WEB DESIGN, EXPLAINED PLAINLY
How to Hire a Web Designer: The Complete Guide
Hiring a web designer is a business decision, not an art project. This guide shows you what kind of help you actually need, the questions that expose a weak vendor, and how to check a portfolio for SEO before you sign anything.
Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253
WHY IT MATTERS
Why is hiring the right web designer so hard?
Anyone can call themselves a web designer. The software is inexpensive and easy to learn, so the market is crowded with people who know how to use a page builder but not how to build a website that brings in customers. From the outside, their portfolios look the same as everyone else’s.
The difference shows up after launch. One site ranks, loads fast and turns visitors into calls. The other looks nice and sits on page 5 of Google. Picking the wrong company often costs thousands more than picking the right one, because someone has to come back and fix it.
Beth Guide gets asked how to hire a web designer at nearly every class she teaches for the SBA, the University of Houston SBDC, Lone Star College and HCC. Her answer is always the same: you do not have to become a web expert, but you do need to know enough to check the answers you are given. That is what this guide is for. If you want a second opinion on a site you already have, start with a free website analysis.
Watch the series
How to hire a webmaster: the video checklist
The full class: how to know if your web designer knows SEO
In this hour-long Internet Marketing Clinic, Beth walks through real redesigns that lost rankings and shows the exact checks you can run on any designer’s portfolio before you sign. The short videos below break the same checklist into seven parts you can watch in a few minutes each.
Part 1: Title tags
Look at the browser tab on sites in their portfolio. It should say what the business sells and where, not “Home” or a slogan.
Part 2: Navigation
Services should drop down into each service by name, and the home page should carry those same services.
Part 3: Header tags
H1, H2 and H3 tell Google what matters most on a page. Many designers use them only to make text big and bold.
Part 4: Keywords
Phrases like “personalized service” mean nothing to Google. Real service words, linked to their pages, do.
Part 5: URLs and 404s
On a redesign every old URL needs a one-for-one 301 redirect, or the link value your site earned is lost.
Part 6: Silos and internal links
Pages on one topic should link to each other and back to the main page, so Google sees which pages matter most.
Part 7: Backlinks
A redesign that ignores backlinks can wipe out years of earned links. Ask exactly how they will keep yours.
WHO DO YOU NEED?
Web designer, web design company or web developer?
These three titles get used as if they mean the same thing. They do not, and the one you hire decides your price and your results.
Most owner-led companies in Houston need a web design company that also writes code when the project calls for it. We explain the split in more detail in the difference between a web designer and a web developer.
BUSINESS STABILITY
What should I ask a web designer before hiring them?
Start with the business, not the design. A beautiful site is worthless if the company that built it disappears. These questions take ten minutes and tell you a lot.
How many people work for you, and are they W2 employees or contractors? A company that runs payroll has made a commitment to stay in business. A company built entirely on contractors can shrink to one person overnight. Vertical Web has W2 employees, many of them with us for more than 10 years.
Where is the work done? Many design firms quietly send the build overseas or to a marketplace freelancer. Beth’s view is blunt here: you signed a contract with the person in front of you, not with the person in another country who is writing your code. If that person leaves a security hole in your site, you have no agreement with them at all. Ask who is touching your website, where they are and who they answer to.
How long have you been in business, and are you incorporated? Longevity is not everything, but it shows the company has survived a few Google updates and a few recessions. We have been building sites since 1998, and our original 1998 client is still with us.
Do you charge sales tax? It sounds like an odd question. In Texas, many web services are taxable, and a serious business collects and remits the tax. A designer who skips it is either cutting corners or headed for an audit that could put them out of business mid-project.
Who owns the domain, hosting and files? The answer should be you. Your domain should be in your company’s name, and you should have admin access to everything.
SEO KNOWLEDGE
Does your web designer actually know SEO?
This is the question that separates a website from a brochure. SEO is not a plugin you add at the end. It decides how the pages are named, how the menu is built, how the headings are written and which words appear on each page. A designer who does not understand it will make choices that look fine and quietly block you from ranking.
Ask the designer, “What are your thoughts on SEO?” and listen carefully. Some will say it is not their area, which is at least honest. Others will say they “do the basics,” which usually means a title and a meta description and nothing else. Our position is that technical SEO belongs on every website 100% of the time, even if you never buy an ongoing SEO plan. Read why choosing a web design company that understands SEO is important for the longer version.
Then ask these specific questions:
- How will you write the title tags and meta descriptions?
- How do you use H1, H2 and H3 headings?
- How will you plan keywords for each page?
- If this is a redesign, how will you handle our existing URLs and 301 redirects?
- What is your internal linking plan?
- How will you protect our existing backlinks?
- Can you show me sites you built that rank well, and what do you measure after launch?
THE CASE FOR VERTICAL WEB ON WEB DESIGN
A web design company that will show its work
CHECK THE PORTFOLIO
How do I check a web designer's portfolio for SEO?
Every web design firm should show you live sites, not just screenshots. Pick three sites from the portfolio and spend five minutes on each. You do not need special software for most of these checks. Beth recorded a seven part video series on exactly this, and the short version follows.
1. Title tags. Hover over the browser tab or view the page source. A good title names the service and, for a local business, the city. A title that just says “Home” or lists the company name alone is a missed opportunity on the most important line Google reads.
2. Navigation. The menu should be organized around what customers search for, with drop downs that group related services. A menu with “Services” and nothing underneath tells Google very little. Getting this right takes time, which is why rushed designers skip it.
3. Header tags. Each page should have one H1 that states the topic, with H2 and H3 headings below it in order. Designers often use heading tags just to make text big and bold. Google reads them as a signal of what the page is about, so misusing them confuses the signal.
4. Keywords. Read the copy. Does it use the words a customer would type? Designers are visual people, not wordsmiths, and they often leave keywords out entirely. Search engines and AI engines need the page, the menu and the site to agree on the topic.
5. URL structure. Clean, readable addresses that match the page topic are a good sign. Random numbers and changing URLs after a redesign are a bad one.
6. Content. Look for real information on service pages, not a few lines of filler. Thin pages and generic copy are a common reason sites do not rank.
7. Internal links and backlinks. Pages should link to related pages with descriptive words. On a redesign, a designer who ignores the links other sites point at you can erase years of authority overnight.
Already hired someone and worried about what they did to the site? Run our web designer does not know SEO checklist on their work, built from the same class, and if the traffic has already dropped read what breaks in a migration or host change as well.
REDESIGN RISK
Can hiring the wrong web designer hurt my rankings?
Yes. This is the most expensive mistake we see. A business with a site that already ranks and brings in leads hires a new designer for a fresh look. The new site launches, the old URLs disappear without redirects, half the content gets cut for a cleaner look, and the backlinks now point at error pages. Traffic falls off a cliff within weeks.
In one case Beth uses in her videos, a site that drew 25,000 to 30,000 visitors a month dropped to about 1,000 after a redesign by another firm. The owner had asked the right questions and was told to “let us do our job.” Because we still had the old version on our servers, the fastest fix was to roll the old site back, recover the traffic, then redesign it properly. Most owners do not have that safety net.
The common causes fall into five buckets:
- Looks over function. Minimal designs strip out content and keyword opportunities.
- Ignoring technical SEO. Page speed, mobile layout and schema markup get skipped.
- Changing URLs. Without 301 redirects, accumulated ranking value is lost.
- Removing content. Less text usually means fewer ranking opportunities.
- Breaking internal links. The site’s structure stops telling Google what matters.
If you are planning a redesign, read our website redesign page first. If the damage is already done, our SEO repair team can trace what was lost.
THE CHECKLIST
A printable checklist for hiring a web designer
Use this list when you interview companies. Give each one the same scope so you can compare answers side by side.
Service type
- Do I need a designer, a web design company or a developer?
- Is this a new site or a redesign of a site that already ranks?
Business stability
- How many people work there, and are they W2 employees?
- Is the work done in the United States, by people they employ?
- How long have they been in business, and are they incorporated?
- Do they charge sales tax where it applies?
SEO skill
- Can they explain their approach to title tags, headings and keywords?
- Do their portfolio sites pass the seven checks above?
- Do they have a written plan for URLs, redirects and backlinks on a redesign?
- Do they write real content or leave you with placeholder text?
Ownership and support
- Is the domain registered to your company?
- Will you have admin access to the site and hosting?
- Who handles updates, backups and security after launch?
- Who answers the phone when something breaks?
AFTER YOU HIRE
What happens after the website launches?
A website is an asset, and like any asset it needs upkeep. WordPress, themes and plugins need regular updates. Backups need to live somewhere other than the server they protect. Someone should watch Google Search Console for errors and check that forms still deliver leads.
Ask your designer who handles this and what it costs before you sign. We host the sites we build on our own WordPress hosting, so the team that built the site is the team that keeps it running. If you also want ongoing growth, our SEO services pick up where launch leaves off.
Ready to compare? See how we approach web design in Houston, or run your current site or a vendor’s sample through our SEO audit tool. A well built site should score well before anyone touches it.
Do it yourself or hire a professional
Should I hire a web designer or build it myself on Wix, Squarespace or a template?
Hire a professional web designer if your website is how customers find you, call you or buy from you. Build it yourself on Wix, Squarespace or a template if the site is a placeholder and nobody depends on it for leads. That is the honest dividing line, and it has more to do with your business goals than your budget.
Website builders make it easy to pick a template, drop in a photo and publish. What they do not do well is SEO. Beth has said it plainly in her classes: these platforms will tell you they are SEO friendly, but they do not output pages the way Google wants them structured, and you cannot fix the code underneath. A WordPress website on the self-hosted wordpress.org version can be customized to output exactly what Google needs. WordPress.com is a different product and has many of the same limits as Wix.
The other problem is moving later. A site built inside Wix or Squarespace stays there. If you outgrow it, you rebuild from scratch. A custom WordPress website on your own hosting goes with you. If you already started on a builder and want out, our team handles WordPress web design and moves the pages that matter without losing what they rank for.
The reasons, in order
What are 10 reasons why professional web design is important?
Professional web design matters because your website is your first impression, your sales tool and your search listing all at once. Here are the 10 reasons we see most often when a business owner decides to hire a website designer instead of doing it alone:
1. Visitors judge your brand in seconds. 2. Google ranks pages that are structured well. 3. Most visitors are on a phone, so responsive design is required. 4. Speed affects both rankings and calls. 5. Clear forms and buttons turn visitors into leads. 6. Your brand looks the same everywhere. 7. Security and backups protect the business. 8. Integration with your CRM, booking or payment tools saves staff time. 9. A plan for your old URLs protects the rankings you already earned. 10. Your time is worth more running the business than learning page builders.
You do not need all 10 to justify hiring a designer. One or two is usually enough. If you want to see how design and search work together, read why web design and SEO go hand in hand.
Freelancer, specialist or agency
Hiring a professional web designer vs a web design agency: matching scope, skills and budget
A freelance web designer can be a great option for a small project with a clear scope. The trade-off is that one person rarely has every skill a business website needs: design, development, SEO, hosting, security and content. When something breaks, it is all on them.
A web design agency puts those skills on one team. The process is usually more structured, with a written scope, a budget, a timeline and a set point of contact, so communication does not depend on one person’s schedule. Ask any agency whether the work is done in-house or passed to a subcontractor. Ours is all in-house, and has been since 1998.
Whichever you choose, ask to see the experience behind the portfolio. Do they understand your business need? Have they worked with clients in your industry? Can they explain their expertise without jargon? If they cannot, keep looking. When you are ready, our small business web design team will give you a straight answer, even if the answer is that you do not need us yet.
QUESTIONS
Questions about hiring a web designer
Decide what kind of help you need first: a designer, a web design company or a developer. Then check how long the company has been in business, who actually does the work, and whether they understand SEO. Ask for live sites you can inspect, check their title tags and headings, and call two references before you sign.
If the website is how customers find you, hire a professional. Site builders make it easy to publish a page, but they do not plan your keywords, URL structure, schema or internal links. A do it yourself site is fine for a hobby or a test. It rarely costs less once you count the leads it never earns.
Ask how many people work there and whether they are W2 employees or contractors, where the work is done, how long they have been in business, whether they charge sales tax, how they write title tags and headings, how they handle URLs and 301 redirects on a redesign, and who owns the site, domain and hosting when the project ends.
It depends on the number of pages, the features and how much of the content and SEO the designer writes. A brochure site, a lead generation site and an ecommerce store are three very different price ranges. Ask every company to quote the same written scope so you are comparing the same work, and ask what the monthly costs are after launch.
It can be. You sign a contract with one person, but the work may be done by someone you have never met in another country. If that person leaves a security problem in the code, you have no agreement with them. Always ask who is building your site, where they are and who they answer to.
Yes, and it happens often. Changing URLs without 301 redirects, cutting content, breaking internal links and losing backlinks can wipe out years of traffic in a few weeks. A designer who understands SEO maps every old URL before launch and measures traffic after it.
You should. The domain should be registered in your company’s name with your email on file, and you should have admin access to the website and the hosting account. A good designer sets it up that way from day one so you are never stuck if the relationship ends.
Hire a web designer if your website needs to bring in leads or sales. Website builders are fine for a placeholder, but they limit SEO and make it hard to move your site later. A professionally built WordPress website gives you more control.
Yes. AI tools and builders make it easy to get a page online, but a site that ranks, loads fast and converts still takes professional skills. The return comes from the calls and sales a good site brings in.
Design and user experience, responsive layouts for phones, basic SEO, form and plugin integration, and an understanding of hosting and security. Ask how they handle each one, and who on their team does it.
Your business goals, your budget range, your logo and brand colors, a list of the pages you want, any photos you own and a few websites you like. The clearer your goals, the faster the process runs.
Want a second opinion before you hire?
Send us your current site or the proposal you are weighing. We will tell you plainly what is solid, what is missing and whether you need a redesign at all.
Galleria 713-703-3030 | Kingwood 281-852-8253 | info@verticalweb.com