Full disclosure: this article is written by GhostRoutine, a web design business. You should factor that in. What I can tell you is that I've seen enough of the industry to know what clients consistently get wrong when choosing a designer — and it costs them real money. This is the guide I'd give a friend before they started shopping.
The web design market is unregulated, low-barrier to entry, and wildly inconsistent in quality and ethics. Anyone with a laptop and a Wix account can call themselves a web designer. That's not an insult to self-taught people — it's a warning that credentials alone tell you nothing. What tells you something is how a designer talks about your business, what they put in writing, and what they've actually built before.
Red flags to watch for immediately
Vague or absent pricing
If a designer won't give you a price or even a price range until you've had three calls and submitted a detailed brief, something's off. Legitimate professionals have a sense of what their work costs. Some flexibility for scope is normal. "It depends" as the only answer to "how much does a website cost?" is a sales tactic, not transparency. You should be able to get a ballpark figure and understand what drives it up or down.
No written contract
This one is non-negotiable. A proper engagement should have a contract that covers: scope of work, payment schedule, revision rounds, timelines, what happens if the project stalls, and who owns the files at the end. If a designer is operating on a handshake and a promise, you have no recourse if things go sideways. Business.govt.nz outlines dispute resolution options, but you're far better off with a contract than pursuing a dispute after the fact.
Templates sold as custom work
This is widespread. A designer purchases a premium WordPress or Squarespace template for NZD $60–$150, swaps in your logo and content, and charges NZD $3,000–$8,000 for a "custom website." The result is a site that looks identical to dozens of other businesses using the same template, and one you could have built yourself. Ask directly: "Is this built from a template or built from scratch?" If the answer is unclear, ask to see the original theme or framework it's based on.
Template vs custom — what's the real difference? A template-based build can be perfectly fine for many businesses. The problem is paying custom prices for template work, or being told it's custom when it isn't. If you're paying for a template build, the price should reflect that — and you should know what you're buying.
No discovery process
A designer who quotes a price before asking about your customers, your goals, your competitors, or your existing traffic is designing aesthetics, not strategy. A website that looks great and converts nobody is an expensive failure. Before any design work starts, a good designer should understand who visits your site, what action you want them to take, and what currently stands in the way of that.
Questions to ask before you hire anyone
- "Can you show me three live sites you've built in the last 18 months?"
- "Do I own the files and code when the project is complete?"
- "What happens if I want to move to a different developer after launch?"
- "What's included in the quote, and what's not?"
- "What does the revision process look like?"
- "Who handles hosting — you or me — and what are the ongoing costs?"
- "Do you have a written contract?"
Pay attention to how they answer, not just what they say. Evasiveness, defensiveness, or irritation at basic questions tells you something important about what working with them long-term will be like.
What to look for in a portfolio
Click through to the actual live sites, not just screenshots. Screenshots can be manipulated and outdated. On the live site, check:
- Mobile experience — does it work properly on your phone? Load time? Navigation?
- Page speed — run the URL through Google PageSpeed Insights. A score below 70 on mobile is a concern.
- Clarity — within 5 seconds, can you tell what the business does and who it's for?
- Craft — are the details right? Typography, spacing, consistency of style across pages?
A portfolio with 20 sites that are all slow, all confusing, or all clearly from the same template tells you exactly what you'll get.
File ownership: the thing most clients forget to ask
This is where people get burned badly. Some designers retain ownership of the code, the design files, or the hosting environment. When you decide to move on — to a different developer, a different platform, or handling it in-house — you find you can't take your own website with you without starting from scratch.
Before you sign anything, confirm in writing: all design files, code, and assets transfer to you upon final payment. Your domain should be registered in your name. Your hosting should be under your account. Your Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and any other tool accounts should belong to you. A designer who resists any of these points is building dependency, not delivering a service.
Most websites need ongoing maintenance: security updates, plugin updates (for WordPress), backups, and occasional content changes. Get clarity upfront on what this costs and who handles it. A well-built site shouldn't require constant billable hours — if a designer suggests otherwise, ask why.
Price vs value: thinking about it correctly
A NZD $1,500 website that confuses visitors and doesn't rank in Google is more expensive than a NZD $10,000 website that generates consistent enquiries. The question isn't "what's the cheapest I can get a website for?" — it's "what's the return I need this website to generate, and what investment makes sense to achieve that?"
That said, expensive doesn't mean good. There are agencies charging NZD $25,000+ for work that a skilled independent designer would do better for a third of that. Price is a data point, not a quality signal. The portfolio, the process, and the contract are the quality signals.
Wondering what a GhostRoutine engagement looks like? Fixed pricing, a written contract, full file ownership, and work that's built to convert — not just look good. Let's have an honest conversation about what you need.
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