63 Questions to Ask an Agency About for Your Next Website Redesign

Who doesn’t love the smell of a fresh new website?   

Looking back to the last time I launched a new site, I still remember the excitement of clicking through the new pages and converting on my fancy new calls-to-action.

Unfortunately, that’s not all I remember.  Just like buying a car, going through the shopping process for a website redesign can be frustrating.  Add to that not knowing what to look for when choosing a website, and you've got a recipe for potential disaster.

Luckily, the team at IMPACT has put together this list of 63 questions you should ask your potential web design partner to help determine if they're the right choice.  

Feel free to comment at the bottom if you’re looking for clarification on why we think any of them are important!

Value

1. How much will it cost to get my website redesigned? What is included in this cost?

2. How are these resources split between strategy and implementation?

3. How will redesigning this website help me achieve my organizational goals?

4. What increases in traffic & conversionwould be reasonable to expect?

5. Is rushed delivery available?  How long would you need? How much extra would it cost?

6. Have you worked with any other companies like ours?  If so, what worked best for them?

7. Do you offer marketing services on top of website development?

8. What makes your website design services unique?

9. How do you bill?  Hourly or project based?

10. Can you tell me about a time that you went above and beyond for a client?

11. Can you repeat back to me why someone would purchase from me over my competitors?

12. Can you provide references from a recent client?

Strategy

13. Do you do market research before building a website?

14. What would you change on my current site?

15. Can we A/B test various parts of the website to optimize it?  What platform would we use?

16. What analytics platform would we integrate with the site?  Can you set it up and teach me how to use it?

17. How knowledgeable of search engine optimization is your team?

18. How do you set up websites to convert visitors to contacts?

19. Aside from SEO, what techniques are you using to attract visitors?

20. What can you learn from my current website to optimize my next site?

21. Are testimonials important for my website?

22. How could we use our website to attract my target persona?

Process

23. Can you describe your web redesign process?

24. What is your average turnaround for a site build?

25. How will we manage the relationship when developing the site?

26. Do you have experience building eCommerce websites?

27. What is the average page load speedfor the websites you build?

28. Do you outsource design or development?

29. What is required from me to help you accurately price and scope the project?

30. What is required from me to start a project? How about throughout the duration of a project?

31. Will I be working with a project manager or will I be working directly with a designer / developer?

32. What tools do you use to manage client relationships?

33. Would you be able to work on an ongoing basis to iteratively improve my website or do you only work on projects?

34. How involved in the website redesign process will I be expected to be?

35. Who will be responsible for creating content?

Design

36. Would you be willing to share the last 5 examples of your work?

37. How many artwork revisions am I allotted?

38. Will I able to see wireframes before we move to a design phase?

39. If I design the site will you build it?

40. What is Lorem Ipsum?

41. Who owns the copyright on any artwork created for my website?

42. What data do you use to make the changes to my design?

43. What is a hamburger menu?  Do I need one?

Development

44. What browsers and devices will the website be built for? Will it be mobile responsive?

45. What Content Management System are you familiar with?  Which do you prefer?

46. Do you have experience building secure websites with SSL?

47. Are you able to create multilingual websites?

48. Will this website be built from scratch or is it going to be built off of a template?

49. What will be done to preserve my current website's SEO value?

50. What will happen when we redirect the old pages to the new pages?

51. Do you follow website development best practices?

52. Will I have any downtime in the switch between my old website and my new website?

53. Will you build a mobile application for my site?

Post Launch

54. Can I make updates to the site after it’s completed?

55. How do you handle bug fixes?  For how long?

56. Where will my site be hosted?

57. Will you train me on how to maintain the website?

58. Do you have a policy on working with my competitors?

59. How will my website be built to grow with my business?

60. Who will own the domain name registration?

61. What happens if I want to leave HubSpot (or any other website backend)?

62. What happens to my old hosting after we launch the new site?

63. Do I need to keep my hosting account?

Happy Buying,

Kyle