A portfolio looks impressive in a pitch meeting. The case studies are polished, the screenshots are gorgeous, and the agency seems to know what they're talking about. Six months later you've spent £12,000, the website still isn't live, the CMS is impossible to update, and the agency has gone quiet.
This happens more often than it should. The problem isn't usually that the agency is incompetent — it's that you didn't ask the right questions before you signed. The questions below reveal more about an agency than their portfolio ever will. Use them.
Process & Approach
1. How do you handle discovery before you start designing?
Why it matters: Agencies that skip discovery and go straight to design are designing based on assumptions. Discovery — understanding your users, your competitors, your conversion goals, and your content — is what separates a website that works from one that looks nice.
Good answer: "We spend the first two to four weeks in discovery. We'll review your existing website, look at your analytics if you have them, audit your competitors, and run a requirements workshop with your team. Design doesn't start until we've agreed on the brief."
Bad answer: "We'll send you a questionnaire to fill in and then we'll get designs over to you within a week."
2. What's your actual design process, from brief to live?
Why it matters: "Design → build → launch" is not a process. You need to understand how many rounds of feedback are included, how designs are presented (static mockups? interactive prototypes? browser previews?), and how changes are handled between the design and development phases.
Good answer: A clear description of stages — discovery, wireframes, visual design, development, quality assurance, staging review, launch — with defined roles for who does what and how feedback is captured.
Bad answer: "We'll design it, you give us feedback, we build it." No structure, no defined stages, no process for managing changes.
3. Do you build mobile-first?
Why it matters: More than half of UK web traffic is mobile. "Mobile-responsive" means the site was designed for desktop and then squashed to fit a small screen. "Mobile-first" means the mobile experience was designed first, then expanded for larger screens. The difference in quality is significant.
Good answer: "Yes, all our designs start from the mobile breakpoint and we test every component on mobile before we sign off."
Bad answer: "Yes, everything we build is responsive." That's not the same thing.
4. Who actually works on my project?
Why it matters: You meet senior people in the pitch meeting. The work is often done by junior staff or subcontracted to overseas freelancers. Neither of these is automatically bad, but you deserve to know.
Good answer: An honest description of who your account manager will be, who the lead designer and developer are, whether any work is subcontracted, and the seniority of the team members you'll be working with.
Bad answer: Vague reassurances that "our team will take care of everything." Who is your team? Be specific.
SEO & Performance
5. What do you do for SEO during the build?
Why it matters: A website built without SEO in mind — no proper URL structure, no title tags, no meta descriptions, no heading hierarchy, no schema markup — is a problem from day one. Retrofitting SEO is always more expensive and disruptive than building it in from the start.
Good answer: A description of how they approach technical SEO during development: URL structure planning, page-by-page title and meta work, schema markup implementation, XML sitemap generation, robots.txt setup, redirect mapping from the old site.
Bad answer: "We can add SEO later" or "we use an SEO plugin" (which is not the same as doing SEO).
6. How do you handle page speed and Core Web Vitals?
Why it matters: Page speed is a Google ranking factor, and more importantly it directly affects conversion rates. A 1-second delay in mobile page load reduces conversions by around 20%. Sites built on unoptimised themes, with uncompressed images and too many third-party scripts, are slow by default.
Good answer: "We test for Core Web Vitals throughout the build, not just at launch. We optimise images, implement lazy loading, use a CDN, and avoid unnecessary third-party scripts. We'll aim for a Lighthouse score of 90+ before we launch."
Bad answer: "It'll be fast, don't worry about it." That's not an answer.
7. Do you set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics?
Why it matters: Without Search Console, you can't monitor for crawl errors, submit your sitemap, or track how Google sees your site. Without Analytics, you have no data on how people are using the website after launch. Both should be set up before launch, not weeks after.
Good answer: "Yes — we set up GA4 with goal tracking, link it to Search Console, and submit your sitemap before launch. We'll also walk you through how to read the data."
Bad answer: "We can do that if you want" — meaning it's not in their default process and they'll charge extra.
8. How do you handle URL redirects from the old site?
Why it matters: If your old site has pages that rank in Google and you launch a new site with different URLs — and without 301 redirects from the old URLs — you'll lose all the ranking equity those pages had. This is one of the most common and damaging oversights in web rebuilds. Our guide to redesigning without losing SEO covers this in detail.
Good answer: "We audit your existing site for ranked pages, map all the old URLs to new equivalents, and implement 301 redirects on launch day. We also monitor Search Console for 404 errors post-launch."
Bad answer: "Don't worry, Google will figure it out." No, it won't.
Ownership & Code
9. Who owns the code once the site is built?
Why it matters: Some agencies build websites on proprietary platforms where you're locked in to them for hosting, maintenance, and updates. If you leave, the website leaves with them. This is a serious commercial risk.
Good answer: "You own the code outright. Once the final invoice is paid, you have full ownership of the codebase, all design files, and all third-party licences. You can take it to any developer you choose."
Bad answer: "The platform we use is ours, but you always have access to it while you're a client." Read the contract carefully.
10. Do I get access to all credentials?
Why it matters: Agencies sometimes set up hosting, domain registrar accounts, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and social accounts under their own agency accounts. When you leave, getting access to these can become a protracted nightmare — or impossible.
Good answer: "Every service we set up uses your credentials. Your domain is registered in your name, hosting is billed to you, and you have admin access to every platform from day one."
Bad answer: "We manage all of that for you." The question was who owns the access, not who manages it.
11. What happens if we part ways after launch?
Why it matters: Things change. You might grow and need a larger agency. You might move work in-house. You might simply be unhappy with the ongoing service. Knowing upfront what the handover process looks like saves significant stress later.
Good answer: "If you ever want to move on, we'll compile a full handover document — all logins, platform details, third-party services, DNS settings, and a technical overview — and transfer everything to you or your new agency within a defined timeframe."
Bad answer: Vagueness. Or hostility at the question. Either is a red flag.
Post-Launch Support
12. What does support look like after launch?
Why it matters: Websites break, need updates, and require ongoing attention. The question is how responsive the agency is and what's included vs. what's extra.
Good answer: A clear description of the support package — response times, what's included in a retainer vs. charged additionally, whether they have a ticketing system or a dedicated account manager.
Bad answer: "Just email us if anything goes wrong." Not a support model.
13. How do I update content on my site?
Why it matters: If you need a developer every time you want to change a paragraph or add a new page, you've lost control of your own website. The CMS should be usable by non-technical people for routine content updates.
Good answer: A demonstration of the CMS (ask to see it, not just hear about it). A description of what you can update yourself and what requires development work. Ideally, a training session included in the project.
Bad answer: "Just send us the changes and we'll do them." Every content update through the agency, charged at their hourly rate.
14. What ongoing maintenance do you recommend and what does it cost?
Why it matters: WordPress plugins need updating. SSL certificates expire. Security patches need applying. A website without maintenance will eventually have issues. You should know what's recommended and how much it costs before you've committed.
Good answer: A transparent maintenance package with defined inclusions — monthly plugin updates, uptime monitoring, security scanning, backup management — at a clear monthly cost.
Bad answer: None. "We'll let you know if anything comes up" is not a maintenance plan.
Proof
15. Can I speak to a current client?
Why it matters: Portfolio screenshots can be faked or cherry-picked. A five-minute conversation with a current or recent client tells you far more than any case study. The fact that an agency offers this without hesitation is itself a good sign.
Good answer: "Absolutely. Here are two contacts who've agreed to take calls from prospective clients. They're both recent projects in a similar sector to you."
Bad answer: Any hesitation, excuse, or substitute. "We can show you more case studies" is not the same thing.
16. Can you show me traffic data from a site you've built?
Why it matters: A beautiful website that generates no traffic or leads has failed. If the agency can demonstrate — with real analytics data — that the sites they build actually perform in search and conversion, that's meaningful proof.
Good answer: "Yes — here's the Search Console data from a client in a similar industry. You can see organic traffic has grown from X to Y since launch."
Bad answer: "We don't share client data." Some confidentiality is reasonable, but a genuine SEO-focused agency should have at least one client willing to have their traffic growth shared anonymously.
17. How do you measure success?
Why it matters: The answer tells you whether the agency thinks in terms of vanity metrics (how it looks, how many pages it has) or actual business outcomes (organic traffic, conversion rate, leads generated, revenue).
Good answer: "We define success metrics with you before we start — typically organic traffic growth, conversion rate improvement, and leads generated. We'll set up tracking so we can measure all of these from day one."
Bad answer: "We'll deliver a great-looking website that represents your brand." That's not a success metric.
Commercial Terms
18. What's included and what's extra?
Why it matters: Web project scope creep is rampant. "Extra" charges for things you assumed were included is one of the most common sources of conflict between clients and agencies.
Good answer: A detailed scope of work in the proposal — exactly how many pages, how many rounds of revisions, what functionality is included, what's explicitly excluded. No surprises.
Bad answer: A vague list of deliverables that leaves room for interpretation. If you can't tell exactly what's included from reading the proposal, ask for it in writing before you sign.
19. How do you handle scope changes?
Why it matters: Requirements change. Something that seemed simple turns out to be complex. You realise mid-project that you need a feature you didn't include in the original brief. How this is handled — fairly and transparently, or as an opportunity to inflate the invoice — tells you a lot about the agency.
Good answer: "Any changes outside the agreed scope are quoted separately before work begins. We'll tell you the cost and time impact before we proceed, so there are no surprises."
Bad answer: "We'll be flexible" with no further detail. Flexible is nice; transparent is better.
20. What are your payment terms?
Why it matters: Standard in the industry is roughly 50% upfront, milestone payment(s) during the project, and a final payment on launch. Be cautious of agencies that want 100% upfront, and equally cautious of any arrangement where you're paying for a finished product you haven't reviewed.
Good answer: A clear payment schedule tied to project milestones, with final payment on sign-off of the completed site.
Bad answer: Full payment upfront, or vague terms. Either represents risk to you.
What Great Agencies Are Happy to Answer
The best agencies don't find these questions difficult. They've thought about all of this. They have clear positions on ownership, they have proven processes for SEO and performance, they have real client references they can connect you with, and they have transparent commercial terms.
They'll also push back on you if your brief is unclear, your budget is unrealistic, or you're expecting a result that isn't achievable in your timeframe. That's not arrogance — that's honesty, and it's what you want from someone you're hiring.
What Bad Agencies Avoid
Vague answers to the process questions. Resistance to the ownership questions. No clear answer on who actually does the work. References that can't be contacted. Metrics defined as "a good-looking website." Payment structures that front-load your commitment.
None of this is disqualifying on its own. But several of these together — or a defensive reaction to being asked at all — should make you think hard before signing.
Where to Go From Here
If you're actively evaluating agencies right now, this list is your starting point. Take it into every conversation. The answers you get will tell you as much as the portfolio.
If you want to understand what the red flags look like in practice, our post on 10 signs your website needs a redesign covers the outcomes of bad agency choices from the client's perspective. And our piece on how to choose a web design agency in London covers the broader selection process.
We're happy to answer every one of these questions ourselves, in writing, before you make any decision. That's how confident we are in what we do. If you want to have that conversation, get in touch with the NetTrackers team. Our web design and web design and development services are built around exactly these principles — you own everything, the process is transparent, and we measure success by what the site actually delivers for your business.