Choosing the right web agency.

Agency, freelancer or platform?

You have three routes. The online platform: cheap to start with, but you do everything yourself and the result looks like millions of others. The freelancer: often excellent value for money, provided you check their reliability over time. The agency: more resources and guarantees, at very variable rates.

The right choice depends less on the type of provider than on the answers to the questions below.

The 7 questions to ask

• "Will I own 100% of the site?" Domain, hosting, files: everything must be in your name.
• "Is the price fixed?" A quote that can grow along the way is not a quote.
• "Who writes the copy?" If it's you, allow time: it is the first thing that holds projects up.
• "What happens after go-live?" Training, guarantee, response times: the real test of a provider.
• "Can I see recently delivered sites?" And test them on your phone: speed, mobile, finish.
• "How do you handle SEO?" Structure, tags, speed and redirects should be included, not a mystery option.
• "Will I be able to edit the site myself?" Being independent after delivery changes everything about the real cost.

The warning signs

• A quote sent without asking you a single question about your business
• Promises of a guaranteed or immediate first page on Google
• A lifelong monthly subscription for a "free" website
• A portfolio with no recent sites you can check online
• No way of reaching a specific person

Check before you sign

Cross-check three sources: the work online (really test it), the company's Google reviews, and a direct conversation: a 30-minute call reveals more than a brochure. You should come out of that call with clear answers, not more questions.

The three billing models

Before comparing amounts, you need to understand what is being billed. Three models coexist on the market, and they don't place the risk in the same place.

• The fixed fee. A fixed price for a defined scope. The risk of overrun is carried by the provider, which forces them to scope seriously up front. It is the clearest model for a business owner, provided the scope is written down.
• Time and materials, billed by the hour. Suited to projects whose end isn't known, it puts all the risk on you: every hesitation and every back-and-forth is paid for. For a showcase website, it is rarely justified.
• The monthly subscription, often presented with no upfront payment. The site is rented more than bought. Always check two clauses: what belongs to you at the end, and what happens if you stop. A site you lose when you cancel was never yours.

None of these models is dishonest in itself. The problem is a model that isn't named clearly in the proposal.

Reading a quote line by line

A website quote is judged less by its total than by what it details. Here is what to look for, in order.

• The priced scope. How many pages, how many mock-ups, how many rounds of revisions included. A quote that announces a site without saying how many pages leaves everything open to discussion later, once you are committed.
• Who writes the copy. This is the item that causes the most unpleasant surprises. If the line doesn't exist, the answer is you, and the project will wait until you write.
• Basic SEO. Heading structure, tags, sitemap, speed. If nothing appears, ask whether it is included or missing. Both answers exist on the market.
• Revisions after delivery. How many, and for how long. A correction guarantee limited to seven days isn't worth the same as one month.
• Training and handover. A site you aren't taught to edit makes you dependent, and that dependence has a recurring cost the quote doesn't show.
• Annual fees. Hosting, domain name, any licences. They aren't in the build price, but they come round every year.

A single-line quote for an overall amount is not a sign of simplicity. It is a quote you can't challenge, because it states nothing specific.

What must be in the contract

A few clauses are worth more than a few hundred euros of discount. They decide what happens the day the relationship ends, and that is the day you regret not having read them.

• Ownership. The domain name, hosting and site files must be in your name, not the provider's. Check this when you order, not at the end.
• Reversibility. You must be able to take back your site and hand it to someone else, without negotiation. Ask explicitly in what form the handover is made.
• Access. You must hold the administrator credentials, not just an editor account. A provider who keeps control of the access keeps control of your site.
• The deadline and what pauses it. Most delays come from content awaited from the client. An honest contract says so, and specifies what stops the clock.
• What happens to the data. Forms, customer accounts, statistics: who holds them, where they are hosted, how to export them.

At Widesign, these points are part of the base package and the site belongs 100% to you: files, design, domain. We say it here because it is exactly the clause we advise you to check with everyone, including us.

The questions people don't think to ask

The seven questions in the previous section cover the project. These cover the relationship, and they are often what makes the difference after six months.

• Who will actually work on my site? The person who sells isn't always the one who produces. Knowing who is at the keyboard avoids many misunderstandings.
• How many projects do you run in parallel? The answer explains most of the announced lead times, and how credible they are.
• What happens if I'm not happy with the mock-ups? A precise answer is worth more than a promise of goodwill.
• How do I reach you in an emergency? A channel and a response time, not just a contact address.
• What have you delivered for a company like mine? Ask for an example in your industry or at your scale, and if possible a reference you can call.
• What happens to the site if you close your business? An uncomfortable question, an instructive answer.

What a good scoping session looks like

The scoping session is the meeting before the quote. Its quality is a fairly good predictor of the project's, and you can judge it without any technical knowledge.

• You are asked about your business before the site is discussed. A provider who starts by presenting their tools hasn't yet understood what you sell.
• They want to know what the site should deliver, and how you will know it has worked. Without that question, there is no objective, just an order.
• You are told what won't be done. An honest scoping session sets limits, it doesn't say yes to everything.
• Content comes up very early. It is the item that derails the most projects, and mentioning it late is a bad sign.
• You leave with a written summary. A scoping session that leaves no trace will be rediscussed later, from memory, and memories differ.

At Widesign, this meeting lasts 30 minutes and is used to understand what is holding you back, so you leave with a clear plan. The first call is free and with no commitment, precisely because it is as much about knowing whether we are the right fit as about pricing a project.

What the relationship looks like after delivery

Go-live is not the end of the story, and how a provider organises the aftermath is something to ask before signing.

• Corrections. How long after delivery, and on what terms. You discover a site by using it, and the first feedback arrives within the month.
• Updates. Who does them, how often, and what happens if they break something. A site left without updates becomes a security hole.
• Changes. Adding a page, a language, a feature: on quote, at a fixed fee, or within a subscription. Knowing in advance avoids unpleasant budget surprises.
• Independence. What you can edit yourself after training, and what will always need someone to step in. A clear line is worth more than a promise of total independence.
• Availability. A channel, a stated response time, and a named person. That is what matters the day the form stops working on a Friday evening.

A relationship that stops dead at the final invoice is not a bad sign in itself, if everyone understood it that way. The problem is finding out when you first need something.

Comparing three proposals without getting lost

Three quotes arrive, each with its own presentation, vocabulary and total. Here is a simple method to make them comparable in an hour.

• Put everything into a single table, one row per item: scoping, design, build, content, SEO, training, revisions, annual fees. Fill in the amounts, and clearly mark the empty cells.
• Count the empty cells before looking at the totals. They explain most price differences, and they are what will come back during the project.
• Add three years of recurring costs to each total. A higher initial quote with low annual fees can cost less after three years.
• Note separately what can't be priced: how clear the answers are, how relevant the questions asked are, whether deadlines are met during the sales phase. These are fairly good predictors of what comes next.

If two proposals are still level after this exercise, take the one whose answer you understood best. On a project lasting several weeks, a clear contact is worth more than a few hundred euros.