Hiring someone to build your website is one of those jobs where the trouble usually shows up months later, not on day one. The design looks lovely, the invoice gets paid, and then a year on you want to change your phone number, or move to someone new, and you discover you can't. The site is locked to a login you never had. The code sits on a server you don't control. Nobody told you any of this, because you didn't know to ask.
So before you commit, ask. A good designer will answer these questions plainly and without flinching. Someone who gets vague, defensive, or keeps steering you back to the pretty pictures is telling you something too. Here are the questions that actually protect you, why each one matters, and what a straight answer sounds like.
Who owns the website and the code once it's built?
This is the first question, and it catches more people out than any other. Ownership of your website isn't automatic. On many platforms and with many freelancers, what you're really buying is access, not the thing itself. If the relationship ends, so does the website.
Ask directly: when this is finished, who owns the code and the design? There are two honest answers here, and both are legitimate as long as you're told plainly which one you're getting. Either you own it outright and can move it to any host or developer you like, or the people who build and look after it keep it while you subscribe, which is precisely what allows a low monthly price and no upfront bill. What isn't acceptable is a vague answer, or finding out only when you try to leave.
So ask the follow-up, because it's the one that matters: what happens if I cancel, and can I buy the site outright if I ever want to? A provider who has thought about this will have a clear answer. A provider who hasn't is hoping you never ask.
Both models are legitimate. Not being told which one you're getting is the problem.
Where is it hosted, and what does that cost me?
Hosting is the bill people forget to ask about. Your website has to live on a server somewhere, and that costs money every month or every year. Sometimes it's included in what the designer charges. Sometimes it's a separate bill you only discover after launch. Occasionally it's bundled in a way that makes leaving expensive on purpose.
Ask who the site is hosted with, how much hosting costs, and whether that price can change. A clear answer names the host, gives you a figure, and tells you whether it's included or extra. Fast, modern hosting matters more than people think, because a slow site quietly loses you enquiries, which is why website speed is worth caring about. What you want to avoid is a setup where the true running cost is hidden until the first renewal lands.
Who maintains and updates it after launch?
A website isn't a painting you hang on the wall and forget. It needs updates, security patches, and the occasional fix when something breaks. The question is who does that work, and whether it's included or charged for. This is where a lot of cheap builds fall down. You pay once, the site goes live, and then it slowly rots because nobody is looking after it.
Ask what happens after launch. Who applies security updates? What do I do when something breaks at 9pm on a Friday? Is small stuff, like changing opening hours or swapping a photo, included, or billed by the hour? A good answer is honest about the ongoing side. Either you're getting maintenance as part of an ongoing arrangement, or you're being handed a site you maintain yourself, and you should know which before you sign, not after.
It's worth asking what else runs on its own once you're live. Some setups will keep posting updates, ask customers for reviews and report back on what's working without you touching anything, which is the sort of thing that quietly compounds. We list what ours does on the AI automation page.
A website isn't a painting you hang on the wall and forget.
How many revisions are included, and who writes the content?
Two questions that quietly decide how much you actually pay. First, revisions. When you see the first draft and want changes, are those included, or does each round cost extra? Some designers include a set number of revisions, some work until you're happy, some charge for every tweak. None of those is wrong, but you want to know which one you've agreed to before the changes start.
Second, content. Who's writing the words, sourcing the photos, and gathering the details? This is the single biggest cause of a build stalling. If you assume the designer writes it and they assume you do, nothing moves for weeks. Ask plainly, and if the answer is that content is on you, get your side ready in advance. We wrote a full checklist of what to have ready before your website build for exactly this reason. Clear content up front is the difference between a three-week build and a three-month one.
What's the timeline, and what happens if I want to leave?
Ask for a realistic timeline, and pay attention to how it's given. A good answer has stages and rough dates, and it names what could slow things down, usually content from you. A bad answer is either a vague we'll see, or a suspiciously fast promise with no mention of what's needed from your end.
Then ask the question most people are too polite to ask: what happens if I want to leave? This is the real test. Is there a minimum term? A cancellation fee? Do I keep the website, or does it come down when I stop paying? Can I buy it outright if I'd rather? A confident, honest answer here tells you more about a designer than their portfolio does. Anyone who makes leaving painful, or who won't say what leaving involves, is relying on that pain to keep you rather than on doing good work.
Anyone who makes leaving painful is relying on that pain to keep you, rather than on doing good work.
How we'd answer these ourselves
It'd be a bit rich to write all this and dodge our own questions, so here they are, plainly. On our monthly plan we design, build, host and maintain the site, and we keep the code and the design while you're with us. That's exactly what lets us charge from £20 a month with no setup fee and nothing upfront. Your domain, your content and your data are yours from day one and always come with you.
There's no minimum term and you can cancel any time. If you want the site itself, you can buy it outright at any point, and the price comes down the longer you've been with us, because by then you've already paid off more of the build. Every project is different so we quote it at the time rather than pretending one figure fits everyone. That's the trade stated openly: a much lower cost to start, in exchange for us keeping the thing we look after. The full terms, including what happens at every point if you leave, are set out on our pay monthly page. You should be able to hold us to the same list as anyone else, which is the whole reason we published it.
If you want to see the work before you commit to anything, we'll rebuild your current homepage as a real, clickable prototype and send you a link within three working days. No card, no obligation. You try it on your own phone, compare it to what you have now, and only pay if you want to go ahead. If you don't, you keep a screenshot and owe us nothing. You can read the full terms on the pricing page, see what's included on the pay monthly website page, or just get in touch and ask us any of the questions above. We'd rather you asked.