Almost nobody buys a website twice in a decade, which means almost nobody gets good at buying one. You compare three quotes with different scopes, in a vocabulary you do not use, and pick on price or on who seemed nicest. These are the ten questions that tell you what you are actually getting, and the four answers that should end the conversation.
Ask ten questions before you sign: what is included and what is extra; who writes the copy; is SEO in the build or sold separately; what happens after launch and what does it cost; how long will it take and what causes delays; do I own the files; who controls the hosting and the domain; how many rounds of changes are included; can I see a site you built two years ago; and who actually does the work. Hesitation on the first four is worth taking seriously.
The ten questions
1. What exactly is included, and what is extra?
Get a page count and a list of what is on each page. Vague scope is where quotes diverge invisibly: a $2,000 quote for five template pages with copy you supply and a $4,000 quote for five custom pages with copy written for you are not the same product being sold at two prices.
Accessibility is the item that goes missing most often, and it is the most expensive one to add afterwards because it is structural rather than cosmetic. Ask whether the build is written to WCAG. If you are a disability provider it is not optional, and why is covered on NDIS website design.
2. Who writes the copy?
The single most common cause of a website stalling for months. Many quotes assume you will supply the words, and it is rarely said clearly. If you are writing it, say so out loud at the start so you can plan the time. If they are writing it, check whether that means interviewing you or generating something generic.
3. Is SEO part of the build or sold separately?
A site handed over with no schema, no location pages, thin copy and a poor mobile score is a site that needs an SEO retainer to fix work that should have been in the build. Ask what search work is included in the price. What that retainer would otherwise cost is in how much SEO costs in Australia.
4. What happens after launch, and what does it cost?
Sites need hosting, SSL, security updates and occasional content changes. Ask for the monthly number and what it covers, specifically how many content edits are included. Unlimited changes for $50 a month is not a real offer, and a plan that implies it will either disappoint you or quietly stop being answered.
5. How long will it take, and what causes delays?
Three to six weeks for a straightforward five page site with content ready. Eight to twelve for a larger custom build with copywriting and photography. The biggest cause of delay is almost never the designer, it is content sitting with the client. Ask what is needed from you and by when, in writing, before you start.
6. Do I own the files?
Some arrangements are genuinely rental: stop paying and the site goes off. That can be fine if it is stated plainly and priced accordingly. It is not fine when it emerges two years in. Ask directly. The answer should take one sentence.
7. Who controls the hosting and the domain?
Your domain should be registered in your business name, with you on the account. A designer holding your domain is the most effective leverage in the industry and the most common reason a business stays with someone it wants to leave. Hosting under their account is normal and usually fine. The domain is not.
8. How many rounds of changes are included?
Two rounds is standard. Unlimited is either a fiction or priced into the quote. What matters more is what counts as a round, and when the changes stop being free.
9. Can I see a site you built two years ago?
Anyone can show you something launched last month. A two year old site tells you whether the work holds up, whether the business is still trading, and whether the site still ranks. Search the business name and see where it lands.
10. Who actually does the work?
Ask whether the person you are speaking to builds the site, and if not, who does and where. Outsourcing is not automatically a problem, but you should know before you sign, not when a revision takes nine days to come back.
The four answers that should end the conversation
- Evasion on file ownership. There is a correct answer, it is short, and an unwillingness to give it tells you what the arrangement is
- A quote with no number and no scope. Depends on requirements is a reasonable opening position and an unacceptable final one
- A guaranteed Google ranking. Nobody controls Google. Anyone promising position one is either targeting phrases nobody searches or about to do something that costs you later
- A portfolio you cannot open. Screenshots without live links usually mean the sites are gone, were never live, or were not theirs
Designer, developer, or agency?
A designer decides how it looks and how a visitor moves through it. A developer builds it so it works. Freelancers and small studios usually do both; larger agencies split them and add account management, which is why the same site costs more there.
The job title matters far less than the scope. What matters is whether copy, search and speed are inside the quote or outside it, because a site that looks excellent and is invisible on Google has failed at the only job it had.
Does local matter?
Technically, not at all. The work is identical over a video call and always has been.
Commercially it matters in two ways for a local business. A designer in your region knows which suburbs matter, which competitors already rank, and what your market responds to. And if you ever need someone to actually turn up, a studio in Sydney or Manila cannot. That is worth something real, but it is not worth accepting worse work for.
Knowing the industry counts for more than knowing the postcode. A designer who has built for your trade before will not need the ten questions explained to them, which is the argument for a page like web design for tradies.
A practical test: search the designer's own business name plus their city. A web designer who does not rank for their own market is telling you something about what they can do for yours.
How we answer the ten
Fixed price with the page count stated, not an hourly estimate. Copy written by us from an interview, not supplied by you. Search work inside the build, including 30 suburb pages on The Growth and 50 on The Authority, rather than sold back afterwards. Support plans from $50 a month with the number of monthly edits stated plainly. Three week turnaround on The Starter. Files delivered to you on completion, and you can host them anywhere. All of it is on the packages page and the process page, in writing, before you talk to anyone.
Which platform any of it should be built on is a separate question. If you are weighing up the builders, Wix vs WordPress vs Squarespace compares the three most Australian small businesses end up on. If you have already decided you want a designer rather than a subscription, the more useful comparison is WordPress vs Astro, because that is the choice a designer is actually making on your behalf, and it is the one that decides how fast the finished site is.
Written by Newcastle Web Co, web design & seo in Cameron Park NSW 2285. Last updated 31 August 2026.
