Hiring a web developer for the first time is genuinely confusing if you have not done it before. The range of prices, the variation in what is and is not included, and the difficulty of evaluating technical quality before you have seen the finished product all create uncertainty that makes the process harder than it should be.
This covers what to expect at each stage of a freelance web project, and what to look out for.
Before you start: what to prepare
The more clearly you can describe what you need before speaking to a developer, the more accurate the quotes you receive will be and the less revision the project will require.
Useful things to prepare: a list of the pages you need, examples of websites you like and what specifically you like about them, your brand assets including your logo in a vector format if you have one, and the copy for each page. If you do not have copy ready, say so upfront. Some developers will help with it; most will need it from you before they can finish the project.
A brief does not need to be long. A clear, honest description of your business, your customers, and what you want visitors to do when they reach your site is more useful than a lengthy document full of vague requirements.
What a reasonable timeline looks like
A well-scoped small business website of three to five pages can be turned around in two to five working days by a developer working directly with a client. Agency timelines tend to be longer because more people are involved and projects queue behind other projects.
Be cautious of timelines that seem very short without a clear reason. Be equally cautious of timelines that stretch to months for straightforward projects. Both can indicate a problem with how the work is scoped or resourced. Agree a timeline in writing before work starts and include a clear description of what the deliverable includes.
Questions worth asking before committing
Who will own the finished site?
The code, the hosting account, the domain registration, and any CMS login should belong to you at the end of the project. A developer who retains ownership of your site's code or accounts as leverage for ongoing payments is creating a dependency that serves their interests rather than yours.
How will hosting work and what will it cost?
Many modern static websites can be hosted free of charge on platforms like Netlify or GitHub Pages. If a developer is quoting a monthly hosting fee for a standard business site, ask what that covers and why free alternatives are not being used.
Can you see examples of sites they have built?
Portfolio work should be live and viewable. If examples are described rather than linked, or if the work was done through a platform template rather than built from scratch, that is worth noting. Run any linked examples through Google's PageSpeed Insights to get a sense of how the developer approaches performance.
What happens after the site launches?
Understand what is and is not included in the quoted price. Bug fixes for things the developer built incorrectly should be expected at no extra cost. Changes you request after delivery are a different matter. A one-year warranty on the developer's own work is a reasonable thing to ask for.
Red flags to watch for
A developer who is unwilling to show you previous work, explain their process, or answer questions about code ownership before you have paid them is not operating transparently.
Pricing that is very significantly below market rates without a clear explanation tends to indicate one of a few things: work done with templates presented as custom, junior work with limited quality control, or a project that will be abandoned.
Developers who recommend specific platforms or tools without explaining the trade-offs may have reasons for those recommendations that are not entirely about your project. Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify all operate partner programs that pay agencies recurring commissions on client subscriptions. This does not automatically make the recommendation wrong, but it is worth being aware of the incentive structure.
What good handover looks like
When a project finishes, you should receive all account credentials, any source code, instructions for how to make basic content updates yourself, and ideally a short video walkthrough. You should be able to transfer the work to a different developer in future without having to rebuild from scratch.
A developer who makes handover difficult, or who delivers a site in a way that requires their continued involvement for routine changes, has built something that serves their interests more than yours.
