, and the full terms and refund rules are linked from the footer of every page.