You run a great business. Now you need a great website.

But you can’t run a business and build a website at the same time. Why not concentrate on what you’re good at and hire a website designer to do what they’re good at?

That makes way more sense. But how do you choose the right web designer for your needs?

Lucky for you, we have the answer to that question–9 answers, actually. Below are nine essential qualities to look for when scouting local web designers. Before you hire, check for these nine points.

1. They Design for SEO

SEO (search engine optimization) means optimizing a website so it ranks higher on search engine results pages (SERP). Not all web designers know or care about optimizing your site for search engines.

Is SEO important? That depends.

Would you like your website on page 1 of the search results or page 50? A better question is why would you pay a professional web designer for a site that’s set up to fail big time?

Hopefully, you wouldn’t. But you just might if you don’t check. Always find out if they design for SEO before you hire.

2. Experience in Relevant Web Design

What experience do they have in web design? Do they have any?

It’s always a huge red flag when they can’t provide examples of their work on demand. They should have a portfolio already sitting next to them if you ask to see one. If they don’t, find someone else.

Also, make sure the sites in their portfolio don’t all look exactly the same. There should be a variety of site designs for a variety of industries, especially yours.

If you don’t see any of their sites related to your industry, ask if they can show you one. If they’ve never designed a website for your specific industry before, don’t be their guinea pig. That brings us to our next point.

3. They Design for Your Business Goals

No experience designing for your industry means they probably have no idea what your industry wants from a website. They may know nothing at all about your business goals. Therefore, they’d know nothing about how to design a website that helps you achieve those goals.

Furthermore, the ideal web designer should have more than just website experience. They should also have experience in fields related to yours, such as business and marketing.

Would you really pay a designer who knows nothing about e-commerce to design your e-commerce site? That’s insane! Don’t do it!

Find out what they know about your industry. If they’re completely clueless about your business, they can’t help you.

Try this. Name some of your specific, complex business goals and ask how exactly they plan to help you achieve them. If they give you the deer-in-headlights stare, you’re in the wrong place.

Lastly, if they truly care about your business goals, you shouldn’t even have to ask. They’ll ask you about your business and website needs.

4. Proof of Success

On the topic of relevant experience, how successful have their past projects been? They may have a pretty portfolio, but “prettiness” is probably not your top priority for your website.

Are any of these websites actually successful? Were the previous customers satisfied? We’re gonna need some more details, here.

A good start is to ask them, “How do you rate your success?” An unsatisfying answer from them means, “We never bothered to.” A satisfactory answer is one that answers your followup questions before you ask.

Another good idea is visiting the portfolio sites on your phone. If most of them no longer exist, it’s obvious they had no lasting success.

Lastly, if they don’t automatically refer you to satisfied customers, ask for a referral. Find out if the customer was satisfied straight from the horse’s mouth.

5. They Actually Build Your Website

This is going to sound crazy, but some web designers don’t actually build your site. They simply come up with a custom design and hand you the blueprints for a site that someone else will have to build.

Some of the sleazier ones don’t even do that. They’ll hand you the same “custom” design they’ve handed out to several other customers. Or they’ll rip off a cheap template they found online.

Granted, this is a rare, worst-case scenario. But it’s not that uncommon to find a web designer who doesn’t code and build your site for you. This should go without saying, but make sure you know exactly what services they are providing you before you agree to anything.

6. They Set and Stick to Deadlines

When you ask your prospective web designer “How long will this project take?” they should provide a competent answer. If they become nervous and dodge the question, that’s not a good sign.

A deadline is a promise. Setting a deadline shows commitment. If the web designer can’t commit to a deadline, they’re either incompetent or unreliable (probably both).

But setting a deadline isn’t enough. You need to make sure they’ll follow through.

How do you do that? Ask them what the consequences are if they don’t meet the deadline. If there are none, there’s no real incentive for them to keep their promise to you.

Good web designers have a guarantee in place to make up for missed deadlines. They will give you a discount or some other consolation for breaking their commitment to you.

7. They Fit Your Budget

Small businesses don’t have an unlimited budget for web design. But you can’t afford to skimp on something as important as your website, either.

Unfortunately, web design pricing plans are not “one-size-fits-all.” Each web designer has their own way of calculating costs. But here are some tips on arriving at the right price.

First, set your own budget ahead of time. Finding out which designers can work within that price range will narrow your options.

Next, find out if there are hidden or optional fees. Have them tell you the maximum price the project could cost if there are any fees tacked on later.

Then, assume it will cost more anyway. This will keep you from going over budget.

8. They Offer Maintenance

What happens when the project is finished? How are you supposed to maintain the site?

Are you left to fend for yourself? What if the site starts having problems?

Make sure they have you taken care of if the site they gave you breaks down. Also, make sure they offer a continual maintenance service for your website.

9. They Give You Access to Their CMS

More importantly, will you even have access to make changes to your site when you need to? How will you do that? Your web designer better have good answers to these questions.

They should tell you what site-building software or content management system (CMS) they use to build your site. And you should be given access to the CMS and instruction on how to use it so you can make changes as needed. If they don’t provide this, how are you supposed to add content to your site?

Hiring Local Web Designers

That concludes your checklist of web designer hiring criteria. Now use it. Memorize or print this list to take with you when scouting local web designers.

For related reading, check out 4 Modern Examples of Clean Website Design.