12 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Developer.

A good developer can turn a clear business goal into a website that brings in enquiries, supports bookings and works properly on every screen. The right questions to ask before hiring a developer help you assess more than a portfolio. They show whether the person or team can make sound technical decisions, communicate clearly and support the site after launch.

For a Bay of Plenty business, the brief may sound simple: make it easy for local customers to find a service, understand the offer and get in touch from their mobile. Delivering that well requires planning, design judgement, development discipline and a practical maintenance plan.

Questions to ask before hiring a developer

1. What business result will this website support?

Start with the outcome, not the technology. A developer should ask what a successful website needs to do: generate quote requests, fill appointments, sell products, reduce phone enquiries or make information easier to find.

Listen for a response that connects features to customer actions. For example, a trades business may need service pages for each area, clear phone and quote buttons, and a form that sends enquiries to the right person. A professional service may need to build trust before asking for a consultation. The platform matters, but it comes after the goal.

2. Who will use the site, and what will they need on mobile?

Most local customers will first visit on a mobile. Ask how the developer plans for small screens from the beginning, rather than treating mobile as a resized desktop layout.

Useful detail includes tap-friendly buttons, readable type, short forms, fast-loading images and contact actions that are always easy to find. Ask to see examples on an actual phone, not only a desktop preview. A site can look polished on a large monitor while still making visitors work too hard on mobile.

3. Which platform do you recommend, and why?

A clear recommendation should fit your operations. WordPress is often a good choice when staff need to update pages, publish news or manage straightforward content. OctoberCMS can suit more tailored website or web application requirements where a structured, custom build is appropriate.

The best answer is not that one platform is always better. It is an explanation of the trade-offs: who will manage content, what integrations are needed, how much custom functionality is involved and how the system will be maintained. Avoid a solution that is more complex than the business needs.

4. What is included in the scope, and what is not?

A detailed scope prevents delays and makes approval easier. Ask for a practical breakdown of the work: page templates, content migration, design, copy support, forms, integrations, search setup, analytics, testing and launch.

Also ask what counts as a change. There is a real difference between refining a page during design and adding a new booking system halfway through a project. Clear boundaries are not restrictive. They let everyone make decisions early and keep the build moving.

5. How will you plan site structure and calls to action?

Visitors should not need to guess where to go next. Ask how navigation, service pages and calls to action will be planned around the way customers search and decide.

For many service businesses, the answer should include a simple page hierarchy, clear service descriptions, local relevance where it is useful, and contact paths that work from every key page. A good developer will consider the customer journey alongside the build, not leave it as an afterthought.

6. How will you keep the website fast?

Speed affects user experience, search visibility and conversion. Ask for a plain-English explanation of how the site will stay quick as content grows.

The answer may cover image optimisation, efficient page templates, caching, a content delivery network and sensible use of scripts. It should also cover measurement. Ask what performance checks will be completed before launch and what level of ongoing monitoring is available. A fast first version is useful, but repeatable performance matters more.

7. How will security, hosting and backups be handled?

Your developer does not need to make hosting sound mysterious. They should be able to explain where the website will run, who has access, how updates are applied and how backups can be restored.

Ask whether the site will sit behind a service such as Cloudflare for security, caching and content delivery, and how server management is handled. For WordPress sites, regular core, plugin and theme updates need an organised process. For custom applications, the update and error-reporting approach should be equally clear.

Just as importantly, confirm ownership. Your business should retain control of the domain name, hosting account, website files, content and third-party service accounts. A developer can manage these on your behalf without making you dependent on one person for access.

8. What integrations have you built before?

Forms, email marketing, CRM systems, booking tools, payment gateways and accounting software can all affect the scope of a website. Ask for examples that are relevant to your setup, rather than a broad list of logos.

The key question is how information moves between systems. If a customer submits an enquiry, who receives it, where is it stored and how will you know if delivery fails? If a booking tool is handled by another provider, clarify whether the developer is integrating it, styling it or simply linking to it.

9. How will you test the site before it goes live?

Testing is where a website becomes dependable. Ask for the launch checklist and make sure it includes more than checking whether pages appear in a browser.

A proper process checks forms, confirmation messages, links, navigation, search settings, security certificates, redirects, accessibility basics and layout across common devices and browsers. It should also include a chance for your team to review the site in a staging environment before it is published.

10. How will search and analytics be set up?

A developer cannot promise a particular Google ranking, and a reliable one will not. They can, however, build a sound technical foundation for search: sensible page structure, useful headings, metadata controls, crawlable content, redirects where needed and fast, mobile-friendly pages.

Ask what analytics will be installed and which conversions will be tracked. For a local service business, the useful actions are often form submissions, phone clicks, booking starts and key page visits. Reporting should tell you whether people are taking action, not just how many visitors arrived.

11. Who will manage the website after launch?

A website is not finished when it goes live. Content changes, software updates and occasional improvements are normal. Ask whether your team will receive training, documentation or both, and be specific about the tasks you expect to do yourselves.

Then ask what ongoing support looks like. Good maintenance may include scheduled updates, uptime monitoring, security checks, performance reviews and a monthly report. The right arrangement depends on how often the site changes and how critical it is to daily operations, but the responsibility should be agreed before launch.

12. How do you communicate during a project?

Strong communication keeps a website project efficient. Ask who your day-to-day contact will be, how approvals work, when you will see progress and how issues are raised. You should know what is required from your team at each stage, particularly content, imagery, access to existing systems and feedback.

Also ask how timelines are managed when a dependency changes. A practical developer will explain the sequence of work and flag decisions that could affect delivery. You do not need lengthy technical updates. You need timely, clear information that helps you make the next decision.

How to assess the answers

Look for specifics. A developer who can show relevant work, explain their process in plain language and identify trade-offs is generally easier to work with than one who relies on broad promises. Their proposal should make sense to a business owner as well as a technical person.

Price matters, but compare what is being delivered and supported. A lower quote can be suitable for a small brochure site with clear content and limited functionality. A larger investment may be justified when the project includes custom workflows, content migration, integrations or ongoing management. The useful comparison is value over the life of the site, not the launch price alone.

Choose the developer who understands what customers need to do next, gives you clear ownership and can explain the route from brief to launch. That creates a website you can use confidently, improve over time and rely on when the next enquiry comes through.