Choosing a contractor to build your website is harder than it looks. Everyone shows a handsome portfolio, everyone promises results, everyone says the right things. And the difference between a good studio and a bad one only becomes clear three months in, when changing anything is late and expensive.
This article is about seeing that difference in advance. No jargon, straight to the point: what to look at, which signs should put you on guard, and what to ask before you sign a contract.
First, work out what you actually need
The main mistake is looking for “someone to build a website” without knowing which website and what for. The contractor for a company showcase, for an online store with thousands of products, and for a complex product that has to be explained are often three different contractors.
Before you start comparing studios, answer three questions for yourself. What should the site do for the business — bring in enquiries, sell, explain, raise your standing? Who is your customer and what should they understand in the first few seconds? And what would it mean, for you, that the site has worked? The clearer you are on this yourself, the easier it is to tell apart the people who actually heard you from the people who sell everyone the same thing.
What to look for in a portfolio
The portfolio is the first thing you will be shown, and there is a right way to read it.
Do not look only at how pretty it is. Plenty of people can produce a beautiful picture. Look at whether the site does its job. Is it clear from the first screen what the company does? Is it easy to find what you came for? Is there an obvious path to an action? If a portfolio site is beautiful but you cannot tell what you are supposed to do on it, that is a warning sign.
Check the work live. Open the portfolio sites in a browser, not as pictures. Do they load quickly? Do they behave properly on a phone? Are they living sites or ones abandoned long ago? A studio that builds fast, tidy websites is not afraid of people opening them for real.
Look for work that resembles your task in substance, not in industry. A studio does not have to have built a site for your exact field. What matters more is whether it has handled projects of similar complexity.
Signs that should put you on guard
A few things give away a weak contractor fairly reliably.
They quote a price straight away, without getting into the task. If you are given an exact figure on the first call, it means you are being sold a template rather than a solution. An honest estimate is only possible once the task is understood.
They promise everything at once, cheap and within a week. A good website is the work of several people over several weeks. “A turnkey site in three days” is either a template or a lie.
They do not ask questions. If a contractor does not ask about your business, your customers and your goals but goes straight to “let's build it”, they will be building blind. A good studio listens first.
Vague answers about technology and speed. You do not need to understand code. But if the question “will the site be fast and will people find it in search” gets a general answer, the honest reading is that nobody is thinking about it.
It is unclear who will actually do the work. At large agencies one person sells and entirely different people build — people you will never meet. It is worth knowing exactly who will work on your project and whether you will be able to talk to them directly.
Questions worth asking before you start
A few simple questions save months of disappointment.
Who exactly will work on the project, and will I be able to talk to them directly? How does the process work — when and what will I see? What technologies do you work with, and why? What happens to the site's loading speed and its place in search? What happens after launch — how do we refine and grow the site? And what do you NOT take on?
The last question is the most revealing. A studio that takes on anything at all is usually strong at nothing in particular. A studio that says honestly “that one is not for us” knows its own worth and keeps its focus.
A large agency or a small studio
It is a common choice, and there is truth on both sides.
A large agency means process, resources and the capacity to carry very big projects. It also means layers of managers between you and the people doing the work. You speak to an account manager, who passes it on to a project manager, who passes it on to the team. Meaning is lost along the way, decisions are slow, and the price has that whole structure built into it.
A small studio works directly. You speak to the people who design the thing and write the code. Decisions come faster, meaning is not distorted, and you pay for work rather than for the layer above it. The downside is that a small studio physically cannot take on ten projects at once, which is why good studios are often busy and accept a limited number of jobs.
For most businesses that need a strong, well-considered website rather than an industrial production line, a small studio turns out to be both faster and more precise.
The bottom line
A good contractor is given away not by the volume of their promises but by the way they listen. If a studio gets to grips with your task first, is honest about timeline and price, is not afraid to show live work and explains clearly who will do what and how — that is already half the battle.
How we work
Pragmatic Center is a small studio, and that is a deliberate choice. We take on a limited number of projects so that each one can be done properly. You work directly with the people who design, draw and write the code — no intermediaries. We listen to the task first, then show a concept and an honest estimate, and only then get to work. And we say openly what we do not do — because we consider that just as important as the things we do well.
If you are looking for a studio you can feel calm with, write to us. Tell us about the task and we will say honestly whether we are a good fit for each other.