Search for a web designer in Torquay and you will find agencies, freelancers, a cousin who “does websites” and several firms a long way from Torbay buying adverts against the town’s name. They will all say they build beautiful, mobile-friendly, search-optimised websites, because everyone does. This post is about the questions that get underneath that, and what the answers tell you, written by someone who has been on the other side of the conversation for a long time.

Start with what the website is for

Before you speak to anyone, write down in one or two sentences what the site has to achieve. “More enquiries from people in Torbay searching for a plumber.” “Bookings taken directly rather than through a platform taking fifteen per cent.” “A site that does justice to the work, so the quotes we send are taken seriously.” A good designer will ask you this in the first five minutes. If they do not ask, that tells you something too.

Ten questions worth asking

  1. Who will actually do the work? In an agency the person who sells the project is rarely the person who designs or builds it. Ask to speak to them. With an independent, the answer is the person in front of you.
  2. Can I see three sites you built, and can I test them? Then run each through Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool on your phone. A designer whose sites score in the thirties on mobile will build you one that does too.
  3. Will it be designed from scratch or from a theme? Both can be fine; a theme sold as bespoke is not. For a small budget a well-chosen template is honest; for a business with character it will show.
  4. What happens to search? Listen for specifics: page structure, titles, speed, structured data, a Google Business Profile. “We’ll add some keywords” is not an answer.
  5. Who owns it when it is finished? The domain, the hosting account, the design files and the code should all be in your name. Some firms keep the site on their own platform so you cannot leave. Walk away from that.
  6. Can I update it myself? Every site should let you change text, images, prices and posts without paying for it. Ask to be shown.
  7. What is the price, what does it include, and what is extra? Copywriting, photography, hosting, a shop, a booking system and ongoing SEO are all separate jobs. A fixed price for a written scope is what you want; how much a website costs explains how to compare quotes.
  8. How long will it take, and what do you need from me? Most delays are content: the words and pictures the designer is waiting for. A realistic timescale comes with a list of what you have to provide and when.
  9. What happens after launch? Updates, backups, security and small changes need doing. Ask what it costs and who does it.
  10. Can I phone a client? Not read a testimonial: phone one. A designer who is proud of the work will give you a number.

The warning signs

  • Guaranteed page-one rankings. Nobody can promise this, because Google decides. It is the oldest line in the business.
  • A price before a conversation. Packages priced before anyone has asked what the site is for are built to a template, whatever the brochure says.
  • Monthly fees you cannot leave. “Website rental” sounds cheap until you realise you never own anything.
  • No site of their own worth looking at. If the designer’s own website is slow, dated or thin, assume yours will be.
  • Cold calls and pressure. Good designers are busy with referrals. They do not need to phone you at lunchtime.

Agency or independent?

An agency gives you a team and a process, and you pay for the account management, the office and the margin on top of the work. An independent gives you one person who does the whole job, cheaper for the same quality, with the risk that one person has limits: if they are ill, or if the project needs six people for a month, you will know about it. For most Torbay businesses the independent is the better fit, provided the person has the range to do design, build and search properly. For a large organisation with a dozen stakeholders, an agency’s structure can be worth the premium.

A local designer, agency or not, has one more advantage that is easy to underrate: they know the market. They know that Paignton searches differ from Torquay ones, that the season shapes everything along the seafront, and that a Brixham fishmonger and a Wellswood solicitor need different things. That knowledge shows up in the pages.

What I would do in your position

Shortlist three. Give each the same two-sentence brief and the same budget range. Compare not the prices but what each proposes to do for the money and how clearly they explain it. Phone a client of each. Then choose the one whose explanation you understood best, because that is the person you will be working with for the next three months and, if it goes well, the next ten years. If you would like to put me on that shortlist, the about page explains how I work and the contact page is where it starts.

The short versionDecide what the site is for, then ask who does the work, test their sites for speed, confirm you will own everything, get a fixed price for a written scope and phone a client. Avoid guaranteed rankings, rental models and prices quoted before anyone has asked a question. Choosing a web designer in Torquay is mostly a matter of asking the questions above and listening carefully.