How to choose a web designer for a small business

Pick a web designer who puts your domain, hosting and site files in your name, lets you edit the site yourself, and builds it to bring in calls. Check their past work, and get every promise in a written contract.

Getting this wrong costs more than the price of the site. You could end up with a site you don't own. You could pay someone for every small change. Or you could have a nice-looking site that never makes the phone ring.

The six steps below help you avoid all three. To see what the build itself looks like, read our guide to the website design process, step by step.

1. Decide what the site must do

Start with the job, not the look. For most service businesses, the job is to get calls, form fills or bookings.

In the Federal Reserve's 2026 Small Business Credit Survey, 57% of employer firms named reaching customers and growing sales as a challenge. No other operational challenge was more common. The survey ran in fall 2025 and was not a random sample.

Write down the one thing you want a visitor to do. Then ask each designer: "How will this site turn visitors into calls?" Listen for specifics, like a phone button that's easy to tap, short forms, and words your customers actually use. A vague answer about "a modern look" is a warning sign.

2. Check their past work and talk to past clients

Ask for links to real, live sites the designer built. Open them on your phone, since your customers may find you that way. Check that pages load, buttons work and the phone number is easy to tap.

Then call two past clients. Ask them:

• Can you edit your own site?
• Does the designer still answer when you need help?
• Would you hire them again?

Get more than one quote, too. The FTC gives this advice for home improvement jobs, not websites, but it fits here. It says to "get multiple estimates" and "don't automatically choose the lowest bidder."

3. Make sure you own the domain, hosting and files

Skip this step, and it can be hard to fix later.

The domain

Your domain is your web address, like yourbusiness.com. ICANN, the group that oversees domain names, calls the domain's holder the "registrant." ICANN also says the registrant takes on "sole responsibility" for the domain.

So make sure your business is the registrant, not the designer. Get your own login at the registrar, the company where the domain is registered.

To move a domain, you need an auth code. ICANN says your registrar must give it to you within five calendar days of your request.

Domains also need renewing. The SBA notes that you'll need to renew "on a regular basis." Know who pays the renewal and when it's due.

The hosting account

Hosting is the service that keeps your site online. It's best if the hosting account is in your name. If the designer hosts the site, get a written promise that they will hand it over if you leave. Ask what hosting costs each month.

The site files and copyright

The Copyright Office says the author is ordinarily the person who created the work. Unless your contract says otherwise, that can leave the designer owning the design, text and photos, even though you paid for them.

There is an exception called "work made for hire." When you hire someone outside your company, it covers only nine kinds of work listed in the law. It also needs a written agreement that both sides sign. And under federal law, a transfer of copyright must be in writing and signed by the owner.

So ask for a signed clause that gives your business ownership of the design, text and photos you paid for. This isn't legal advice. Have a lawyer review the contract before you sign.

4. Make sure you can edit it yourself

You'll want to change hours, prices and photos without waiting on anyone. Ask for:

• Your own admin login, not a shared one
• Training on common changes
• The name of the platform the site is built on

Ask to see the editor before you sign. Have the designer change a line of text while you watch. If it looks hard in a demo, it will feel harder on a busy day.

5. Check that it works on phones and for everyone

Google says it "uses the mobile version of a site's content" to index and rank it. So test every sample site on your own phone.

Your site should also work for people with disabilities. The Justice Department's ADA web guidance says businesses open to the public must make their goods and services accessible. It names the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as helpful guidance. It also says businesses have flexibility in how they comply.

The guidance lists common barriers, such as:

• Poor color contrast that makes text hard to read
• Images with no text description (alt text)
• Videos without captions
• Sites you can only use with a mouse

Ask the designer which WCAG version and level they build to. The current version is WCAG 2.2. It has three levels: A, AA and AAA.

6. Get it all in writing

A clear contract protects both sides. Before you sign, make sure it covers:

1. Scope: what's included and how many pages.
2. Words: who writes the text on each page.
3. Price and payment schedule: what you pay and when. The FTC's home improvement advice says "don't pay the full amount for the project up front."
4. Ownership: the signed clause from step 3.
5. Logins: domain, hosting and site admin, handed to you at launch.
6. Monthly costs after launch: hosting, updates and support.
7. The exit plan: what happens if you leave, including your files, your domain and help moving.

Red flags

Ask hard questions, or walk away, if you see any of these:

• The domain is registered in the designer's name.
• They won't put ownership in writing.
• They want full payment up front.
• They have no live sites to show you.
• They promise you'll be #1 on Google. No one can promise that, because Google decides rankings.
• They can't tell you what the site will cost each month.

Get a second opinion on your plan

Maybe you already have a quote. Maybe you're just starting. We build websites for Central PA service businesses, and you can see examples in our portfolio. We help you through launch and show your team how to use the site. Tell us about your situation and what you need the site to do. You can also ask for a free website audit of your current site.