Every portfolio looks good. That is what a portfolio is for. It shows finished work on the projects that went well, which tells you almost nothing about what happens when a project gets difficult — and every project gets difficult somewhere.
These seven questions are the ones that reveal how someone actually works. For each, I have noted the answer that should give you pause.
1. What will this site be measured on?
You want a supplier who asks this before you do. A site can be built to generate enquiries, to reduce support calls, to sell directly, or simply to look credible — and those are four different sites.
Worrying answer: anything about how the site will look, in response to a question about what it will do.
2. Who owns the accounts?
The domain, the hosting, the analytics, the CMS. All of it should be registered to you, on your email, with you as the administrator. A supplier can absolutely manage them — but ownership stays with you.
Worrying answer: “don’t worry, we handle all that.” This is the single most common way businesses get stuck with a supplier they want to leave.
3. What happens if you become unavailable?
Illness, a bigger client, a career change. It is a fair question and a professional will have thought about it. You are looking for documentation, handover notes, and a build on a platform other people can work on.
Worrying answer: anything that reveals the site is built in a way only they understand.
4. What is not included?
Ask for the exclusions explicitly. Copywriting, photography, ongoing updates, hosting, training, and post-launch fixes are the usual suspects, and the usual sources of an unexpected second invoice.
Worrying answer: “everything’s included.” Nothing includes everything. It means they have not thought about scope, and you will discover the boundary during an argument.
5. Can I edit it myself?
Be specific: can you change text on an existing page, add a new page, and publish an article, without help? For many businesses the answer needs to be yes, and the honest answer is often “text yes, layout no.”
Worrying answer: an unqualified yes. It usually means either a page builder loose enough that you can break the design, or a demonstration that was never tested by a non-technical person.
6. What happens after launch?
Launch is the middle of the project, not the end. Ask what the first month looks like: who fixes what breaks, who watches the analytics, how changes are requested, and what it costs.
Worrying answer: a proposal that ends at launch with no mention of what follows.
7. Can I speak to a client whose project went badly?
The best question on this list, and the most uncomfortable to ask. Every supplier with a real history has had a project go sideways. What you are testing is whether they will admit it and describe what they changed.
Worrying answer: “that’s never happened.” It has. They are either not telling you, or they have not worked long enough to find out.
What to do with the answers
You are not looking for perfect answers. You are looking for someone who has clearly thought about the questions before you asked them, who says “I don’t know” when they don’t, and who tells you what is not included without being pushed.
The supplier who gives you a slightly awkward, specific answer is almost always a better bet than the one who gives you a smooth, general one.
Written with AI assistance. The angle, the argument and the editorial direction of this article are mine — I brainstormed and shaped it. The drafting was done with AI, and I reviewed and edited the final text before publishing.