Seven questions to ask before you pay for a website
Ask these seven questions before you pay anyone for a website. Put the same seven to every builder you talk to. Then lay the answers side by side.
A clear answer is easy to write down. Ask again when an answer is vague. Keep the written answers with your contract. A builder who will not write an answer down has told you something too.
The seven questions
Save these seven lines on your phone. The sections below say why each one matters.
- Ask who owns the domain name.
- Ask who owns the site files and whether you can move them.
- Ask what you pay each month after launch and what that covers.
- Ask how you change a phone number or your hours.
- Ask how fast the site will load on a phone and how the builder will show you.
- Ask who writes the words and who supplies the photos.
- Ask what happens if you stop paying.
Who owns the domain name and the files?
The domain name is the address people type to reach you. The site files are the pages and pictures that make up the site. You need to own both.
If the builder owns either one, you must ask the builder for it when you leave. If you own both, you can take them to a new builder.
Ask the builder to list you as the owner of the domain name. Get the login. Ask when the domain name renews and who pays. A safe answer names you as the owner of both and says yes to moving them.
What do you pay each month and how do changes work?
A monthly fee runs for as long as you keep the site. Your phone number and your hours will change one day. Both facts are reasons to ask before you sign.
Have the builder show you a change from start to finish. Then ask these six things.
- What the fee is each month and what it covers.
- Whether it keeps the site online and fixes things when they break.
- How long the builder takes to answer when the site is down.
- How you make a change yourself.
- How long a change takes when the builder makes it.
- What a change costs and whether the monthly fee covers it.
How fast will it load on a phone?
Ask the builder to open a site they built on your phone while you watch. Use your own phone for the test. Turn off wifi first. Watch how long the first screen takes.
A site that feels slow to you will feel slow to your customer. Ask what the builder would change. Ask to see the result again after the change.
Who writes the words and supplies the photos?
Ask to read the words before the site goes live if the builder writes them. Only you know your prices and your hours and the towns you cover. Check every number.
Ask what size the builder needs if you supply the photos. Real photos of your shop and van and crew show a customer who they are dealing with. Ask who owns the finished words and photos.
What happens if you stop paying?
A clear answer now saves an argument later. Ask these four things about the day you stop paying.
- What happens to the site and the domain name and the files.
- How to cancel and how much notice you must give.
- What you get on the last day.
- Whether you get a copy of the messages people sent through your form.