Ask these before you pay

By Rahul Sharma, founder of Seospidy. Published 1 November 2026.

1. Whose name will the domain be in?

Yours. Some designers register the domain and hosting in their own name, and when you want to leave you find you can't take your web address with you. Ask for it in writing, along with the hosting login and the site's admin login.

2. What exactly does the price include?

"Website from ₹4,999" can mean very different things. Ask how many pages, how many rounds of changes, whether the price includes writing the content, and whether domain and hosting are extra. With us, domain and hosting are billed at cost, and the Basic plan includes two rounds of changes.

3. Who writes the words?

Projects stall for weeks waiting for the owner to write "About us". Find out whether the designer writes the content from a call, edits what you send, or expects it ready on day one. Then ask who checks it for mistakes.

4. Can I see live sites?

Screenshots can be mocked up. Ask for links to sites that are live today, then open them on your phone on mobile data. Do they load quickly? Can you find the phone number in five seconds? Our live client sites are here.

5. How fast will it be on a phone?

Ask what they'll do about speed: image sizes, the number of plugins, the hosting. Then test their own site at PageSpeed Insights. A designer whose own site is slow will build you a slow one.

6. What happens after launch?

Plugins update, forms stop sending, certificates expire. Ask who fixes things, how fast, and what it costs. Ask whether you'll be able to change prices and photos yourself, and whether you'll get a short walkthrough.

7. Will it follow the rules?

Forms will need DPDP notices from May 2027. Online stores need refund and grievance details and, for packaged goods, Legal Metrology declarations. Clinics, law firms, CA firms and coaching centres have their own rules. Ask whether the designer knows them. Here's our checklist.

8. What are the numbers on your own site?

Look at the claims. "3,000+ happy clients" from a team of ten, a 4.9 rating with thousands of reviews that you can't find on Google, or "since 2008" on a site whose domain was registered last year: if a studio stretches the truth about itself, it'll stretch it about your project too.

Our answers, in one line each

Domain in your name. Prices from ₹4,999 with the inclusions listed on our prices page. We write the content and you approve it. Live client links on our work page. Speed work on every site. Maintenance if you want it, logins either way. Forms built for DPDP. And we've been at this since 2015, from South Extension.