Most of what goes wrong with a small business website goes wrong in the first conversation, before anybody has drawn anything. These are the questions worth asking, and roughly what a good answer sounds like.
Ask them of us too.
1. Who holds the domain and the hosting?
A good answer: a clear one, in writing: whose account the domain sits in, who hosts the site, and what you get if you ever leave.
If the answer is vague, or the builder holds everything "for convenience" with no word on how you'd get it back, that convenience becomes something they hold over you the day the relationship ends. This is the single most important question on the list and it's the one asked least often.
2. What happens if I want to change the text myself?
A good answer: either you get a way to edit it, or you get a straight explanation of what a change costs and how long it takes.
There's no single right architecture here. Plenty of good small business sites have no editor at all, and that's fine as long as changes are cheap and quick. What you're listening for is whether a one-word fix is a five-minute job or a project.
3. How many pages, and which ones?
A good answer: a specific list, with a page per thing you want to be hired for.
Watch for a quote that says "up to 5 pages" without saying which five. Page count matters less than what the pages are about. One page per service is what makes each service findable at all.
4. Who writes the words?
A good answer: a clear one, either way.
This is the most common place a project stalls. Either they write it and you review, or you write it and they lay it out, or you do it together. All three work. What doesn't work is both sides assuming the other one is doing it, which is why a half-built site sits at 80% for four months.
5. What happens after launch?
A good answer: a named arrangement, whatever it is.
Software needs updating, certificates expire, plugins break, forms stop. Either somebody is looking after that or nobody is, and both are valid answers as long as you know which one you bought. "We'll be here if you need us" doesn't tell you who does the updates.
6. Can I see something you built that's still live?
A good answer: links to live sites that load right now.
Screenshots and mockups don't count. Open two or three on your phone and see how they feel. If everything in the portfolio is from four years ago, ask what they have shipped this year.
7. What would you tell me not to do?
A good answer: something specific, and slightly unwelcome.
This is the one that tells you most. Somebody who has built a lot of these has opinions about what wastes small business money, and will say so even when the thing you asked about is a thing they could bill for. Somebody who agrees with every idea you float is only quoting.
Ask About Price and Technology Last
Price. Ask it, obviously, and ask it after you know what you are comparing. Two quotes for "a website" can differ by a factor of five and describe very different work.
Technology. Whether it's built on one platform or another matters far less to you than who owns it, who maintains it, and how quickly it can change. Let them pick the tool. Hold them to the outcomes.
If you're collecting quotes right now and want a second read on one, send it over. We'll tell you what we think of it, including when it looks like a good deal.