10 questions to ask before commissioning a corporate website

A corporate website is often a potential customer's first contact with your business. In an investment that will represent your brand for years, the real cost usually comes from questions that weren't asked: code you can't take with you, slow pages, content you can't update. The ten questions below protect both your budget and the result when comparing quotes.

#1. Who will own the source code, domain and hosting?

Having the domain and hosting account registered in your business's name keeps you from being locked in if you ever want to change provider. Have it stated clearly in the contract whether the source code and design files will be handed over.

#2. Which technology will be used — and why?

A ready-made theme, a content management system (CMS) or custom development: each has a different cost, speed and flexibility. What matters isn't whether the technology is trendy, but whether it fits your needs and is common enough for another team to take over.

#3. How fast will the pages load?

Slow pages lose visitors, and speed is also one of the signals Google considers. Instead of “it'll be fast”, ask for a measurable target — for example Core Web Vitals in the “good” range (LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, CLS under 0.1). See our website speed and Core Web Vitals guide for details.

#4. What does technical SEO cover?

• A unique title and meta description for every page
• A correct heading hierarchy: one H1, meaningful H2s and H3s
• A sitemap (sitemap.xml) and robots.txt
• Structured data (schema.org): organisation, service, FAQ, article
• Canonical URLs and a clean URL structure
• Mobile-friendliness and accessibility

Content creation and link building are usually separate services; make sure you can tell what is included in the quote.

#5. Will we be able to update content ourselves?

Needing a developer every time you add a campaign, an announcement or a new service costs both time and money. Ask which areas you can edit from a panel, how images are uploaded and whether training is included.

#6. How is mobile design handled?

Most visitors arrive on their phones. Make sure at the design stage that mobile is a priority from the start rather than an afterthought, and that menus, forms and buttons are comfortable to use with a finger.

#7. How does support work after launch?

Security updates, small fixes and new needs continue after launch. Find out the support period, response time, the scope of monthly maintenance and how additional development is priced up front.

#8. What will hosting cost?

A quote may cover only development. Ask separately about annual costs such as domain renewal, server, SSL certificate, email and backups. Knowing the differences between shared hosting and a VPS makes the right choice easier.

#9. Can a multilingual structure be added?

Even if one language is enough today, if you may expand abroad, ask whether the setup can easily take a second language later. In multilingual sites, a separate URL per language and correct hreflang markup matter for search visibility.

#10. What is the timeline, and what are the stages?

Clarify the schedule for analysis, design approval, development, testing and launch — and at which stage content or approval is expected from you. A large share of delays comes from content being prepared late.

#Checklist for comparing quotes

A quote without clear answers to these questions means surprise costs later. At Averis Soft we start every project with a scope document and hand over the source code at delivery. See our corporate website service or request a quote directly.