Who ends up owning the code and the accounts
In short
Ask first who will own the code, the domain and the hosting when the project is paid for. The answer should be you, in writing, with every account opened in your name from the first day.
The Copyright Office's basic guide says a transfer of copyright ownership generally has to be in writing and signed by the owner of the rights. So an agency's promise that the site is yours means little until the contract says how the rights reach you, and when.
The accounts matter as much as the paper. ICANN says the registrant of a domain name is the party responsible for it, so when an agency registers your domain in its own name, the agency is the registrant on the record, not you. The same goes for the hosting account, the code repository and the analytics: ask whose name and whose card each one is under.
A fair answer sounds like this: the agency works inside accounts you own and can remove it from, and the contract passes the rights to the finished work to you on full payment.
The written plan before the price
In short
A serious agency writes down what it will build before it names a final price. A figure quoted in the first call, before anyone has listed the pages and the features, is a guess that will be revised later at your cost.
The plan does not need to be long. It names the pages or screens, what each has to do, what you will supply, the order of the work and the dates. It also says what is left out, which is where most disputes begin.
Compare agencies on the same plan. Two prices for two different scopes tell you nothing, so once one agency has written the scope down, ask the others to price that document or to say where they would change it.
How the work is tested and looked after
In short
Ask what the site has to pass before it launches, and who looks after it once it is live. An agency that can name its checks, and can show you a care plan in writing, has done this before.
Checks worth asking about are plain ones: the pages on a phone, the loading speed, the forms reaching the right inbox, the accessibility basics, and the old addresses pointing at the new pages. Ask to see the list an earlier project was held to.
Be careful with promises about search. Google's own guidance on hiring search help says no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and advises asking what will be done and why. An agency that explains its work plainly is a better sign than one that promises a position.
Then ask about the month after launch. Software needs updates, and something will change in a tool the site connects to. Whether upkeep is a monthly plan, an hourly rate or nothing at all should be in the proposal, not a surprise later.
What a quote must list
In short
A quote you can hold an agency to lists the scope, the price and how it is paid, the timeline, who owns what, what happens after launch, and how a change is priced. If a line is missing, ask for it before you sign.
Ask who answers when you call or write, and notice how you are answered while you are still deciding. The way an agency replies during the sale is usually the way it replies during the build, and a slow answer before the contract rarely gets faster after it.
In Los Angeles you can also ask to meet. A local agency should be willing to sit down with you once before the work starts and to say who will be in the room for the project.
| On the quote | What it should say | Ask if it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | The pages or screens, the features, and what is left out | What exactly am I getting for this price? |
| Price and payments | One figure, the payment dates, and what each payment is tied to | What could make this number go up? |
| Timeline | A start date, a launch date, and what you must supply by when | What happens if my content is late? |
| Ownership | When the rights to the work pass to you, and whose accounts hold it | Whose name is on the domain and the hosting? |
| After launch | Who applies updates and fixes, and at what price | What does a month of upkeep cost? |
| Changes | That any change is written and priced before it is built | How do you price something I add later? |
Swipe sideways to see every column
What this means for a small business
In short
Skip the ranked lists and ask two or three agencies the same questions. The one that answers in writing and puts the accounts in your name is the safer choice, whatever its size.
Lists of agencies are easy to find and hard to trust, since a list rarely says how an agency earned its place on it, and none of them know your business. A short call with a few agencies, with the six checks above in hand, tells you more than any list.
Keep what you are sent. The written plan and the signed contract are the record of what was promised, and they are what you will reach for if the project drifts. An agency that is comfortable being held to its own paper is the one to hire.