Before You Hire a Web Designer, Check Their Own Website

Before you pay anyone to build your website, there is one simple check most business owners forget to do: use the web designer’s own website properly.

Not just a quick glance at the homepage. Actually use it. Open it on your phone. Click through the pages. Read the wording. Try the contact form. See how quickly it loads. Check whether it feels clear, professional, and easy to understand.

A web designer’s own website is the one project where they had full control. No awkward client restrictions. No missing photos. No slow decision-making from someone else. No excuse for weak content, poor layout, broken mobile design, or vague service information.

If their own website does not work properly, that tells you something useful before you spend any money.

Do Not Judge a Website From a Screenshot

Almost any website can look decent in a carefully chosen screenshot.

A nice hero image, a bold heading, a clean section, and a smart colour scheme can make a weak website look impressive at first glance. That is not enough.

A business website has to work in real use. It has to load quickly, make sense, guide visitors, work on mobile, handle forms properly, and explain the offer clearly.

Design matters, but design is not only how something looks. It is how the whole experience behaves when a real person tries to use it.

If you are hiring someone for website design in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Newark, Grantham, Lincoln, Sleaford, or anywhere else, do not only look at portfolio images. Use their actual website.

Start With Your Phone

The first test is simple: open the web designer’s website on your phone.

Most customers now browse local businesses on mobile. That applies to trades, restaurants, salons, garages, professional services, hospitality, local shops, and almost every small business sector.

If a web designer’s own site is awkward on a phone, that is a problem.

• Does the site load quickly?
• Can you read the text without zooming?
• Are buttons easy to tap?
• Is the menu clear?
• Can you find the contact details quickly?
• Does anything overlap, jump around, or feel broken?

A mobile website should not feel like a desktop site squeezed through a letterbox.

If their own mobile experience is poor, ask yourself why yours would be better.

Check Whether the Website Explains the Business Clearly

A good website should make the offer obvious.

Within a few seconds, you should understand who the business helps, what they provide, where they work, and what the next step is.

If a web designer’s own website is vague, full of buzzwords, or packed with phrases like “digital solutions”, “growth-focused experiences”, and “bespoke innovation” without saying anything concrete, be careful.

Your customers will not work hard to decode your website. They will not sit there with a notebook trying to interpret the vibes.

Clear beats clever. Useful beats fancy. Specific beats generic.

If a web designer cannot explain their own service clearly, they may struggle to explain yours.

Look at Their Service Pages

A homepage is only part of the site.

Service pages matter because they show whether the designer understands structure, content, search intent, and how people make decisions.

Click beyond the homepage. Look at the website design page, software page, portfolio page, pricing page, contact page, or whatever applies.

Ask yourself:

• Does each page have a clear purpose?
• Does the wording answer real customer questions?
• Are prices or pricing factors explained?
• Are there examples of actual work?
• Is the next step obvious?
• Does the page sound like a real business or generic filler?

If the service pages are thin, vague, or unfinished, that is a warning sign.

A proper business website is not just a homepage with some supporting pages taped to it. The whole site should work together.

Try the Contact Route

The contact route is one of the most important parts of any business website.

If you are checking a web designer’s website, see how easy it is to make an enquiry.

• Is the phone number easy to find?
• Is the email address visible?
• Does the contact form look sensible?
• Does the form ask for useful information without becoming annoying?
• Is there a clear confirmation after submission?
• Does the contact page feel trustworthy?

You do not have to submit a test enquiry if you are not ready to speak to them, but you can still judge the route.

If the contact process feels clumsy on their own site, that is not a small detail. For many small businesses, enquiries are the whole point of the website.

Check the Website Speed

Website speed matters because visitors are impatient and mobile connections are not always perfect.

A slow website makes a business look less professional. It also creates friction before the visitor has even read a word.

You can use free tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to get a broad view of performance. These tools are not perfect, and the scores need interpreting sensibly, but they can reveal obvious problems.

Do not obsess over every tiny warning. Some audit tools complain about things that are not important for a small business site. Focus on the practical signals:

• Does the site load quickly on mobile?
• Does the page move around while loading?
• Are images too heavy?
• Is the site overloaded with scripts?
• Does it feel responsive when you tap or scroll?

If a web designer’s own site is slow, especially on mobile, ask why. They had every opportunity to make that site perform well.

Look for Real Work, Not Just Pretty Claims

A portfolio should show real work.

Mockups can be useful, especially for demonstrating ideas, but they are not the same as live websites for real businesses.

When possible, click through to the actual websites they have built. Use them. See whether they load quickly, work on mobile, and make sense as business websites.

Look for signs that the sites were built around the client’s business, not just dropped into the same template with different colours.

A good portfolio does not need to be enormous. It needs to be credible.

Testimonials Are Useful, But They Are Not Enough

Testimonials can help, but they should not be the only thing you judge.

Most businesses only publish positive feedback. That is normal. But a nice testimonial does not tell you whether the site is fast, well structured, easy to use, properly owned, or built in a way another developer can maintain later.

Use testimonials as one signal, not the whole decision.

If possible, look for real business names, live links, and examples you can check yourself. Better still, ask whether you can speak to an existing client about the process.

A confident designer should not be afraid of their work being inspected.

Check Whether They Explain Ownership

Ownership is one of the biggest things business owners overlook.

Before hiring a web designer, look for clear answers on their website.

• Will you own the website files?
• Will you own the domain?
• Can the website be moved to another host?
• Can another developer work on it later?
• Are there ongoing licence costs?
• What happens if you stop using their support?

If their website does not answer any of that, ask directly before paying.

A website should be a business asset, not something you only have access to while one supplier stays happy.

Be Careful With Vague Packages

Some web design packages sound clear until you look closely.

“Starter website”, “business package”, “premium package”, and “growth package” can mean almost anything.

A useful package should explain what is included in practical terms. Number of pages may matter, but it is not the whole picture. You also need to know about mobile testing, forms, SEO foundations, ownership, hosting, content, revisions, email setup, analytics, support, and launch process.

If a package hides the important details, the price may not mean much.

A good provider should be able to explain the difference between options without burying you in waffle.

Ask How the Build Process Works

The process matters as much as the finished design.

Some website builds still work like this: initial conversation, several weeks of silence, then a finished website appears. You then react to whatever has been built, and corrections become revision rounds.

That process is avoidable.

A better build gives you a private staging link while the site is being created. You can check progress, comment early, and make normal adjustments before the whole thing is treated as finished.

This is especially useful for small businesses because the owner often knows details that only become obvious when they see the page taking shape.

If a designer cannot show you the site during the build, ask why.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Web Designer

Before you commit, ask these questions:

• Can I see live examples of websites you have built?
• Can I see my website while it is being built?
• Will I own the website and domain?
• Can the site be moved to another host?
• What is included in the price?
• What is not included?
• Is mobile testing included?
• Is the contact form tested properly?
• Are basic SEO foundations included?
• Will I be able to update content myself?
• What happens after launch?
• Are there ongoing costs, licences, or subscriptions?

A good web designer should answer clearly. If the answer turns into a fog machine, slow down.

What This Tells You About the Designer

A web designer’s own website tells you more than their sales pitch.

It shows whether they value clarity. It shows whether they care about mobile users. It shows whether they understand content. It shows whether they can explain pricing and process. It shows whether they think about performance, trust, and the customer journey.

It also shows whether they practise what they sell.

Nobody’s site has to be perfect. But if someone is selling professional websites and their own site is slow, vague, broken, thin, or hard to use, that is not a small detail. That is the van with “premium detailing” written on the side and bird muck welded to the bonnet.

How We Approach This

We believe a business should be able to judge the work before committing.

That is why our own website includes clear pricing, real examples, a working demo library, and plain explanations of what is included. It is also why our build process uses a private staging link, so clients can see their site while it is being built rather than waiting for a big reveal at the end.

The aim is simple: no mystery, no vanishing act, and no pretending that a screenshot is the same as a working business website.

You can check our website design page for pricing, portfolio examples and process details, or browse the working demo library.

If you are comparing web designers in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Newark, Grantham, Lincoln, Sleaford, or the surrounding areas, start by testing their own website. It is the one example they cannot blame on anyone else.