📋 Table of Contents
Why the Right Choice Matters
Your site is usually a customer's first point of contact with your business. Choosing the wrong design company doesn't just cost money — it can mean months of lost time and missed business opportunities, especially if the final site is weak on speed or SEO.
This article covers real, measurable criteria, not just marketing slogans every company writes on its own site.
1. Check Real Portfolio Work
Ask every company you talk to for real, visitable portfolio work — not just screenshots. Open the actual sites, feel the load speed, and see whether the design is genuinely unique or looks like thousands of other similar templates.
💡 Tip: If you have a question or want professional services, call MGH.CO. The first consultation is free.
2. Test the Speed of Delivered Sites
With the free Google PageSpeed Insights tool, you can test the speed of any site, including the portfolio pieces of the company you're considering, for free. If their portfolio pieces score low, there's a good chance your site will meet the same fate.
3. Ask If Coding is Custom or Template-Based
Many companies simply install and re-color a ready-made WordPress theme or similar, and call it "custom design." Ask directly: is the code written from scratch, or is a ready-made template used? Either option can be appropriate, but it should be transparent which one it is and why.
4. Is Technical SEO Included or Separate
A site that isn't technically ready for SEO won't be seen on Google, even with a beautiful appearance. Ask whether basic technical SEO principles (speed, heading structure, structured Schema) are followed during the design stage itself, or need to be added later at extra cost.
5. Pricing Transparency
A professional company reviews your project's real needs before pricing, rather than immediately quoting a fixed number. It should also be clear what's included in the base price and what (like content or image production) has a separate cost.
6. Support After Delivery
A site needs maintenance after delivery too — whether for security or content updates. Ask in advance what type of support, and for how long, is included after delivery.
Warning Signs to Take Seriously
- A price significantly lower than market average, with no clear explanation why
- A guaranteed, instant #1 Google ranking promise
- Unwillingness to show real, visitable portfolio work
- No mention of technical SEO at all during the conversation
Questions to Ask Every Company
- Do you write custom code, or use a ready-made template?
- What's the typical PageSpeed score of your past sites?
- Is technical SEO part of the base price, or calculated separately?
- What kind of support, and for how long, do you provide after delivery?
- What's the exact project timeline, and what factors could change it?