Start with live sites, not screenshots

Judge an agency by sites you can open and use yourself. A screenshot shows how a page looked on a good day. A live site shows whether it still works.

Ask for three or four live addresses, ideally for businesses like yours, then spend ten minutes on each:

  • Open it on your phone. Tap the phone number, the menu and the main button.
  • Try the contact or booking path up to the point of submitting.
  • Check whether the footer credits the agency. Credit isn't required, but it is a quick way to confirm who built it.
  • Call one of the clients if you can, and ask what happened after launch.

Our client case studies link to the live sites, and we describe what each one does so you can check it for yourself.

Ask who owns the site and the domain

You should know, in writing and before you pay, who owns the design, code, content and domain. This is the question most likely to cost you later, and many people only ask it when they are trying to leave.

The domain comes first. Have it registered in your business's name, under a login you control, even if someone else manages it for you. Then ask about the site itself. Ownership also depends on the platform: a custom-coded site is a standard codebase that can be hosted elsewhere, while a Wix Studio site stays on Wix.

Our own answer is that ownership is set out in the written proposal before any work starts, and we recommend you register the domain in your own name.

Find out who does the work

Ask who will design it, who will build it and who will answer when something breaks. There are good large teams and good solo studios. What matters is knowing which you're hiring, and whether the person selling the project will still be around once it starts.

  • Will any of the work be outsourced, and to whom?
  • Who is your day-to-day contact, and how do you reach them?
  • If that person is unavailable, who takes over?

Here is how it works with us: Media City Design is founder-led, and Romik Hacobian runs every project directly. That means one point of contact. It also means you're relying on a small studio rather than a large department, which suits some clients better than others.

Get what's included in writing

A price only means something next to a written scope. Two quotes that look far apart may be for very different projects.

Ask aboutA good answer sounds likeBe careful if you hear
ScopeA list of pages and features"A full website"
PriceOne number for that scopeOnly an hourly rate with no limit
ChangesHow new work is priced before it starts"We'll figure it out"
ContentWho writes the copy and supplies photosSilence on the subject
PaymentA schedule tied to clear points in the workEverything due before work starts

We quote fixed-price proposals: a written scope covering pages, features and timeline, with one price. Payment is 50% up front and 50% at launch. You can get a rough number first from our cost calculator, and our website cost guide explains what moves it.

Learn how hosting and maintenance are billed

Ask for the full yearly cost of keeping the site running, not just the build price. A low build fee can sit next to a monthly charge you didn't expect, and a site with no maintenance can quietly fall apart.

  • What does hosting cost, and is it required to stay with the agency?
  • Are domain renewal, email, backups and SSL included?
  • How many hours of updates come with the monthly fee, and what happens beyond that?
  • Can prices change, and with how much notice?

For comparison, our hosting plans start at $25 a month and are billed separately from the build. The domain is registered separately too. Maintenance plans are optional and run from $50 to $200 a month for 1 to 6 hours of updates.

Protect your existing search traffic

If you already have a site that gets found on Google, ask exactly how a new site will keep those visitors. A redesign that changes page addresses without redirects can send people and search engines to dead pages.

Google's guidance on site moves is a good benchmark. It says to map every old address to its new one, use server-side permanent redirects, keep them in place for at least a year if you can, and submit a new sitemap. It also warns that rankings can fluctuate during the move, so be wary of anyone who says nothing will change.

Ask to see the redirect plan. For the details of how we handle this, see our website redesign page.

Ask how you would leave

A good agency can tell you how to leave without getting defensive. Even if you stay for years, the answer tells you how the relationship is structured.

  • What will you hand over: code, a site transfer, content, logins?
  • Is there a contract term or a cancellation fee?
  • Does anything stop working when you stop paying?
  • Who controls the email, analytics and Google Business Profile accounts?

Check claims at the source

Treat every award, rating and client logo as a claim you can verify. Open the link, or search for the award yourself, and confirm that the business name, the category and the year match.

Read reviews on sites the agency doesn't control, and look for details only a real client would know. Ask how an award is decided, too, since awards can be voted on, juried or paid for. Ask whether the agency has a relationship with whoever gave it.

Here are ours, so you can start practicing:

We also list a 2024 Small Business Award from the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley. There is no public announcement to link for that one, so it rests on our word.

One disclosure, by the same standard: the Burbank Chamber of Commerce, which named us a 2023 honoree, is also a client of ours. We have been in Burbank since 2021, and there's more on our about page.

When we aren't the right fit

We're the wrong choice for some projects, and it is better to know that now. You would probably be better served elsewhere if:

  • Your budget is well under our starting range. Our calculator puts a small template-based site at about $2,300–$2,900. If that's out of reach, a do-it-yourself builder is a reasonable place to start.
  • You need it live right away. A small business site typically takes 3–6 weeks with us.
  • You don't want to pay up front. We take 50% before work begins.
  • You want a large agency with separate departments. We are a founder-led studio, and that is a real difference.

If none of those apply and you're nearby, here is how we work on web design in Burbank.

Written by Romik Hacobian, founder of Media City Design, a Burbank web design studio since 2021.

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