How to choose a web developer: freelancer, agency or website builder?

1. Freelancer, agency or builder — how do they differ?

The three most common routes to a business website differ not only in price but above all in who is responsible for the result:

• —Website builder (Wix, Squarespace and the like): you build the site yourself from ready-made blocks. Cheapest to start, but it is your time, your copy and your responsibility for SEO and speed. The site lives as long as you pay the subscription and usually cannot be moved elsewhere.
• —Freelancer: one person runs the project from first call to launch. You talk directly to whoever writes the code, and costs are usually lower than an agency's. The risk: everything rests on one person, which makes access and documentation all the more important.
• —Agency: a team: account manager, designer, developer, sometimes a copywriter. Good for large projects with several people on the client side. It costs more, and contact with the people doing the work goes through an intermediary.

2. How to read a developer's portfolio

Pretty screenshots are not enough. You can check a portfolio in fifteen minutes:

1. 1.Visit a few projects live rather than just looking at images. Do the sites still work? Do they look good on a phone?
2. 2.Run two or three of them through PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev). The mobile score says a lot about how the developer approaches quality.
3. 3.Check whether the projects all look alike. Five identical sites from one template is a sign that yours will be the sixth.
4. 4.Look for projects in your industry or with a similar goal — a brochure site, a shop and an app are different skills.
5. 5.If you can, ask one of the clients what working together was like after the site was handed over.

3. Questions worth asking before you start

Good questions quickly separate developers who think about your business from those who think about their next project:

• —What will the site be built on, and can it later be moved to another developer?
• —Whose name will the domain, hosting and accounts (Google Search Console, analytics) be registered under?
• —Will I receive every login and the code when the project is finished?
• —How many rounds of revisions does the quote include, and what happens if I want more?
• —Who prepares the copy and photos — and what if I do not have them?
• —What does support look like after launch: what is included and what do I pay for separately?
• —How will we communicate and how often will I see progress?

You do not need to understand the technology to judge the answers. A specific, calm answer is a good sign; an evasive one, or “anything is possible, we'll see”, less so.

4. What a good quote should include

A one-line quote — “business website, X” — is a recipe for misunderstandings. A proper offer includes:

• —Scope: a list of pages and features (contact form, bookings, blog, language versions).
• —What is included: design, copy, photos, basic SEO, analytics setup, deployment to the server.
• —Timeline: broken into stages, with what the developer needs from you and when.
• —Revisions: how many rounds are included and at which stage.
• —Costs after launch: domain, hosting, any licences and maintenance — per year, not just the first year.

If you are comparing several offers, compare the scope, not just the totals. The cheapest offer is often cheaper because something is missing from it.

5. Warning signs

A few things that should ring alarm bells before you sign anything:

• —the developer wants to register the domain in their own name “for convenience”,
• —no live projects, only graphics and mockups,
• —a promise of “first place on Google” by a set date — nobody can honestly make it,
• —full payment up front, with no stages,
• —no answer to the question of what technology the site will be built on,
• —a subscription where, once you cancel, the site disappears and you get neither the files nor the code.

6. What good collaboration looks like

Whoever you choose, smooth collaboration shares a few traits: a written scope and timeline at the start, a design you see before any code is written, and progress you follow on a preview link rather than only on handover day.

On your side, the biggest speed-ups are one decision-maker and materials prepared in advance — copy, logo, photos, logins. I describe exactly what to gather in the article on what to prepare before a website project starts.

At the end you should receive every login, a short guide and a clear picture of what comes next: who looks after updates and backups, and what it costs.

7. Common questions about choosing a developer

Is a freelancer a bigger risk than an agency?

A different one, not necessarily bigger. With an agency the risk is staff turnover and intermediaries; with a freelancer, dependence on one person. Either way, the safeguard is having the logins yourself and a site built on technology many developers know.

Can I switch developers mid-project or after launch?

Yes, if you have access to the domain, hosting and code. That is why it is worth agreeing on it in writing before the start, not when you part ways.

How long does it take to build a business website?

A typical business website takes 2–6 weeks from approval of the concept, depending on scope and how quickly the content comes together.

8. Let's talk about your website

I run every project myself — from the first call through design and code to launch. You deal directly with the person writing your site, get a fixed price agreed at the start and receive every login at the end.

Tell me briefly about your business and what the site should achieve, and you'll get a free quote within 48 hours.