Before Hiring a Website Design Company in Mumbai: Questions I Tell Business Owners to Ask

Before Hiring a Website Design Company in Mumbai: Questions I Tell Business Owners to Ask

Introduction

Hiring a web partner can make or break your online growth. Ask the right questions up front and you’ll avoid surprises, hidden costs, and slow launches. Below are practical, easy-to-use questions and a short checklist you can use during vendor calls or in your RFP.

Why these questions matter

Clear questions force clarity on scope, timelines, ownership, and results. Good answers tell you who will build the site, who owns the content and code, how performance and SEO will be handled, and what happens if something breaks after launch.

12 practical question areas to cover

Ask these categories in every vendor conversation:

  1. Scope & deliverables
  2. What pages, templates, integrations, and assets will you deliver?

  3. Will we get wireframes, visual mockups, and a staging site?

  4. Timeline & milestones

  5. What are the milestones, deliverables, and acceptance criteria?

  6. What do you need from me (content, approvals, API keys) and when?

  7. SEO & content strategy

  8. Will you build with SEO fundamentals (indexable content, meta tags)?

  9. Do you run technical SEO audits and address Core Web Vitals?

  10. Ownership & licensing

  11. Who owns the design files, source code, and images after payment?

  12. Are there third‑party licenses (fonts/plugins) I must renew?

  13. Hosting, backups & security

  14. Do you host or recommend providers? What is the SLA and backup plan?

  15. How are security patches and updates handled?

  16. Performance & mobile UX

  17. Which steps do you take for speed (CDN, caching, image optimization)?

  18. Do you design mobile‑first and test across devices?

  19. Maintenance & support

  20. What post‑launch support packages and response times do you offer?

  21. Is there a warranty period for bug fixes (e.g., 30–90 days)?

  22. Analytics & conversion tracking

  23. Will you set up analytics, events, and conversion tracking?

  24. Who owns the analytics account and will you provide handover/training?

  25. CMS access & training

  26. Which CMS will you use, and will you provide admin accounts?

  27. Is editor training and documentation included?

  28. Revisions & change management

  29. How many design/development revision rounds are included?

  30. How are mid‑project scope changes handled and billed?

  31. Pricing & payment terms

  32. Is pricing fixed or milestone‑based? What’s excluded (third‑party costs)?

  33. What triggers payments and are there penalties for delay?

  34. SLAs & escalation

  35. What are the guaranteed response times and escalation paths for outages?
  36. Do you offer on‑call support for emergencies?

Quick red flags to watch

  • Vague scope or “we’ll handle it later.”
  • Refusal to provide staging environment or references.
  • No written SLA or unwillingness to transfer ownership.
  • Overuse of buzzwords without technical detail.

Short checklist you can copy into an RFP

  • Written scope with page list and templates
  • Milestones, deliverables, and acceptance criteria
  • SEO audit + Core Web Vitals improvements included
  • Hosting plan, backup schedule, and DNS control
  • CMS admin access, editor training, and documentation
  • Post‑launch support package and SLA
  • Ownership transfer clause and IP terms
  • Line‑item pricing and milestone payment schedule
  • References and live case studies

Real quick examples (what can go wrong)

  • A retailer couldn’t update product images after launch because CMS access wasn’t provided — they paid hourly rates for simple edits.
  • A lead‑gen site looked great but had no tracking; traffic didn’t convert because goals and funnels weren’t set up.
  • Shared hosting without backups led to a two‑day outage after a security incident.

Tools and standards to mention during calls

Ask vendors if they use Google Lighthouse for speed testing and whether they follow Google Search Central for indexing best practices. Also check for accessibility awareness (W3C WAI) and basic OWASP security practices.

Want a transparent vendor example?

At Prateeksha we include deliverables, milestones, a technical SEO checklist, Core Web Vitals targets, hosting recommendations, CMS training, and a 60‑day bug warranty in our proposals. Learn more about our approach at https://prateeksha.com?utm_source=blogger or browse related posts at https://prateeksha.com/blog?utm_source=blogger. If you want this exact hiring checklist as an RFP template, view the full guide here: https://prateeksha.com/blog/before-hiring-website-design-company-mumbai-questions?utm_source=blogger

Conclusion — next steps

Copy the checklist into your RFP, shortlist 3–5 vendors, and use the questions above as your interview script. Insist on written answers and a staging preview before you pay. If a vendor resists clear scope, references, or ownership terms—walk away. Book a 30‑minute call and get it on paper before work begins.

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