The web design industry has a dirty secret: most of its problems for small businesses are not about design at all. They are about ownership, dependency, and scope, and none of those appear in the sales meeting unless you drag them there. These seven questions do the dragging. Ask them of anyone you talk to, including us. We have put our own answers on the record at the bottom, because a checklist from an agency that will not take its own test is just marketing.
The seven
One. Who owns the website when it is finished? Not hosts, owns. The domain, the code, the content, the images. The only acceptable answer is you, all of it, in writing. Agencies that keep ownership are not building you an asset, they are building themselves a subscription with your business as the hostage.
Two. What happens if I stop paying you? The honest answer is your site keeps running and you take it anywhere. If the answer involves the site coming down, features switching off, or a platform you cannot leave, that is not a service relationship, it is a lease with an eviction clause.
Three. What exactly is included, as a list? Number of pages, who writes the words, who supplies photos, what happens after launch. Vague scope is the single most common way small businesses get burned, because everything not listed becomes a change order later.
Four. Can I make my own updates, and will you show me how? Changing a price or swapping a photo should not cost you a support ticket. Any modern site can hand you that control. An agency that keeps it is choosing recurring revenue over your independence.
Five. What do you actually do for the monthly fee? Monthly fees are legitimate, hosting, maintenance, real ongoing work. But ask for the list. If nobody can tell you what happens in a given month, the fee is for nothing happening.
Six. How will my site show up in search, including the AI kind? You are not testing for jargon. You are watching whether they mention the unglamorous work: page structure machines can read, consistent business details, content that answers real questions. Anyone promising guaranteed rankings on Google or ChatGPT is lying, since nobody controls those systems. Anyone with no answer at all has not thought about where your customers actually are.
Seven. Show me a build and tell me the truth about it. Real client work, or an honest demonstration labeled as such, either is fine. What you are testing is whether they volunteer the truth before you ask. An agency that shades the answer to this will shade every answer after you sign.
Our answers, on the record
You own everything from day one, and if you leave, everything goes with you and keeps working; it is the first line of our FAQ. Our scope and prices are published on the services page, not revealed in a meeting. Every site ships with you able to edit it. Our monthly tiers list what happens each month, and the missed call system that anchors them demonstrates itself: call (587) 570-4892 and hang up. And our featured build is a demonstration site, labeled as exactly that on every page, because we are a new studio and our first real case studies are being earned in public through our Founding Client program, results published good or bad.
Take the seven questions to three agencies, us included. The one that answers all seven in plain language without flinching is the one to hire, whoever that turns out to be.