How to Choose a Web Development Company

Questions that reveal competence

1. Who will actually do the work, and can I speak to them?
2. Show me something you launched in the past year and what it cost.
3. Is this quote fixed scope, and how are changes handled?
4. Who owns the code, the domain, the hosting and every account?
5. How do you handle performance, accessibility and security?
6. What happens after launch, and what does it cost?
7. What is your process when something breaks?
8. Can I talk to two clients from the last year?

Red flags

• Quotes in hours without a written scope.
• The agency owns the hosting or domain.
• No named developers.
• Every request is possible and nothing is a trade-off.
• Portfolio sites that are slow or broken on a phone.

How to compare quotes

Put every quote into one table: pages or features, design approach, integrations, content responsibility, performance and accessibility commitments, hosting, timeline, post-launch support, and total. Then ask each company to confirm the table. The cheapest quote is almost always missing rows.

What the contract must say

• Fixed price for a defined scope and a written change process.
• Milestones tied to working deliverables.
• You own the code, content, design files and all accounts.
• A warranty period after launch.
• A clean exit with full handover.