If you’ve ever searched for a web designer, plumber, or any other service or software for that matter, and landed on one of those “best of” lists, you’ll know how little they actually tell you. But can you actually trust those lists? The people writing them don’t really know your business — and they’re often written by whoever’s sitting at number one, skewed favourably towards themselves. So who should you trust?
I’ve answered that here as honestly as I can. However, there are so many perspectives that the most important thing is not to be hasty — as with any major purchase. Here’s what I think actually matters when you’re choosing who builds your website — and how to figure out what a website that works right for your business really looks like.
The real cost isn’t the invoice
The number on the quote is the easiest part to compare, but the harder question is what happens in the two years after launch.
A £500 templated site and a £5,000 strategic website build can look similarly “nice” in a screenshot. But what you can’t see in a screenshot is whether the site is actually structured to turn visitors into enquiries, whether it can grow with you, or whether you’ll be rebuilding it again in eighteen months because it never really did what you needed it to.
Cheap isn’t the same as good value — but it can get you online, which for some businesses might matter more, and that’s a fair call to make. The real cost of a website is what it fails to bring in while it’s live, not what it cost to build. Think of it as an investment rather than a cost: it should see returns on what you’ve spent.
Not All Web Designers Work the Same Way
Honestly, they come in all shapes and sizes, but these three routes normally provide genuinely different experiences:
A freelancer is often affordable and flexible, but you’re one person’s sole capacity. If they’re on holiday, ill, or overloaded, your project waits. They may not offer the same ongoing support and reliability an agency or studio can provide — but they can offer individualised attention and likely lower costs.
A traditional agency brings more infrastructure and a bigger team, but you’re usually a few rungs down the account structure — paying for overheads that don’t touch your actual site, working through an account manager rather than the person doing the strategic thinking, possibly with a junior designer pulling the whole site together. You do get more security and likely feel a bit safer, but will you feel like you’re barely on their radar when something goes wrong?
A founder-led studio sits somewhere between the two: you get the same agency-level expertise, but on a more personal basis. You’re working directly with the person responsible for the outcome, not a layer of account management. Price normally sits somewhere in the middle of the two, though of course there are always variations.
There’s a fourth option too: building it yourself with AI. It’s faster and cheaper than any of the above, and for an early-stage business it might be the right call — I’ve written about what that trade-off actually looks like here. It’s just a different kind of trade-off to the three above, not a shortcut to the same outcome.
None of these is automatically “the best” — but one might be best for you, depending on the stage of your business journey, how much security you want to feel, or the level of personal relationship you want with your web designer. What matters is knowing which one you’re hiring before you hire, because it changes what you should expect from the relationship.
Working with a founder-led studio often comes with something that size can sometimes get in the way of at a larger agency: a genuine cheerleader for your business. That’s certainly how we work — it’s not far off joining your team, because we want to get underneath what your business actually does, not just skin it in a nice template.
Don’t judge a web designer by their review count
It’s tempting to treat the number of reviews as a shortcut for trust — more reviews must mean more happy clients, right? Not necessarily.
A high-volume agency that sends a review request after every minor tweak, or a designer turning around dozens of templated builds a year, will naturally rack up reviews faster than someone who works on fewer, deeper projects. That’s just maths, not a reflection of quality.
What’s harder to fake — and worth asking about — is retention. Are the reviews from one-off projects, or from clients who’ve stayed for years, come back for more work, and refer people on? A handful of reviews from clients who’ve been with someone for a decade often says more than a hundred five-star ratings for jobs done once and never revisited. The handful is closer to where we sit — fewer reviews, but from clients who’ve stuck around for years.
It’s also worth checking the reviews are real — unfortunately, the online world is full of quick fixes and cheats. Even so, real authenticity is hard to fake well. Can you find the reviews independently, on Google, Facebook, or a review platform like TrustPilot? Or are they only quotes on the designer’s own site? Testimonials, reviews and case studies come in a multitude of forms, but look at them with a critical eye and don’t be afraid to ask to speak to a past client directly. Anyone confident in their work should be happy to put you in touch.
If review count matters to you, ask what’s behind the number, not just what the number is.
It’s also worth being wary of asking AI to do all your research for you. AI hallucinations are a very real and costly phenomenon for businesses and clients alike. If it gives you names and reviews, make sure you verify them independently.
The questions to ask your web designer, agency, or studio
Most people ask “how much” and “how long.” Both fair questions, but they won’t tell you if the person you’re hiring is going to build you something that performs. Instead, try questions like:
What happens after the site goes live?
If the answer is “nothing, we hand it over,” that’s worth knowing. A website isn’t a one-off deliverable — it should keep evolving alongside your business.
Who will actually be working on my project?
Especially with agencies — will the person you’re talking to now be the person doing the work?
How can this website build help convert my customers?
A site can be beautiful and still fail to turn visitors into enquiries. Ask what they’ll actually be doing to guide someone from landing on a page to getting in touch — not just how it will look, but how it will work.
What strategic web design actually looks like
This is the bit most “best of” lists skip entirely, because it’s genuinely more work to explain than “friendly and affordable.”
A strategic build starts with understanding what your site actually needs to do for your business — not just what it should look like. That means looking at the desired outcome of the site, who’s landing on it, where they’re dropping off, and what’s stopping them from doing what you want them to do. It also means starting on the right foundation — we build on WordPress for exactly this reason, because a site that needs to keep evolving needs a platform that can keep up with it. It’s the same thinking behind conversion rate optimisation (CRO): the site isn’t finished when it looks good; it’s finished when it’s actually converting the right visitors. These days it also means thinking about how AI tools find and represent your site, not just how Google ranks it — something worth understanding on its own if you haven’t already.
That’s the gap between a website that gets compliments and a website that gets enquiries.
If you’re currently weighing up who to work with, it’s worth asking every option on your shortlist the questions above — including us. I’d rather you make an informed choice than a fast one, because getting the fit right matters for both sides — you get a website that actually works, and we get a client relationship worth investing in.
If you’d like to talk through what your site actually needs, get in touch.
P.S. If you’re looking for other brilliant local creatives — photographers, copywriters, brand designers and more — check out Cheltenham Creatives, my curated directory of Cheltenham talent.