Most business owners hire a web designer without a clear framework for evaluation — and many end up with a website that looks reasonable but doesn't perform, a designer who disappeared after delivery, or a platform that can't be updated without hiring them again. Building a clear evaluation criteria before you start conversations with designers protects you from these outcomes.
Technical Competence: Look Beyond Visuals
The most common mistake in evaluating web designers is judging them purely on how their portfolio looks. Beautiful screenshots don't tell you whether the underlying site is fast, well-coded, SEO-optimized, or mobile-friendly.
Test the actual sites in their portfolio:
- Open portfolio sites on your phone — how fast do they load?
- Run them through Google PageSpeed Insights — do they score above 80 on mobile?
- Check Google rankings — do the sites actually appear for relevant searches?
- View on mobile — are buttons tappable? Is the navigation intuitive?
A designer whose portfolio sites consistently score well on these metrics has the technical competence to build a site that performs, not just looks good in screenshots.
SEO Knowledge: Non-Negotiable for Local Businesses
For any local business that needs to be found on Google, your web designer needs to understand local SEO at a functional level. They should be able to explain:
- Why URL structures matter and what a clean URL looks like
- How to set up page titles and meta descriptions properly
- What schema markup is and when to use it
- How to make a site fast on mobile (the primary SEO performance factor)
- What NAP consistency is and how the website supports it
If a designer's answer to "how do you approach SEO?" is "I make sure the site is SEO-friendly," that's not an answer — it's a placeholder. Push for specifics.
The Post-Launch Question
Ask every designer: what happens after the site goes live? Who handles hosting? What if something breaks? How are updates made? Do you own your domain and hosting account, or does the designer?
The answers reveal whether you're entering a genuine business relationship or a one-time transaction with no accountability after delivery.
Work With a Designer Who Builds for Performance
Contact Linear Web Solutions for a transparent conversation about how we approach web design, what we include, and what your site will cost and deliver.
