How to tell if a web designer is actually good.
Almost everyone who's been burned by a bad website hire says the same thing afterward. It looked fine in the mockup. That's the trap. A website is not just a picture. It has to actually work, load fast, and show up on Google. Here's how to check for that before you sign anything.
Ask to see real, live websites, not mockups
A mockup is a picture of a website. It cannot show you if the site actually loads fast, works on a phone, or shows up in a Google search. Ask for links to real, live sites they built, then check them yourself, on your own phone, on a slow connection if you can.
Check how the site actually performs
Open one of their real sites and time how long it takes to load. Anything past a couple seconds is a red flag. Slow sites lose visitors before they even see the page, and Google ranks slow sites lower too.
Ask who will actually own the domain and hosting
This is the single most common way people get locked in. If the designer's name is on the domain registration or hosting account instead of yours, you do not fully own your own website. Ask this question directly, before you pay anything.
Look for real writing, not filler
A lot of cheap websites are built from templates with placeholder text lightly edited. Read the actual words on the site. Does it sound like it was written for that specific business, or could you swap the business name and have it work for anyone?
Ask what happens if you want to leave later
A good answer is simple and calm. Your files, your domain, your hosting, nothing to untangle. If the answer is vague, or involves a fee to "release" your site, that's a real warning sign worth taking seriously.
Here's how I answer these questions.
Ownership, access, and pricing, all explained clearly before you ever commit to anything.
See the Ownership Breakdown