Agency selection is easier when every finalist answers the same questions. You are buying a working relationship, a durable website and a measurable business tool—not a logo wall or a clever SEO headline.
Ask for evidence of delivery
Request two or three live projects relevant to your goals. Ask who designed and coded the site, what the original scope included and which parts of the result can be verified. A concept demo is useful to evaluate design, but it is not the same as a commissioned client launch.
If a vendor claims traffic growth or conversion improvements, ask for date ranges, baseline methodology and client permission to share figures. It is perfectly acceptable to say a project was launched without inventing performance results.
Ask what the team will do
Get a named point of contact and a delivery plan. Understand how the team handles content, accessibility, revisions, mobile QA, forms, analytics, search migration and training.
Request a sample handoff package and learn whether the business owns the domain and the deployed source.
Use this twelve-question scorecard
Rate answers as clear, partial or unanswered. A team with slightly different creative tastes but clear operational answers may be the safer partner.
- What exact business action is the site meant to improve?
- Which live projects prove this kind of work?
- Who will do strategy, design, development and QA?
- How are page content and image rights handled?
- How will users on phones and slow networks be served?
- Which accessibility target will be tested?
- How are current URLs and SEO signals migrated?
- Who owns the registrar, hosting and source code?
- How are form submissions and personal data protected?
- What scope changes cost extra?
- What training and documentation are included?
- What are the post-launch support terms?
The result to look for
You should leave the conversation understanding the launch deliverables, ongoing responsibilities, approval process and realistic schedule. If those are still fuzzy, ask for a written clarification before signing.
Sources and further reading
We link directly to relevant primary documentation. Company prices, public services, standards and guidance may change; verify before making purchasing or compliance decisions.
Editorial disclosure
Alaska Web Company is operated by FOUR Media Group LLC. FOURAK is the operator's own brand and Martin Media is a professional partner. Editorial guidance is not an independent agency ranking, a legal opinion or an individualized quote. Read our methodology.