Choosing a website designer is an important decision for any business. Your website is often the first interaction a potential customer has with your brand, and it needs to do more than look good. It should communicate your value, build trust, perform well in search engines and turn visitors into enquiries or sales.
But with so many options available, how do you choose the right professional? Should you hire a freelance web designer, work with a web design company, or find a specialist in WordPress web design? And how can you tell whether a designer will deliver a website that supports your business goals rather than simply producing an attractive layout?
Whether you need a new website, a website revamp or a complete website rebuild, here are 12 things every business should check before choosing a website designer.
1. Look Beyond the Visual Design
A good-looking website is a starting point, not the end goal. Effective website design combines visual appeal with usability, performance, accessibility and a clear understanding of your business objectives.
When evaluating a designer’s portfolio, look beyond colours, typography and animations. Consider whether the websites are easy to navigate, communicate their messages clearly and guide visitors towards meaningful actions.
Ask yourself:
- Does the design reflect the client’s brand and target audience?
- Is the information easy to find?
- Are the calls to action clear and persuasive?
- Does the website work well on mobile devices?
- Does the design support the client’s commercial objectives?
The best website design services balance aesthetics with practical business outcomes. Your website should help potential customers understand what you offer, why they should choose you and what to do next.
2. Review Their Portfolio and Previous Work
A portfolio provides valuable insight into a designer’s experience, technical ability and approach to problem-solving. However, do not judge a website designer solely on the number of websites they have built.
Look for examples that demonstrate an understanding of your industry, audience or business model. Pay attention to the quality of the finished websites, their consistency across different devices and the complexity of the projects.
If you are considering a website redesign, ask to see examples of previous redesign projects. A professional website redesign should improve more than the appearance of the original site. It should address weaknesses in usability, performance, content structure and conversion.
It is also worth asking what role the designer played in each project. Did they handle the strategy, UI design, development and launch, or were they responsible for only one part of the process?
A credible designer should be able to explain the thinking behind their work and, where possible, demonstrate measurable improvements.
3. Make Sure They Understand Your Business Goals
Your website should be designed around what your business needs to achieve.
For one company, the priority might be generating qualified leads. For another, it could be selling products online, attracting new customers in specific locations or establishing credibility in a competitive market.
Before discussing colours, layouts or technology, a good designer should want to understand your business, customers, competitors and objectives.
They should ask questions such as:
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What problems does your business solve?
- What makes your company different?
- What actions should visitors take on your website?
- Which existing pages or services generate the most enquiries?
- How will you measure the website’s success?
These questions help establish a clear direction for the project. Without this groundwork, even a beautifully designed website can fail to deliver meaningful results.
Look for a designer who thinks strategically about your website rather than simply waiting for you to provide a list of pages and design preferences.
4. Check Their Website Development Skills
Website design and website development are closely connected, but they are not the same thing.
Design determines how a website looks and how users interact with it. Development turns that design into a functioning website, including its layouts, navigation, forms, integrations and underlying technical structure.
Some designers specialise in visual design and rely on other developers to build their work. Others combine design and development, giving them greater control over the finished product.
Neither approach is automatically better, but you should understand exactly what is included.
Ask about their experience with responsive development, accessibility, performance optimisation, content management systems, security and third-party integrations.
If your business needs a highly tailored website, custom website design combined with bespoke development may provide more flexibility than adapting a generic template.
The right website build services should give you a website that is visually effective, technically reliable and straightforward to maintain.
5. Choose the Right Platform for Your Business
The technology behind your website matters, but there is no single platform that is right for every business.
WordPress remains a flexible option for businesses that need a custom content-managed website, with control over their content, design and integrations. Shopify may be more suitable for certain ecommerce businesses, while platforms such as Framer can work well for particular marketing and content-led projects.
A specialist in WordPress web design should be able to explain why WordPress is appropriate for your requirements, rather than recommending it simply because it is the only platform they know.
Ask prospective designers:
- Why do you recommend this platform?
- Can the website be customised to meet our needs?
- Will we be able to edit content ourselves?
- What will ongoing maintenance involve?
- Can the website grow with our business?
- What happens if we want to change developers in the future?
A good WordPress website designer should understand both the platform’s capabilities and its limitations.
For businesses that require bespoke functionality, a custom WordPress theme and carefully developed blocks can provide greater control over the design and editing experience without unnecessary dependence on page builders or excessive plugins.
The aim is to choose technology that supports your business, not technology that creates avoidable restrictions.
6. Ask About Website Speed and Performance
Website performance should be considered from the beginning of a project, not added as an afterthought.
Slow websites can frustrate visitors, undermine confidence and make it harder for users to complete important actions. Performance can also influence search visibility, particularly through Google’s page experience signals and Core Web Vitals.
When comparing website designers, ask how they approach performance.
Do they optimise images, minimise unnecessary scripts, use efficient code and consider hosting requirements? Do they test the finished website on mobile devices and measure its performance using tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights?
It is also worth asking how they handle Core Web Vitals, including loading performance, responsiveness and visual stability.
A website can look impressive in a presentation but perform poorly when real users visit it. That is why performance needs to be part of the design and development process.
At Viewport, the emphasis is on high-performance website design and development, combining considered design with efficient implementation to help businesses create faster, more effective websites.
7. Find Out How They Approach SEO
A website is only useful if your target audience can find it.
Search engine optimisation should therefore be considered during the design and development process, rather than left entirely until after launch.
A website designer does not necessarily need to provide a full SEO campaign, but they should understand the technical foundations that support search visibility.
These include:
- Logical page structures and navigation.
- Clean URLs and sensible internal linking.
- Appropriate title tags and meta descriptions.
- Mobile-friendly, accessible page layouts.
- Fast loading times and sound technical implementation.
- Structured data where relevant.
- Redirects and preservation of existing search visibility during a redesign.
If you are investing in website redesign services, ask how the designer will protect your existing SEO performance. Changing URLs, removing useful content or overlooking redirects can result in lost rankings and traffic.
You should also consider how your website communicates with AI-powered search tools. Clear content, meaningful headings, reliable information and well-structured data can help search systems interpret your business and its services.
AI website development should not be treated as a substitute for sound SEO principles. The fundamentals of a useful, technically sound website remain essential.
8. Make Sure the Website Works on Mobile
Your website needs to work just as effectively on a smartphone as it does on a desktop computer.
Responsive design involves more than shrinking a desktop layout to fit a smaller screen. Content, navigation, images, typography and interactive elements must adapt to different screen sizes and ways of interacting with a website.
When reviewing a designer’s portfolio, open the websites on your phone if possible.
Check whether the text is readable, menus are easy to use, buttons are appropriately sized and forms are straightforward to complete. Look for layouts that feel deliberately designed for mobile rather than awkwardly compressed.
This is particularly important for businesses that rely on mobile search traffic, local enquiries or visitors arriving through social media.
Ask your prospective designer how they test responsive layouts and whether mobile usability is considered during the design process.
A professional website should provide a consistent, accessible experience across modern devices and browsers.
9. Understand Their Design and Development Process
A structured process helps keep projects on track, reduces misunderstandings and makes it easier to achieve the intended result.
Before committing, ask the designer to explain the stages of their work and what you will be expected to provide.
A typical project might include:
- Discovery and requirements gathering.
- Sitemap and content planning.
- Wireframes and user experience planning.
- Visual design and design approval.
- Website development and content integration.
- Testing, revisions and quality assurance.
- Launch, handover and ongoing support.
For projects that require a more detailed visual design process, Figma web design can be used to develop and review layouts before the website is built. This gives you an opportunity to evaluate the proposed direction and provide feedback before development progresses too far.
Ask how many rounds of revisions are included, who will manage the project and how changes outside the agreed scope will be handled.
A clear process is particularly important for a website rebuild, where existing content, functionality, integrations and search visibility may all need to be preserved.
The more clearly expectations are established at the outset, the easier it is to manage the project successfully.
10. Consider Whether You Need a Freelancer or a Web Design Company
Should you hire a freelance web designer or work with a web design company?
Both options have advantages, and the right choice depends on the size, complexity and requirements of your project.
A larger agency may offer a team of specialists covering strategy, design, copywriting, development and marketing. This can be useful for complex projects involving multiple disciplines.
A freelance web designer or independent developer may offer a more direct working relationship, fewer layers of communication and a highly specialised skill set.
The important consideration is not the size of the supplier, but whether they have the experience, capacity and technical ability to deliver what you need.
If you are considering a WordPress web design company, establish who will actually work on your project. Will you deal with the person responsible for the design and development, or will your project pass between account managers, designers and developers?
Similarly, if you hire a freelance WordPress developer, check whether they can handle the full scope of the project or whether you will need to appoint additional suppliers.
Choose a partner whose working style, expertise and level of involvement suit your business.
11. Be Clear About Pricing, Ownership and Ongoing Support
Website prices can vary considerably depending on the scope of the project, the level of customisation required and the experience of the people doing the work.
A low initial quote is not necessarily the most economical option, particularly if it excludes important requirements or leads to expensive changes later.
Ask for a written proposal that explains what is included, such as design, development, content migration, integrations, testing, training and launch.
You should also clarify:
- Whether the quoted price is fixed or estimated.
- What content and assets you must supply.
- How additional features or revisions are charged.
- Who owns the website, design files and custom code.
- Who controls the domain, hosting and relevant accounts.
- What support is available after launch.
- What ongoing hosting and maintenance will cost.
These details matter whether you are commissioning a small website build or investing in comprehensive website redesign services.
You should have appropriate control over your website and the accounts needed to operate it. Avoid arrangements that leave you unnecessarily dependent on a particular supplier.
A professional designer should be transparent about costs, responsibilities and the support available once the project is complete.
12. Ask How They Approach AI and the Future of Website Design
AI is changing how websites are planned, designed and developed. New tools can help generate layouts, write code, create content and accelerate parts of the development process.
However, using AI does not automatically produce a good website.
AI website design tools can be useful for exploring ideas and speeding up repetitive tasks, but businesses still need thoughtful strategy, effective user experience, accurate content and reliable technical implementation.
When evaluating an AI web designer or AI web developer, ask how they use these tools and how they verify the quality of the finished work.
Do they understand the underlying code? Can they identify performance issues, accessibility problems and security risks? Can they adapt the output to your specific requirements rather than relying on generic templates?
AI website development can improve efficiency, but it should complement professional judgement rather than replace it.
It is also worth asking how the designer prepares websites for an evolving search landscape in which AI-powered search and answer engines are becoming increasingly important.
A future-ready website should have a clear content structure, technically sound implementation, useful information and a strong focus on the needs of its audience.
Ultimately, you are not simply hiring someone to create a website today. You are investing in a digital platform that your business may rely on for years.
When Should You Consider a Website Redesign?
If you already have a website, you may not need to start from scratch. However, there are several signs that a professional website redesign or website revamp could be worthwhile.
Consider reviewing your website if:
- Its design looks outdated or no longer reflects your brand.
- It performs poorly on mobile devices.
- Visitors struggle to find information or contact you.
- Your website loads slowly or performs poorly in PageSpeed tests.
- Your organic search traffic has declined.
- You cannot easily update content or add new functionality.
- Your business has changed, but your website has not kept up.
- The website relies on outdated technology or difficult-to-maintain code.
- It generates fewer enquiries or sales than you expect.
Sometimes, targeted improvements are enough. In other cases, a complete website rebuild is the more practical long-term investment.
A good website redesigner should assess your existing website before recommending a solution. They should identify what is working, what needs improvement and which elements can be retained.
This avoids unnecessary work and helps ensure that your investment is directed towards improvements that matter.
How to Choose the Right Website Designer for Your Business
Choosing a website designer comes down to finding someone who understands your business, has the right technical expertise and can deliver a website that supports your objectives.
Do not base your decision on price or visual design alone. Consider the quality of their previous work, their development skills, their approach to performance and SEO, and the clarity of their project process.
Ask questions, compare proposals and make sure you understand exactly what you are paying for.
Most importantly, look for a designer who can explain why they recommend a particular approach and how it will benefit your business.
The right partner should help you make informed decisions, not simply sell you a particular platform or a collection of design features.
Looking for Website Design and Development That Goes Beyond Appearance?
At Viewport, we combine strategic thinking, bespoke design and high-performance development to help businesses build websites that look professional, work effectively and support long-term growth.
Our approach covers everything from custom WordPress web design and website rebuild services to performance optimisation, technical SEO and improving your website’s readiness for AI-powered search.
Whether you need a new website or a complete redesign of an existing one, we focus on building a digital platform around your business objectives.
Need a website designer?
Explore our website redesign services or get in touch with Viewport to discuss your project.
A better website starts with the right questions.