Ask a website designer about five things before you hire: ownership, the words, search, approvals, and price. Start with who will own the domain and accounts, and what you keep if you leave. Clear answers name accounts, pages, people, and prices, so ask for each one in writing.
How We Chose These Questions
Credible by Design builds websites for therapy and private healthcare practices, so we are one of the studios you might ask. These 15 questions build on the terms we compared across 18 designers and services on October 8, 2026. Our cost guide and Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO, moving a site, and AI search added the rest. We left out questions of taste, which a designer's live sites answer better. The questions suit any web designer, agency, or freelancer, and most apply to a site you build yourself. Our own answers come near the end.
Ownership and Leaving Later
1. Whose Name Will the Domain, Website, and Accounts Be In?
Why it matters: Your domain is the address on your cards, profiles, and referral emails. Whoever holds an account decides who else can use it, and when.
A clear answer sounds like: Everything is registered to your practice, and we work as users you can remove. It names each account: the domain, the platform, Google Analytics, and Search Console (Google's report on how your site appears in search).
Ask a follow-up if: any account opens in the designer's name, even for a while. Google's Search Console help says owners can add and remove other users, so ask who will be the owner.
2. What Do I Keep If We Stop Working Together?
Why it matters: Owning the domain and being able to move the finished site are separate questions. Ask about each piece: the domain, the words, the photos, the design, and the site files or platform account.
A clear answer sounds like: Your domain, words, and photos stay yours. The template stays with us. Another clear answer: You keep everything, site files included. Either one should match the agreement, with the handover's cost and timing stated.
Ask a follow-up if: leaving carries a fee, a minimum term, or a handover with no date.
3. Can My Team, or Another Designer, Edit the Site Later?
Why it matters: Fees, openings, and clinician bios change through the year. If only the original designer can make those edits, each one waits on their calendar.
A clear answer sounds like: You edit words and photos yourself, and any developer who knows the platform can take over. It names the platform and shows you the editor before you sign.
Ask a follow-up if: routine edits, such as a fee change, go through a paid request. Ask what each one costs and how long it takes.
The Words and the Strategy
4. Who Writes the Words, and How Will You Learn My Voice?
Why it matters: A prospective client reads the words to judge fit, fees, and the first step. Some designers write every page, some sell writing as an add-on, and some design around words you supply.
A clear answer sounds like: Our writer interviews you and drafts each page, and you approve every one. From a design-only studio: You write the pages, and we send an outline of what each needs.
Ask a follow-up if: copy is included, yet nobody has asked how you describe your work or the clients you see.
5. What Will You Ask About My Practice Before You Design Anything?
Why it matters: Google's advice on hiring an SEO says yours should ask what makes your business unique and how customers find you. A designer needs the same answers before the pages take shape.
A clear answer sounds like: Before design, we'll ask about your clients, services, fees, and how people find you. The page list and the main message come to you for approval first.
Ask a follow-up if: you can't tell when the message and page list get agreed, or who agrees them.
6. How Will the Site Answer Fees, Insurance, and the First Step?
Why it matters: Before reaching out, a prospective client wants to know the fee, whether you take their insurance, and what happens next. A site that leaves those answers for the consultation call asks them to guess.
A clear answer sounds like: Your fee and insurance go on the homepage and each service page, near the button. The designer shows where each fact sits and confirms the wording with you.
Ask a follow-up if: the plan puts every practical detail on one FAQ page. Ask how a visitor on a specialty page will find them.
Search and AI Answers
7. What Happens to Pages That Already Bring In Visitors?
Why it matters: A redesign can change page addresses, and Google's site move guidance says to redirect each old address to its new one. It says to keep those redirects "generally at least 1 year," and to expect temporary ranking fluctuation during a move.
A clear answer sounds like: We'll list every current address and where it goes, starting from your Search Console data. Pages that already bring in visitors keep their addresses where possible.
Ask a follow-up if: the plan changes the domain at the same time as the platform and design. Google's guidance says to change one thing at a time.
8. What Will You Set Up for Google and AI Assistants?
Why it matters: Google says there are "no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode" beyond its search basics. Those basics include key facts written as text and an up-to-date Google Business Profile.
A clear answer sounds like: a checklist you can verify after launch. It covers page titles and descriptions, your key facts as text, Search Console in your name, and profiles that match the site.
Ask a follow-up if: the plan includes AEO or GEO work (answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization). Google suggests asking whether that advice matches its own guidance.
9. What Can You Promise About Rankings, and How Will We Measure Them?
Why it matters: In Google's words, "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google," and that holds for designers too. What a designer can promise is the work and a way to measure it, starting with a record of where you stand.
A clear answer sounds like: We can't promise rankings. We'll record where you stand now and report what moves. It names the reports, such as Search Console, where Google counts AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic inside its overall Web totals.
Ask a follow-up if: a proposal promises a ranking, a place in AI answers, or a number of inquiries. Ask what happens if it falls short.
Process and Approvals
10. What Are the Steps, and Where Do I Approve?
Why it matters: You know your clients, so your sign-off belongs on the message, the words, the design, and the launch. The steps also tell you when to set time aside.
A clear answer sounds like: a dated list of steps with each approval named, and the number of review rounds at each. You approve the page list, then each page's words, then the design.
Ask a follow-up if: review rounds are capped. Ask what an extra round costs before you need one.
11. Will I See Every Change Before It Goes Live, and a Record After?
Why it matters: Google's advice on hiring an SEO suggests asking whether they will share every change they make to your site. A list before the work lets you approve it, and a record after shows what changed if something needs undoing.
A clear answer sounds like: You'll see a list of changes before we start, and a log when we finish. Both name each page, redirect, and profile edit.
Ask a follow-up if: edits to live pages happen as the work goes. Ask how you would know what changed.
12. How Will You Test the Contact Form and Booking Path Before Launch?
Why it matters: The contact form often carries the first message a prospective client sends you. Ask where messages go and who can read them, and keep clinical details in your practice's own secure intake or client portal.
A clear answer sounds like: We test every form and booking link on a phone and a laptop, then show you. It names where messages land, what the form asks for, and what the sender sees next.
Ask a follow-up if: no one can say where form messages are stored, or who can read them.
Price, Payments, and After Launch
13. What Does the Price Include, and What Costs Extra?
Why it matters: A platform fee buys tools, and a project fee pays for agreed work. Two quotes with the same total can buy very different things.
A clear answer sounds like: a scope naming the pages, copy, design, booking setup, search setup, moving your current pages, review rounds, and handover. Anything extra is priced and approved before it starts.
Ask a follow-up if: a line item names a feature, such as SEO, and stops there. Ask what that line covers.
14. How Do Payments Work, and What Will I Pay Each Year After Launch?
Why it matters: The first year costs the setup or project fee, plus recurring charges for the months you use them, plus separate tools. Ask for domain renewal, hosting, email, and scheduling software to be listed, so nothing is counted twice or missed.
A clear answer sounds like: Half to start, half at launch, and here is every yearly renewal. It shows each payment date, each recurring cost, and who bills it.
Ask a follow-up if: paying in monthly installments changes the total. Ask for both totals side by side.
15. Who Looks After the Site After Launch, and Can I Stop When I Choose?
Why it matters: After launch, someone keeps the site current: platform updates, backups, and new facts as the practice changes. Ask who makes updates, how fast, and what a care plan covers each month.
A clear answer sounds like: Our care plan is monthly, you can cancel with notice, and here is what each month covers.
Ask a follow-up if: a plan has a minimum term or renews automatically. Ask for the cancellation terms in writing.
The 15 Questions at a Glance
How to Use These Questions
- Send the questions before the first call, and ask for answers in writing.
- Copy the table above into a document with one column per designer, so gaps show side by side.
- Look at two or three live sites each designer built for practices like yours, on your phone.
- Price the first year for each option: the setup or project fee, plus monthly charges, plus separate tools. Our cost guide shows the arithmetic.
- Ask for the answers that matter most to appear in the proposal or agreement.
- Building it yourself? Ask yourself questions 1, 2, 7, 8, 12, and 14.
If You Already Hold a Proposal
If a studio has already sent you a proposal, the free credibility audit can read it against your goals. Request it through the audit form for practices holding a quote, then reply to the confirmation email with the proposal attached. The audit adds a plain read of what it covers, what it leaves out for your goals, and what to ask before you sign.
Questions About Hiring a Website Designer
How Much Does It Cost to Have Someone Design a Website?
As one subscription example, TherapySites Core lists $69 a month plus $199 setup, checked October 24, 2026. Our cost guide compares subscriptions, templates, and custom work. Our custom websites start at $3,500 for a solo practice and $7,500 for a group, and our custom platforms typically start at $15,000. Price the first year as the setup or project fee, plus monthly charges, plus separate tools.
Is $1,500 a Good Price for a Website?
It depends on what the quote names. The TherapySites Core example above totals $1,027 for year one: $199 setup plus 12 payments of $69, before tax and extras. It is also where our Right-Fit Conversion Sprint starts, for work on an existing site's positioning, copy, and inquiry path. Our custom websites start at $3,500 for a solo practice.
What Do Website Designers Usually Provide?
It varies, so compare quotes line by line. A designer may adapt a template, create a custom design, or build a custom platform, and each involves a different amount of work. Writing varies most: some designers write every page, and others design around words you supply. A clear quote names the pages, copy, design, booking setup, search setup, moving your current pages, review rounds, and handover.
Can You Build a Practice Website Yourself?
Yes. Building it yourself can suit a simple site when you have time to write, build, check, and maintain it. Wix Light lists $17 a month with annual billing, checked October 24, 2026. Our guide to website builders for therapists compares the platforms.
What This List Doesn't Tell You
These questions test terms and clarity. Taste and fit are yours to judge, from a designer's live sites and from how they listen on a first call. An answer on a call is a claim until it appears in the agreement. Prices and terms change, so ask each designer for current figures.
The list has 15 questions, drawn from 18 designers' published terms, our cost guide, and four Google pages. We rechecked Google's guidance and the linked TherapySites and Wix price examples on October 24, 2026. If something here is out of date, email charles@crediblebydesign.com and we will check it.
How We Answer These
We are one of the studios you might ask, so here are our answers. They come from how we work: five stages (audit, evidence, plan, build, and care) and four promises.
Checked October 24, 2026: refreshed Google guidance and price examples, and removed the link to an unpublished roundup.
