Before You Hire a Web Developer: The Essential Questions They Should Ask
Most businesses judge a web developer by their past projects or how “nice” their designs look. But the real indicator of whether you’re dealing with a professional (or someone who simply reskins cheap templates) is the conversation they have with you before they start building.
A strong developer begins with strategy. A weak developer jumps straight into colours, fonts, and a $50 theme they’ve used a hundred times before. And that difference will shape your website for years to come.
Here are the questions every competent developer should ask well before they touch WordPress, choose a theme, or send you a quote.
1. What is the primary purpose of your website?
Your website must do a specific job: generate enquiries, qualify leads, educate customers, or sell. Design is only effective when it directly supports the goal. If the developer doesn’t ask this up front, your website risks being nothing more than an online brochure.
2. Who are your ideal customers?
Your audience shapes everything—layout, tone, structure, messaging, imagery, and even what you remove. Good developers design for your customers, not for their own portfolio.
3. What actions do you want visitors to take?
Every page should lead somewhere: a call, a booking, an enquiry submission, or a download. This determines navigation, calls to action, and page flow. Developers who skip this step leave you with a site that looks fine but doesn’t convert.
4. What frustrations did you have with your previous website?
This is critical. It reveals editing pain points, functionality gaps, structural issues, poor UX, or limitations caused by templates. Ignoring these means you’ll simply recreate the same problems on a new site.
5. How do you want to update content in-house?
This is one of the biggest red flags. Cheap developers never plan for in-house editing. They leave you with:
- Hard-coded text you can’t change
- Layouts that break when you edit content
- Theme builders you’re not trained to use
- Plugins you’re told not to touch
- No documentation or structure
A good developer builds the backend for your workflow, not their convenience.
6. What brand messaging, tone, and strategy do we need to align with?
Your website should reflect a clear story. Developers who skip messaging often give you a site that looks decent but says nothing. Smart developers ask for:
- Positioning
- Tone of voice
- Brand values
- Key messages
- Visual identity
7. What integrations do you need now, or later?
CRMs, booking systems, email marketing, custom calculators, AI tools, or industry platforms (like REX for real estate), all of these dramatically influence how your site is built. If not considered early, you’ll end up rebuilding sections later.
8. How will we measure success after launch?
Leads, conversions, speed, SEO, or user engagement, whatever the metric, it should be defined up front. This ensures the site is built with measurable outcomes, not assumptions.
9. What existing content do we need to migrate?
This includes blogs, PDFs, images, forms, redirects, and metadata. Low-cost developers ignore this work entirely, leaving you with an empty site… or charging extra later.
10. Is this a short-term brochure or a long-term digital platform?
There is nothing wrong with a simple brochure site—but it should be a conscious choice. If your business is growing, you need a platform that can grow with it, not a theme that becomes restrictive the moment you try to scale.
In Summary
If a developer doesn’t ask these questions, you’re not getting a strategic website, you’re getting a generic template with your logo on it. It might look fine on day one, but it won’t serve your business long term.
At Digital Elements, every build starts with clarity, purpose, and structure. Your website is designed for your audience, your goals, and your future, not for a theme marketplace preview.
