How to Choose a Web Developer: 12 Questions That Will Save Your Budget

In 10 years, we've seen countless clients come to us to "redo" their website because the initial contractor disappeared, broke the code with plugins, or did something that later became impossible to maintain. 80% of issues arise because the right questions weren't asked at the outset.

Why it matters

A website is not just a pretty picture. It is a business asset that must:

• Operate reliably for 3-5 years without a complete overhaul.
• Allow for expansion (new pages, languages, integrations) without rewriting from scratch.
• Be transferable to another developer if the original one is unavailable.
• Generate leads or sales (that's the primary purpose of creating it).

All the questions listed below assess these specific criteria.

12 key questions for a developer

1. What tech stack will you be using and why?

The correct response should be something like "WordPress for a content site because of X, Y, Z," rather than "well, WordPress, everyone does it that way." The developer needs to justify their choice based on your specific needs.

2. Can you show similar projects (not just design, but websites that are operational)?

Don't just look at renders on Behance; check out live websites. Open them on mobile, test the speed with PageSpeed, and view the code (Ctrl+U) to see if there's a plugin zoo.

3. Who owns the code and hosting?

Always you.Domain on your account, hosting on your account, code in your Git repository. If a developer says that hosting and access remain solely on their side without your full control, this is hidden lock-in. The contractor disappears, and you are left without a website.

4. Which plugins do you use and why those specifically?

For WordPress, legitimate options include: ACF Pro, Yoast SEO or Rank Math, WPML or Polylang, WooCommerce. A red flag is a dozen free "design" plugins, page builders like Elementor with a ton of add-ons (slow, not scalable).

5. How does the content manager work after the launch?

Ask to see the admin panel as an example. If changing text in a block requires digging into HTML, the developer has done it wrong. It's standard to have custom fields via ACF and visual editors for content.

6. How do you integrate payment, shipping, and CRM?

For an online store in Ukraine, the response should include: LiqPay, WayForPay, Monobank Acquiring, Nova Poshta API, integration with KeyCRM, Pipedrive, or Bitrix24. If the response is "we'll do it as agreed," that's acceptable. If it's "we'll create the form, and you can copy-paste orders into the CRM," that's not good.

7. What guarantees do you provide for bugs after launch?

The standard in our practice: 30 days of free bug fixes after launch. After that, paid support applies. If a developer says 'no guarantees', they are not a developer, but a technician working with someone else's designs.

8. How do you perform backups?

It's standard practice to have automatic daily backups at the hosting level, plus additional backups in external storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3). If a developer says "backups are the hosting's responsibility," be sure to ask which specific backups and where they are stored.

9. What will happen if I want to hand over the website to another developer?

The correct answer is: "I will provide all the code via git, access to hosting, and documentation for custom solutions." The blacklist includes "a unique CMS only with the contractor, which no one else will be able to support."

10. How long will the launch take, and what does "ready" mean?

"Ready" means design plus layout plus functionality plus copy plus content plus analytics setup plus backup. Ask for a breakdown of the milestones: design by 01.04, layout by 15.04, functionality by 30.04, launch on 05.05.

11. Do you work under a contract? How do you issue invoices?

For Ukraine, it is mandatory to have a sole proprietorship (FOP) with an official contract, invoice, and act. Electronic signatures via Diia are acceptable. Cash transactions without documentation are solely your risk.

12. How do you evaluate SEO aspects?

The developer should propose: Schema.org markup, clean URLs, hreflang for multilingual sites, Core Web Vitals, sitemap.xml, robots.txt. If SEO is an additional service charged separately from the start, that's surprising.

Red flags

• "We’ll deliver in a week for $200." For that price, you can expect nothing more than a theme from ThemeForest.
• Doesn't showcase a portfolio ("NDA"), yet works with small businesses. This is unusual.
• "Hosting is only with the provider, without your access, 500 UAH per month." Often, these are hidden costs that are 2 or 3 times higher.
• Cannot clearly explain what the website will specifically entail.
• Pressures for 100% payment upfront.

Contract: what to check

The contract must include:

• Detailed specifications in the attachment (what is included and what is not).
• Timeline: start date, milestones, delivery date.
• Payment terms: 50/50, 30/40/30, or staggered by milestones.
• Clause on the transfer of ownership rights to the code, where you remain the owner.
• Warranty period for bug fixes.
• Procedure for making changes to the specifications (what is considered a change and what is a correction).

What to do after launch

1. Check in PageSpeed Insights (mobile) to ensure LCP is < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1.
2. Add the site to Google Search Console and submit sitemap.xml.
3. Check for the presence of robots.txt and ensure it is accessible (open site.com/robots.txt).
4. Run a backup and ensure it can be restored.
5. Obtain the Git repository and documentation for custom modules from the developer.

If you have an existing website and want to check if everything is done correctly, message us on Telegram, and we'll provide a free assessment in 15-20 minutes.