How to Choose a Web Designer in NJ
12 questions to ask. 8 red flags to walk away from. What to compare beyond the price quote.

The 12 questions to ask any NJ web designer

1. Who owns the website when it's done?

You should. The code, the design files, the domain, the hosting access, the GA/GSC properties. Agencies that retain ownership of the build to lock you in are pursuing a business model that hurts you. Walk away if the answer is anything other than "you own everything."

2. What happens to my SEO if I leave you?

It should be unaffected because you own the site. If the answer involves any "we'll take down the site if you cancel" language, that's a hostage situation. Walk away.

3. Show me three recent NJ projects you shipped (live URLs)

Real links to live sites, not screenshots in a portfolio. Open each on mobile and check load time. Walk away if they only have "mockups" or sites that no longer exist.

4. What's your Lighthouse / PageSpeed score on those sites?

You can check yourself at pagespeed.web.dev. Real recent builds should score 80+ on Performance. Yellow flag if the score is <60 on mobile. (Note: we don't commit to literal 100/100; A+ range is realistic and defensible.)

5. Do you build accessible by default?

Modern builds should be WCAG 2.1 AA-aware. If the answer is "we add accessibility if you ask for it" or "we use an overlay widget," that's 2018 thinking. Yellow flag.

6. What's your monthly maintenance / hosting model?

Clarity here saves money for years. Watch for: hidden domain-renewal hikes (GoDaddy pattern), $200-per-content-update agency model, mandatory 12–24 month contracts. Month-to-month with clear scope is the modern norm.

7. Will you give me admin access during the build?

Yes is the right answer. Some agencies hide the build behind their accounts so you can't see progress or migrate the assets. Walk away if they say no.

8. What schema markup do you implement?

You don't need to understand the answer; you need to see the answer exists. If the response is blank, the agency hasn't kept up. Yellow flag.

9. Who actually does the work?

The person you're talking to? Their team? An outsourced overseas team they've subcontracted? Each has implications. Outsourced isn't automatically bad — but you should know.

10. Timeline and milestones?

Real timeline with real milestones. "We'll have a draft in 2 weeks, revisions over the following week, launch by end of month 5" is a real plan. "We'll deliver in 2–3 months" is hand-waving.

11. What's included if I want changes after launch?

Common agency model: aggressively-priced post-launch changes ("$200 per edit") that make the initial build look cheap but make ownership expensive. Reasonable model: a maintenance plan that includes small changes.

12. Will you sign a service agreement that doesn't include perpetual rights to my content?

Some agency contracts retain rights to your copy, photos, and logo. Walk away. You produced (or paid for) that content; it's yours.

The 8 red flags — walk away

1. "Guaranteed first page on Google." Nobody can guarantee this; anyone who does is misleading. 2. "We use an accessibility overlay so you're ADA compliant." Overlays don't produce WCAG conformance and the DOJ has been explicit about this. 3. "100/100/100/100 Lighthouse guaranteed." Possible on minimal pages, rare on content-rich sites. Anyone promising this hasn't built a real content site recently. 4. Requires 12–24 month contract. Modern norm is month-to-month. Long contracts protect the agency, not you. 5. Won't show you live recent work. Walk away. 6. "We'll keep your domain in our account." Walk away. 7. Price quote is far below the market (e.g., $200 for a "professional website"). You'll get $200 of work. 8. Disorganized intake, slow response during sales. If they're unresponsive when they're trying to close you, they'll be worse after.