How to choose a web designer in the north Denver metro: seven questions that sort them

Why the portfolio is the wrong place to start

Every web designer's portfolio looks good. That is the one thing the portfolio is for. What it does not tell you is whether those sites produce calls, whether the businesses still own them, whether they load in under three seconds on a phone in a Longmont parking lot, or whether the designer wrote a word of the copy. For a small business in the north metro, the site is a sales tool, not an art piece, and the questions that matter are about how it performs and who controls it after launch. Start there and look at the portfolio last.

1. Who owns the domain, the hosting, and the code?

This is the question that separates a designer from a landlord. The correct answer is that the domain is registered in your name, the hosting account is yours, and you receive the code and content on final payment. Anything else, including 'we host it for you as part of the package', means that when the relationship ends, your website may end with it. We have met too many Westminster and Thornton businesses whose site vanished because the designer stopped answering emails and held the domain. Ask, and get it in writing.

2. Is the writing included?

The single most common reason a small business website never launches is that the designer built the pages and the owner never wrote the words. If the quote does not include copywriting, you are the copywriter, and you should decide honestly whether you will do it. A designer who writes the copy around your actual offer and the objections your customers raise is selling a finished site. One who sends you a template with 'Lorem ipsum' in it is selling you a project.

3. Will it pass an accessibility check?

Colorado's HB21-1110 requires state and local government websites to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, and any business that wants to bid public-sector work in Adams, Jefferson, Boulder, or Weld County will be asked about its own site. Beyond that, an accessible site is a site that works for someone on a phone in bright sunlight, someone using a screen reader, and someone with a shaky hand, which is a larger share of your customers than you think. Ask whether accessibility is included or an add-on. If the designer does not know what WCAG is, that is your answer.

4. How will it show up when someone searches from Northglenn?

Local search is decided by three things: your Google Business Profile, your site's technical foundation, and whether the site names the places you serve in plain words. A designer who works with north-metro businesses should be able to explain how they will connect the site to your Business Profile, set up Search Console, and write your service area so that a search from Northglenn, Broomfield, or Firestone finds you. 'We do SEO' is not an answer. 'Your homepage will name your six towns, your Business Profile will point at it, and here is the tracking that shows which pages produce calls' is.

5. Who actually does the work?

At a lot of agencies the person who sells you the site never touches it. That is not inherently bad, but it means the person who understood your business is not the person building the pages, and every question goes through a project manager. At a one-person or small studio, the person on the call is the person doing the work, which is faster and more accurate but means capacity is limited and you should ask about timeline. Neither model is wrong. You should just know which one you are buying.

6. What does it cost to change something next year?

A site is not finished at launch. Hours change, staff change, prices change, and something will break after a platform update. Ask what a small change costs and how quickly it happens. The good answers are a care plan with a stated response time, or training so you can make routine edits yourself, or both. The bad answer is an open-ended hourly rate with no stated turnaround, which is how a five-minute change becomes a $300 invoice three weeks later.

7. Is the price published, or negotiated?

A designer who will not tell you a price until after a discovery call is pricing you, not the work. There are legitimate reasons a large custom project needs scoping first, but a small business website is not one of them: the scope is well understood and the price should be too. Ask for the number before the call. If it is on their website, that tells you something about how they will treat you. If it is not, ask why.

How we answer the seven

• Ownership: your domain, your hosting account, your code and content on final payment. Website-as-a-Service is handed over if you stop.
• Writing: included in every package, written around your offer before design starts.
• Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA on every site, not an add-on.
• Local search: service area named in plain words, Google Business Profile and Search Console connected, call tracking so you can see which pages work.
• Who does the work: the person you talk to. It is a one-person operation based in the north metro, and we say so.
• Afterwards: care plans from $99 a month with stated response times, and editing training so routine changes cost you nothing.
• Pricing: published on the site, from $2,950. You knew it before you called.