How to choose your web design company: an honest guide for a business owner

You've decided to build a website and asked for a few quotes. One says €300, another €1,500, another promises you "first place on Google in two weeks." They all sound convincing, but you're left with the same question: who do I give my money to so I don't regret it three months from now? It's a good question, and not a naive one at all. How you choose your web design company matters more than it seems, because a poorly built site doesn't cost you just once — it holds you back, makes you look smaller than you are and, usually, has to be rebuilt from scratch.

We're a web design team from Cluj/Cluj-Napoca, and we've taken on enough "rescue" projects to know exactly where things go wrong. So we don't want to win you over with big words — we want to give you the criteria for choosing well, even if, in the end, you choose someone else. A client who understands what they're buying is the client we most enjoy working with.

What to actually look for before you sign

Don't be charmed by how pretty the company's own site is. Look at what they deliver for others and how they treat you from the very first message.

• The portfolio, for real — ask for links to live sites, not pictures from a presentation. Open them on your phone, see how fast they load, whether they look good on a small screen. Two or three real projects say more than 50 "mockups." Bonus if you find a business from your own field among them.
• Communication — at first contact, did they ask questions about your business, or jump straight to the price? A good team first wants to understand what you sell and to whom, then proposes a solution. If they're slow to reply now, it won't get any better once you've paid.
• A fair price, explained — not the lowest one, but the one they can justify to you. You need to know exactly what's included in the figure: how many pages, who writes the texts, the domain, hosting, basic optimization.
• What platform they use and why — ask what the site is built on (WordPress, custom code, a builder) and what you can do yourself after launch. A site where you can't even change a phone number without paying every single time is a long-term trap.
• Maintenance — a website needs upkeep: updates, backups, security. Ask from the start who handles things after launch and how much it costs.
• Honesty — do they also tell you what you DON'T need? Whoever lets you buy less when that's the right call is usually the one who deserves your trust.

Red flags you shouldn't ignore

A few things should make you pay attention, no matter how likeable the person in front of you is.

• "We guarantee first place on Google." No one can guarantee that — not even Google can. Ranking is earned over time, through content and local SEO done right, not through promises.
• A suspiciously low price, with no details. A site "for €150, ready tomorrow" is usually a template filled in a hurry, with no thought-out texts and no support afterward.
• They refuse to give you access. The domain and hosting must be in your name. If someone keeps them "on their side," you're a prisoner — you can't leave without losing everything.
• No contract, nothing in writing. What's included in the price, deadlines, what happens with revisions — all of it on paper or by email. "We'll sort it out between us" is not a plan.
• They vanish after launch. Ask from the start how they respond to an urgent problem six months down the line — and ask for a name, not "the company."

Questions to ask any web design company

Write them down and ask them of every quote. The answers, more than the price, show you who you're dealing with.

• What exactly is included in the price, and what costs extra?
• Will the domain and hosting stay in my name?
• Who writes the texts — me, you, or do we get them from somewhere?
• What platform is it built on, and what can I edit myself after launch?
• How much does a change cost after launch, and how long does it take?
• Will the site be fast and work on mobile? Can I see a live example?
• What happens if, a year from now, I want to work with someone else?

What it should actually cost

A fair price depends on what you need, not on how impressive the company sounds. To give you a realistic benchmark, here's what we charge — and it's roughly where the serious players in the region land:

If you want to understand how these figures come together, we explained it in detail in how much a website costs. The key is to compare quotes for the same thing: a landing page can't be compared to a store, just as you wouldn't compare a city car to a bus. When one quote is much cheaper than the others, ask yourself what's missing from it — texts, optimization, support — not why it's so cheap.

How to recognize a team you'll work well with

Beyond the numbers, there's something you can feel: a good team makes you understand, rather than making you feel stupid for not knowing. They speak your language, without throwing around jargon just to seem clever. They suggest the simplest solution that solves your problem, not the most expensive one. And they're honest about timelines — a good presentation site is built in one or two weeks, not "by this evening."

We're not the cheapest, and we won't promise you overnight miracles. What we can promise is that we'll tell you clearly what you're getting, that you'll stay the owner of your domain and your site, and that we'll be here after launch too. That's it — but these are exactly the things that, a year from now, make the difference between a site that works for you and one you regret.

If you want to see for yourself how we think, we'll build you a free website mockup, in your business's name and for your niche, with no obligation whatsoever. You look at it, tell us what you like and what you don't, and only then do you decide whether we go further. Get in touch and you'll walk away, either way, with a much clearer idea of what your business's website should look like.