57 questions to ask when choosing a web design agency.

You’ve been tasked with managing your organisation’s new website project and finding the right web design agency. The pressure is on.

Choosing a great web design agency will provide you with a beautiful, high-performing website that generates results. Choosing the wrong agency can result in stress, overspend, and, in the worst case scenario, court action. It’s a big decision and one that needs to be right. So where do you start?

In this guide, we provide 60 key questions to ask that will help you separate the creators from the copycats, the pros from the pretenders, and the builders from the bluffers. Enjoy.

Experience and credentials.

1. How long have you been in business?

A web design agency with many years of experience has likely worked on a variety of projects and has developed a deep understanding of the web design process. This can lead to better quality work and a more efficient design process. At Contra, we have over 25 years’ experience designing and building websites for some of the world’s leading companies within Law, Professional Services, Higher Education, Charity and Science & Research.

2. Can you provide examples of websites you have designed in a similar industry to mine?

When choosing a web design agency, seeing examples of the web design agency's work within your sector can provide valuable insights into their design style, problem-solving skills, and approach to web design. This will improve the chances of your website being successful in terms of user engagement, conversion rates, and overall business impact.

3. Can you provide references from past clients?

A good web design agency will have testimonials. A great web design agency will have video testimonials and will be happy to put you in contact with their clients.

4. Can you provide examples of websites you have designed with high conversion rates?

If a website can’t give good examples of conversion rates, walk away. With every site build the agency should include Google Analytics 4 set-up so they can monitor key metrics such as Bounce Rate and Engagement Rate, as well as setting up Custom Events so they can measure conversions on the site’s call-to-action buttons. It’s not only a way of measuring the effectiveness of the agency’s design, but also good practice for continuous improvement and future conversion rate optimisation.

5. Do you have any notable awards and achievements?

An agency with high-profile industry awards isn’t necessarily a fantastic agency (especially when most agencies have to pay to enter awards). However, what it does show is a breadth of real-world industry experience. Whether you take a cynical view on awards or not, some are better than none.

6. What makes you different from other web design agencies?

There are a lot of web design agencies out there. A good marketing or web design agency will tell you why they’re different.  For example with Contra, we combine both creative and technical expertise to demystify digital stuff, tame it and put it to work for you. Many of our clients express relief that we can handle the “technical stuff” as well as formulate creative campaigns with clear ROI objectives. Ultimately, ask yourself, “Does the agency align with our business needs?”

7. What specific areas of web design do you specialise in?

This question helps you identify the agency's core competencies and expertise. Web design is a vast field, and different agencies may specialise in various areas like UX design, e-commerce design, responsive design, and more. Understanding the agency's specialisation can help you determine if they can deliver the type of website you need. At Contra, we specialise in Law, Higher Education, B2B & Professional Services, Charity and Science & Research.

8. Do you have experience with any specific technologies or platforms?

The best agencies won’t try and push one particular technology or platform – they’ll have experience working across multiple technologies and platforms so they can recommend the ones that are the best fit for you. For instance, if you need a website built on WordPress, you'll want to ensure the agency has experience using that platform. Similarly, if you require a custom web application, you'll want to ensure the agency has the necessary development skills and experience to deliver it. Most importantly, can the agency advise on the best platforms and tools to suit your needs?

9. What is your team's experience and qualifications?

Simply put, a strong agency team creates strong results. There’s no harm in asking about the agency team’s qualifications and experience. This helps you assess the agency's overall capability and capacity to deliver a quality website. You'll want to know if the agency has a team with diverse skills and experience levels that can collaborate to create a website that meets your needs.

10. Have you worked with similar business models or sizes before?

Different industries have unique website design needs, and an agency that has worked with businesses similar to yours will likely have a better understanding of your needs and how to meet them. 

Process.

11. What is your process for designing a website?

While many of our clients care about results more than the process, it’s important the agency can map out the process and demonstrate a structured approach. This can help you assess if the agency is thorough, collaborative, and efficient, and if their approach aligns with your business needs.

At Contra, we take a very structured web design process with your own dedicated project manager to ensure everything runs smoothly. This comprises of:

Step 1. Research.
Step 2. Wireframes
Step 3. Treatments
Step 4. UX Testing
Step 5. Design System
Step 6. Development

12. Do we get a say in the development process?

A website build is a collaborative process. The most efficient method for building a site is to iron out all the requirements during the research and design phase. At Contra, during the design phase, we provide a range of concepts and refine your chosen concept during the design feedback rounds. Then, we create a component doc ready for the build. This streamlines the process as it’s much more costly and time-consuming to make changes during the development process.

13. How do you handle revisions to the website design?

Successful communication on revisions during the design process is key. Not being structured with revisions can lead to back-and-forth emails without focus and can delay the project launch. You'll want to know if the agency is open to feedback, how they manage revisions, and if they have a clear process for incorporating changes. At Contra, we typically offer two revisions to maintain focus. However, we are flexible when required.

14. Will I have a project manager?

Having a dedicated project manager can help ensure effective communication, project coordination, and timely delivery of your website. At Contra, we always provide a dedicated project manager with catch-up meetings designed to suit your schedule.

15. What will my team look like?

This question helps you understand the agency's team structure and who will be working on your project. You'll want to know if the team has the necessary skills and experience to deliver your project and if they are collaborative and communicative.

16. Can you provide an estimated timeline for designing and launching a website?

Understanding the timeline can help you plan and manage your website launch effectively. For transparency and collaboration, we share a Gantt timeline of the project with the client that breaks up key milestones and keeps everyone focused on hitting deadlines. However, if an agency estimates a very fast timeline, be cautious – faster is not always better. At Contra, we ensure the website is built for both your internal team’s needs and your customers / website users’ needs.

This means a back-end that’s tailored for your team, so they can update and modify content freely without frustrating restrictions and lack of features. This also means a front-end that’s tailored to your specific audience’s user journey – and ultimately leads to more conversions.

To achieve a website that’s perfect for you, we ensure a very focused discovery period where we interview internal and external stakeholders to ascertain requirements and provide ownership to the project. We also conduct wireframes and a series of design and user testing. Be wary of any agency that says they go from discovery to launch in less than three months. Sure, they may be able to build it in less time, but at the cost of quality and performance.

17. How do you handle website hosting and domain registration?

You'll want to know if the agency can handle hosting and domain registration for you and if they have the necessary expertise to ensure your website is secure, reliable, and performs well. At Contra, we partner with Cloudways. Cloudways provides affordable, scalable, and easy-to-manage cloud hosting with pay-as-you-go billing, 24/7 support, and automatic backups. 

18. How do you handle website migration?

Website migration is the process of transferring a website from one hosting platform or domain name to another. Migrating your existing website to a new platform can be a very complicated process which requires expertise. Ultimately, having an agency that’s well-versed in web migrations makes the process as easy as possible for you. You'll want to know if the agency has experience in website migration and if they have a clear process for ensuring a smooth transition.

At Contra, the website migration process typically involves the following steps:

Step 1: Backup your website’s files, images and databases to ensure nothing is lost during the migration process.

Step 2: Choose a new hosting provider.

Step 3: Set up your new hosting account and install necessary software such as your new hosting CMS or database software.

Step 4: Transfer your files, images, and databases from your old hosting provider to the new one.

Step 5: Test for broken links, missing images, and any other issues that may have occurred during the migration process.

Step 6: Update your DNS records to ensure that your website is accessible at the new location.

Step 7: Set up 301 redirects from your old website to your new one to ensure that your visitors are automatically redirected to the new website.

Step 8: Notify search engines of the change by submitting a change of address request through Google Search Console.

Step 9: Monitor your website closely after the migration to ensure that everything is working as expected and fix any issues that may arise.

19. How do you handle content migration?

Not to be confused with website migration, migrating existing content from an old website to a new website can be a complex process. At Contra, we take the following steps to ensure the process goes as smooth as possible:

Step 1: We’ll analyse the old website to determine what content needs to be moved to the new website. We’ll identify the most important pages, such as landing pages, product pages, and high-traffic/converting blog posts, and prioritise them for migration. Equally, if there are older pages that drive little traffic or conversions, we can conduct what is known as ‘content pruning’, which is effectively culling poor-performing pages. This can benefit your site speed, user experience, and SEO rankings.

Step 2: We’ll create a content inventory spreadsheet that lists all the pages on the old website, along with their URLs and any other relevant information, such as the page title, meta description and keywords. This will help you keep track of all the content that needs to be migrated.

Step 3: We then map the old URLs to the new URLs on a spreadsheet to ensure that any links pointing to the old URLs are redirected to the corresponding pages on the new website.

Step 4: Next up, we export the content from the old website. Depending on the CMS used on the old website, there may be different export options available. For example, WordPress has a built-in export tool that allows you to export posts, pages, comments, and other data to an XML file.

Step 5: Now we import the content to the new website. Once the content has been exported from the old website, it can be imported to the new website using the import tool available in the CMS. This will create new pages, posts, and other content on the new website based on the data from the old website.

Step 6: Review and optimise the content. After the content has been imported, we review it to ensure it looks and functions correctly on the new website. This may involve updating images, modifying the formatting, and optimising the content for search engines.

Step 7: Finally, we’ll set up redirects from the old URLs to the new ones to ensure that any links pointing to the old website are redirected to the corresponding pages on the new website. This can be done using a redirect plugin or by modifying the .htaccess file on the new website.

20. Who will write the web copy?

Having strong, well-written copy on your website helps to increase conversions and engagement. Possessing a solid understanding of writing well-optimised web copy can be a big lure for some clients when choosing a web design agency. However, writing copy takes a lot of time and expertise. Ask if the agency offers content writing services or if you'll be responsible for providing your own website copy. If the agency offers content writing services, you'll want to know if they have professional writers who can create high-quality, SEO-friendly content for your website.

If you decide to write the copy, we also recommend being mindful of the sheer size and scope of writing the copy for a large website. For example, law firms often have approaching 50-100 service pages. If each page takes two hours to write (which is very ambitious), ensuring SEO optimisation too, that’s a minimum of 100 hours (or 12.5 full working days with no lunch breaks!). That’s why it’s always worth considering outsourcing it to an agency and then editing the copy after the initial draft before going live on your site.

Some of our clients have approached us asking to rewrite copy already produced by SEO agencies that “appeared at the top of Google search”. While this may be a good sign in terms of their skills with SEO and discoverability, the clients have complained that they have completely negated user experience, stuffing pages with masses of copy and untidy links and subsequently reducing page conversion rates. At Contra, we have both web design skills and copywriting to create the fine balance between SEO and UX. We have trained SEO copywriters and former journalists who can help write copy that converts.

Price.

21. What is your pricing structure for website design services?

There are a number of web design agency pricing structures, including hourly rate, fixed project rate, retainer or value-based pricing. It’s important to find an agency that can deliver your preferred pricing structure. At Contra, we use a fixed project rate and provide your own dedicated account manager so you can be sure the project is delivered on time and on budget. However, if there are changes to the scope of the project, we’re always happy to iron out a new budget with our clients.

22. Are there any additional costs for things like hosting, domain registration, or ongoing maintenance?

Always dig into the finer details of the quotation. On first inspection, one agency may look like they’re willing to build you a website at a cheaper rate, but then they haven’t factored in additional associated costs such as hosting and maintenance. The more detailed the breakdown is, the better.

23. Will there be a contract, and if so, what is the duration and terms?

Firstly, if there isn’t a contract, walk away. Any serious business will form a contract when working with a client. At the bare minimum, you can expect to see the following in the contract:

• Parties Involved
• Scope of Work
• Timeline
• Compensation and Payment Terms
• Intellectual Property
• Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure
• Termination and Dispute Resolution
• Performance Metrics and Reporting
• Responsibilities and Obligations
• Governing Law and Jurisdiction

24. Are there any guarantees or warranties for the work that you provide?

A good web design agency will back themselves. QA testing should be rigorous when developing a website to ensure it’s as bulletproof as possible. However, bugs can happen. At Contra, we offer a three-month bug warranty, so you can rest assured that what we do is going to work. Post-launch, all client requests, bug reports and any other issues are recorded and tracked using our ticketing system, and we’re always on hand at the end of the phone or via our support email.

25. How will you bill me (monthly, weekly, etc)?

For businesses wanting to protect cash flow, a staged payment approach is usually the best option. For websites, a good agency will be willing to compromise on a staged payment plan according to key milestones. At Contra, we usually require 30% on commencement, 30% after design sign-off, 30% at beta, and 10% at launch.

The standard for marketing retainers is to set an agreed monthly rate and then negotiate on the length of the contract. For example, it’s worth asking if the monthly rate can be reduced if you sign up for a six-month contract rather than a three-month contract.

26. Will we need to pay extra for the CMS?

Unless the agency specifically includes the licence fee of the CMS in the contract then it’s very unlikely they will cover the cost of the CMS. At Contra, we have experience across a range of CMSs and choosing the CMS will be part of the discovery process once we kick off the project. This is to ensure the CMS we choose is the right CMS for you.

27. Do you offer retainer services for marketing post-launch?

While a decent web design & development agency will optimise the back-end of your site (schema, core web vitals), marketing doesn’t stop there. Ask the agency before signing the contract if you can negotiate back-end optimisation in the contract, with keyword research, topic clusters, and optimised meta titles and meta descriptions. This is the very foundation of SEO. After the site is launched, you will potentially need support in the following:

• SEO (audit, keyword research, technical SEO, backlinking)
• Content strategy and production
• Digital advertising (Google, LinkedIn, Facebook)
• CRM integrations/implementation

At Contra, we pride ourselves on being a full-service agency, meaning we can design, develop and launch your site, and then generate traffic, leads and sales. Our clients also benefit from the fact that we know the site and company inside out when we launch, which means we’re perfectly poised to successfully execute marketing strategy to drive more business. Always consider the bigger picture when choosing a web design agency.

Design.

28. Can you demonstrate the latest design trends and technologies?

An agency should be on the pulse when it comes to design. Choose a web design agency that can demonstrate the latest web design trends. The best agencies will jump at the chance to wax lyrical about trends as they’ll be passionate about their craft. Ask to see examples of their work that showcase these trends. Extra points if the agency also has articles detailing the latest web design trends, too.

29. What design software do you use?

The industry standard is usually Adobe and Figma. If they say CANVA, run for the hills.

30. How will you ensure that the design supports the goals and objectives of the website?

This question is crucial and if an agency can’t answer it in detail, then it’s time to look somewhere else. Web design should be based on both your internal and external stakeholders (your staff who use and update the website, as well as your commercial audience/customers).

At Contra, we:

• conduct internal and external stakeholder interviews to understand the needs and functionality requirements of users
• unite our web design and marketing team to perfectly balance elements such as UX and SEO (often something non-full-service agencies find
• difficult to get right as they don’t have the expertise)
• conduct first-click testing and card sorting before the build stage to ensure users can find the information they’re looking for
• conduct discovery sessions that get to the heart and soul of your brand to ensure your website’s look and feel perfectly reflects this
• build buyer personas to ensure your website talks to users in their language, highlighting their goals and challenges
• call on our team of copywriters to sprinkle their magic and ensure the website emotionally resonates with your users

31. How do you ensure that a website is mobile-friendly?

In this day and age, ensuring the website is mobile-friendly isn’t a requirement, it’s essential. Ask the agency about mobile optimisation. At Contra, we always ensure our websites are mobile optimised and present mobile designs during the design stage.

32. How many design revisions do you typically offer?

This really depends on the agency. However, be aware that having more revisions isn’t necessarily beneficial as it can lead to lots of ‘tinkering’ and back and forth, slowing the project. At Contra, we typically provide two design revisions. This encourages clear communication of changes required and focus at each revision, keeping the timeline on track. If you require a couple more, that’s fine. However, having the goal of two sets the focus.

33. How do you ensure website accessibility for people with disabilities?

There are a whole host of accessibility considerations when building a site. Ask the agency how they follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

34. How do you integrate social media into a website?

Let’s get this straight. Stay away from any agency that suggests including your social media links in your main menu nav. If you’re investing a significant budget into driving traffic to your site, why encourage them to jump straight off into the world of social media where they may become distracted by notifications etc. Include social links in the footer.

35. Will you be providing me with mockups or wireframes before starting the project?

This is standard. Any web design company that doesn’t provide designs and opportunities for feedback are cowboys.

36. Will you provide a design style guide or branding guidelines for the website?

When building your website, your agency should always provide a design system, a comprehensive set of guidelines governing visual and functional aspects, ensuring consistency in typography, colours, UI elements, and more for efficient design and development. This differs from branding guidelines, which maintain the overall brand identity across all touchpoints, including non-digital marketing collateral. At Contra, we typically request brand guidelines upfront, but if unavailable, we can create them before proceeding with web design and the design system. This would be scoped out separately.

Marketing.

37. What is your approach to search engine optimisation (SEO)?

Don’t simply ask if the agency “does SEO”. To many outside the SEO realm, SEO is simply including keywords on your website. However, SEO is so much more than that. Ask the agency what ‘their approach’ to SEO is. A good agency should be able to wax lyrical about:

• Buyer personas
• Keyword research
• On-page optimisation
• Content creation
• Pillar page and topic clusters
• Link building
• AI Overviews
• Technical SEO
• Local SEO
• Analytics and reporting

38. Do you offer SEO retainer services after the site has launched?

Some agencies incorporate SEO schema and core web vitals into the build. During this stage, it’s also worth negotiating keyword research and optimising meta titles and descriptions to ensure discoverability on search engines. A great web design agency enhances SEO with a post-build retainer. SEO requires ongoing efforts, including content creation, internal and external link building, and technical reviews and updates. Ask the agency about their SEO services. At Contra, we have several clients on various monthly SEO retainers.

39. What SEO tools do you use?

If the agency only responds with “Yoast”, be very alarmed. Sure, Yoast is great for simple on-page optimisation (keywords, SEO titles, meta descriptions, image alt text etc.) but this is only the basics of SEO. A good SEO agency should use a range of tools for SEO activities that go far beyond on-page optimisation. At Contra, we use:

• Yoast for on-page optimisation
• Ubersuggest for keyword research
• Semrush for keyword research, keyword rankings monitoring, competitor analysis, site audits and backlink analysis
• Screaming Frog for website crawling, technical SEO audits, URL mapping and data exports
• Google Analytics 4 for monitoring and reporting on web traffic and conversions
• A multitude of SEO platforms for researching the best websites for gaining backlinks

40. Have you got any examples of how you utilised SEO during the web design process?

Every agency can give you schpiel on how great they are at SEO. But can they show you examples and, even better, tangible results? Just some results we’ve achieved are:

• 45% increase in organic traffic for medical negligence firm
• 84% increase in organic traffic YoY for solar energy company
• +18.94 average Google position in six months

41. How do you handle website integration with marketing automation tools?

The benefit of being both a web development and marketing agency is that we have the creative and technical prowess to drive your business forward. We understand a range of marketing automation tools (we’re HubSpot partners) and we have developers who can use their technical wizardry to integrate them with your website. The result? A lead-generating website that aligns with your CRM and marketing tools to create more customers.

42. Can you advise on CRM systems?

Popular CRMs include Salesforce, HubSpot, ZohoCRM, LEAP, Clio, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Insightly and Agile CRM. At Contra, we are HubSpot partners and specialise in the CRM, using it for our own marketing activities. 

43. Do you offer Google Analytics 4 set-up as part of the web design process?

This may seem an odd question to ask but ultimately, it will benefit both you and the agency. If the agency sets up Google Analytics 4 (GA4), they can then measure and track a range of metrics such as page traffic, time on page, conversions, key event rate, engagement, and bounce rate. The goal is to show significant improvement from your old site and continuous improvement if you decide to move forward on a retainer basis. Also, it can benefit the agency as great results equate to great case studies.

44. Do you offer digital advertising?

Having a set of beautifully optimised landing pages is useless without traffic. Ask if the web design agency can run digital ad campaigns to those pages to generate near-instant sales upon launch. Choosing a full-service agency like Contra is perfect for this as they’ll have already done the initial keyword research before launch and will understand your audience, enabling them to effectively target your prospective clients through Google Ads, LinkedIn ads, Facebook ads or other platforms.

CMS.

45. Do you provide guidance on the CMS we should choose?

A good web design company will have experience across a range of CMSs. Therefore, they can remain CMS neutral, and base their recommendation on a discovery period that aims to understand your business and user requirements before advising on a specific CMS. We have vast experience in WordPress, and Drupal, as well as a range of Headless CMS, so we can make the right choice for you, not the right choice for us.

46. What integrations do we need?

You may require a range of integrations with your current systems and your website. Ensure the agency irons all this out during the discovery phase of the project.

Security.

47. How do you ensure website security?

Your agency should take website security very seriously, especially if you have a website that holds sensitive data.

Contra has a policy for securing sites including (but not limited to):

• using trusted modules
• locking down the CMS by IP address or 2FA
• setting security headers
• renaming the common folders and admin username
• hardening the file permissions
• disabling unneeded functionality
• back-ups of the database and user files for recovery in the event of a disaster
• regular security updates of the CMS core and plugins.

To enhance website security and performance, we often recommend utilising Sucuri (or something similar), a versatile service that combines security features like Web Application Firewall (WAF), DDOS protection, and crypto services with CDN capabilities and optional image and code compression.

For CMS and plugin updates, our approach balances automation with reliability. We maintain a semi-automated system where code is stored in source control, allowing for tracked and staged updates. Monthly testing of updates ensures functionality, and any issues are promptly addressed. This synchronised process guarantees regular, tested updates. Additionally, we provide ongoing monitoring, encompassing server uptime and SSL certificate status, to safeguard your site's integrity.

Performance.

48. How do you ensure fast page load speeds?

Ensuring fast page load speeds is fundamental. At Contra, we achieve this through a multi-faceted approach: meticulous image optimisation (compressing files and using modern formats like WebP), streamlining code by minifying CSS and JavaScript and removing unused elements, leveraging browser caching and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to serve assets faster globally, and choosing efficient hosting solutions. We prioritise clean, lightweight code from the outset and continuously test performance throughout development to guarantee a swift, responsive experience for every user.

49. How do you measure website performance and analytics?

A good web design agency will want to set up performance tracking and analytics. This is for both your benefit (to demonstrate ROI) but also for their benefits – after all, they’ll want to build up strong data-driven case studies and win new clients.

To measure website performance and analytics, we employ a multi-layered strategy. We conduct regular technical SEO audits using tools like Screaming Frog to uncover underlying structural or indexing issues. User experience is paramount, so we closely monitor Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) via Google Page Speed Insights to ensure optimal loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

Furthermore, we utilise Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to track essential metrics like traffic sources, user engagement, and conversion rates, integrating this data into custom Google Looker Studio dashboards for clear visualisation. These comprehensive findings are presented in a monthly report, providing actionable insights into your site's health and user behavior.

50. How do you handle website testing and quality assurance?

Thorough quality assurance (QA) is crucial to guarantee your website functions perfectly across all aspects, from backend systems to front-end performance. A robust QA process isn't just a final check, it starts early in the project.

Here's what Contra Agency’s comprehensive QA process includes:

• Early-Stage Checks: We verify backend functionality and page structures against the agreed specifications before the design is fully implemented. This prevents costly changes later.
• Design and Functionality Review: Every page should be meticulously reviewed against the approved design, covering elements like layout, spacing, animations, and content accuracy. We also test the functionality of all your website components, cross-referencing it with the pre-agreed component document.
• Content Population Testing: Testing with mock content ensures all components work correctly and helps identify potential bugs early.
• Client Testing: You will have the opportunity to review and test the site, especially during content population, within a collaborative project management system.
• Technical Testing: We also conduct in-depth technical testing, including:
• Accessibility testing:
  • Cross-browser and cross-device compatibility testing
  • Performance and caching optimisation for speed
  • Link checks and redirect setup
  • Web form testing

By ensuring these QA steps are followed, we deliver a website that's not only visually appealing but also technically sound, user-friendly, and performs optimally.

51. How do you handle website A/B testing?

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) should be a key part of your marketing post-website-build. This ensures your website is optimised to turn as many visitors as possible into quality leads.

For website A/B testing, we use Crazy Egg. This tool allows us to directly set up and run A/B tests to compare different versions of a page. Crucially, Crazy Egg also provides deeper insights into user behavior through features like heatmaps, scrollmaps, and session recordings, which help us understand why one version performs better than another, enabling data-driven optimisations for enhanced user experience and conversions.

Support and communication.

52. How will we communicate during the design process?

Many agencies have dedicated project managers, and Contra is no exception. During the design process, you’ll be assigned your very own project manager who will be accessible via email throughout the project, ensuring things run as agreed to the proposed timeline. Equally, we provide weekly or fortnightly catch-up meetings.

For any urgent requests, we have an urgent email that notifies the whole team. We always aim to keep response times to a minimum, but 24 hours is our max threshold. You will also have access to the developers working on your website, as well as the Head of Marketing and MDs if required.

53. Will we have access to a project management tool to track progress?

Effective project management is crucial for transparency and efficiency, which is why any reputable agency will utilise dedicated tools. We use a platform called Productive to manage all our projects. We can certainly invite you as a client, giving you direct insight into task progress, timelines visualised through GAANT charts, and the ability to provide feedback directly on specific items, ensuring you're always informed and involved.

54. How will we communicate if we have an urgent request or question?

In an ideal world, a web project will run smoothly. But, there may be times when you have an urgent request. We have a dedicated email for all urgent requests which is pinged out to the whole team and picked up by either your project manager, developers or managing director. In a nutshell, we ensure we never miss a beat.

Maintenance and updates.

55. How will the website be maintained after launch?

The Mona Lisa, The Colosseum, The Taj Mahal; all masterpieces require maintenance, and it’s no different for your website. Once launched, security updates will be made automatically. We typically agree on a small retainer where we assign a number of hours for small bug fixes and responding to requests.

56. Will you provide ongoing technical support for the website?

Once the site is launched, you’ll need to ensure you receive technical support. At Contra, we have a range of website support packages that can be tailored to your needs. Our support packages typically cover software updates, security monitoring and protection, backup and disaster recovery, technical support such as bug fixes and troubleshooting, emergency support, service and hosting management, and performance monitoring and optimisation.

We provide a primary contact for support issues, as well as an emergency contact for requests during weekends. We also give clients access to our project.  We have tools for monitoring the site and we receive instant notifications if your site goes down for whatever reason so we can get straight on it.

57. Will you monitor the website for any technical issues?

Whenever technical issues arise, you’ll want to ensure they’re seen to ASAP. We use a tool called StatusCake which provides live updates if your website experiences any downtime so our team can immediately resolve any issues. We can also scope out monthly technical audits to ensure your website is running optimally for both site performance and SEO.

Need a web design agency?

Choose Contra Agency to bring your vision to life. With over 25 years' experience creating beautifully bespoke web designs, we build, launch, maintain and grow websites that grow with your business. Got a project in mind? Get in touch.

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