How to choose a web designer: a Northamptonshire guide
Choosing who builds your website is one of the more important decisions your business will make — and one of the hardest to judge if you have never done it before. Here is an honest, plain-English guide to picking the right person, from a studio that builds for Northamptonshire businesses every week.
The wrong choice is expensive
A website is not a one-off purchase you forget about. It is the front door to your business, the thing most people judge you by before they ever call, and the engine that decides whether you get found on Google at all. Get the designer right and it quietly works for you for years. Get it wrong and you pay twice — once for the site that does not perform, and again to have it rebuilt.
The trouble is that web design is easy to sell and hard to judge from the outside. Anyone can call themselves a web designer, show you a pretty homepage and quote a number. What you actually want is someone who builds sites that get found, build trust and turn visitors into enquiries — and telling those people apart takes a little knowing what to look for.
It also pays to be honest with yourself about what you need. A single-page site for a sole trader and a multi-service site for a growing firm are different jobs with different price tags. The clearer you are about your goals — more calls, more bookings, looking credible to a bigger client — the easier it is to judge whether a designer is the right fit or simply selling you what they always sell.
A good web designer is judged on results and process, not on how nice their pitch sounds. Ask to see real sites, ask how they work, and be honest about what your business actually needs.
The things that actually matter
Strip away the noise and a good web designer comes down to a handful of things. Look for all of these, not just the first one:
- A portfolio of real results. Not mock-ups — live sites for real businesses. Ideally ones you can visit, and clients who are getting found and getting work. Ours are on our work page.
- A clear process. They should be able to tell you what happens, in what order, and roughly when. A vague “we’ll figure it out” is a warning sign.
- SEO built in, not bolted on. A site that is not built to be found is a brochure nobody reads. Proper SEO and Google setup should be part of the build, not an upsell.
- Ongoing support. Websites need looking after. Ask what happens after launch, and whether they stick around or vanish.
- Someone who gets your market. A designer who understands local businesses and how people actually find them beats a big-city agency who has never heard of your town.
Questions worth asking
You do not need to be technical to ask good questions. You just need to listen for whether the answers are specific or slippery. Try these:
- “Can I see sites you have built, and are those clients getting enquiries?” Good results are the whole point.
- “What exactly is included in the price?” Pages, copy, images, SEO, hosting, revisions — pin it down so nothing appears as a surprise later.
- “Will my site be found on Google, and how?” Listen for a real answer about indexing, local setup and content — not just “yes”.
- “What happens after launch?” Updates, fixes, support and who to call when something breaks.
- “Do I own the site and the domain?” The answer should be a firm yes.
If you would like a straight answer to all of these, that is exactly the sort of conversation we have on a free consultation — no pressure, no jargon.
Red flags worth spotting early
Some warning signs are obvious once you know to look for them. Any one of these is a reason to pause; two or more and you should probably keep looking:
- No portfolio. If they cannot show you real, live work, there is a reason. Ask, and if the answer is evasive, move on.
- Vague pricing. “It depends” is fair for a bespoke quote, but they should still explain what drives the cost. Round numbers with no detail hide surprises.
- Everything is a template. A tweaked stock theme sold as bespoke will look like everyone else and often cannot grow with you.
- No mention of SEO. A designer who never brings up how you will be found is building a site nobody will see.
- They disappear after launch. If there is no plan for support, you are on your own the first time something breaks.
Local, remote, agency, freelancer or DIY
There is no single right answer — only the right fit for your budget and how much you want to be involved. The honest trade-offs:
- DIY builders. Cheapest up front and fine for a very simple presence, but the ongoing cost is your time, and getting found is on you.
- Freelancer. Affordable and direct, with one person accountable. The risk is capacity — one person can only do so much, and support can be patchy.
- Small studio. The middle ground most small businesses want: proper process and results without agency fees or agency distance.
- Big agency. More people and polish, but higher fees and more layers between you and whoever actually builds the thing.
- Local vs remote. A local designer who knows your market and can meet face to face is often worth more than a cheaper name you never speak to.
If you are weighing up a builder like Wix or a designer, our Wix comparison lays out the maths, and our Corby and Northampton pages explain how we work locally.
What we would do in your shoes
We build websites for a living, so of course we think a good designer is worth it — but we would rather you chose the right one than simply chose us. If you are a small business that needs to be found and trusted, look for someone who shows real results, explains their process plainly, builds SEO in from the start, and is still around after launch. Those four things filter out most of the field on their own.
Do not be swayed by the flashiest homepage or the lowest number. The flashiest site might load slowly and rank for nothing; the cheapest might be a template you outgrow in a year. What you are really buying is judgement — someone who asks about your customers before they talk about colours, and who cares whether the finished site actually brings you work.
For most local businesses, that points to a small, accountable studio over either a faceless agency or the cheapest freelancer you can find. That is the space we work in — see how we build on our web design page, what it costs on our packages page, and the work itself on our portfolio. If it helps, we will happily talk you through your options even if you decide we are not the right fit.
Choosing a web designer, answered
The questions we hear most from business owners weighing up who to hire.
01 How much should I pay a web designer?
For a small business site in Northamptonshire, a well-built, properly optimised website usually lands in the low four figures for a focused build, and more for larger or e-commerce sites. Be wary of anything suspiciously cheap — it often means a template with no SEO and no support. Ask exactly what is included, whether ongoing costs apply, and who owns the site afterwards.
02 Should I hire a local web designer or a big agency?
It depends on your budget and how much hand-holding you want. A local designer or small studio usually costs less, replies faster and understands your market, while a large agency has more people but higher fees and more layers between you and whoever does the work. For most small businesses, someone local and directly accountable is the better fit.
03 What should I ask a web designer before hiring them?
Ask to see real sites they have built and whether those clients are getting found and getting enquiries. Ask what their process is, what is and is not included in the price, whether SEO and Google setup are built in, and what happens after launch. Clear, specific answers are a good sign; vague ones are a red flag.
Keep reading
What does a website cost in Northamptonshire?
A plain-English breakdown of what a small business website actually costs locally, and what drives the price up or down.
Web designer vs Wix or Squarespace: which is right for you?
DIY builders look cheap and quick. Sometimes they are the right call — and sometimes they quietly cost you more.