Planning Your Next Website: The Must-Ask Questions Before You Hire Another Web Agency

If you're considering a website redesign, re-platforming, or even just a UX refresh, you're likely already juggling a full digital roadmap, a finite budget, and executive pressure to prove marketing ROI. And chances are, you're not starting from scratch. You may already have a web partner you’ve worked with previously or a new one you’re considering.

So how do you ensure the agency you choose is not only qualified but aligned with your goals, accountable to your KPIs, and equipped to future-proof your brand online?

Use this guide to ask the right questions — ones that reveal not just capability, but strategic fit.

10 Questions to Ask Your Web Design & Development Agency

Before you sign on the dotted line, it’s crucial to dig deeper than aesthetics and timelines. These 10 questions will help you uncover how your potential agency partner tackles today’s toughest digital marketing challenges—from AI-driven search to data privacy, scalability, and measurable business impact.

1. What Are The Top Challenges Marketing Leaders Face With Their Current Websites?

Most marketing leaders struggle with outdated UX, limited scalability, ineffective personalization, and poor ROI tracking. These gaps hinder omnichannel strategy, lower conversion rates, and create friction with internal stakeholders.

Ask for:

• A diagnostic assessment of your current site’s performance issues affect conversion rates and revenue.
• Examples of how the agency has resolved similar challenges for other enterprise brands.
• Evidence that they can tie technical improvements to measurable business outcomes like increased sales or lead quality

2. How Will Your Agency Help My Website Adapt To Evolving Digital Marketing Trends?

A future-ready website enables visibility in AI-driven search, captures and activates first-party data, and adapts to evolving user behaviors like voice and interactive search. This means architecting for flexibility, personalization, and data integration from day one.

Ask for:

• Specific ways the agency designs for AI Overviews, SGE, and voice search.
• How they plan for first-party data capture and compliance in site architecture.
• Their approach to personalizing user experience with scalable tech.

3. Which KPIs Should I Prioritize When Evaluating A Website Redesign Or Replatforming Project?

Start with revenue-focused KPIs: Lead quality, conversion rate, bounce rate, average session duration, SEO performance, and pipeline attribution. Align these with marketing goals — not just aesthetics or functionality.

Ask for:

• How they map UX and content decisions to your top KPIs.
• Real client results showing conversion rate improvements and revenue growth post-launch
• A plan for tracking how website improvements impact CAC and overall marketing ROI

4. What Does The Typical Lifecycle Of A Website Redesign Project Look Like With Your Agency?

A professional website project should follow a phased lifecycle: Discovery, strategy, design, development, QA, launch, and post-launch optimization.

Ask for:

• A sample project plan with milestones and owner expectations.
• Documented methodology for testing and optimizing conversion paths during development.
• Their approach for collaboration with your internal team — especially during strategy and testing.
• Tools used for project tracking and communication.

5. How Do You Ensure Long-Term Website Performance and Scalability?

Scalability is built through clean code, modular design, content governance, and a CMS that fits your team. Performance comes from speed optimization, SEO infrastructure, and analytics alignment.

Ask for:

• A rundown of their scalability philosophy — tech stack, CMS recommendations, and code practices.
• Their process for performance testing and optimization.
• Post-launch optimization strategies that support scale.

6. What Level of Client Involvement Do You Expect During the Web Development Project?

You don’t need to be in the weeds, but your input is critical during discovery, content alignment, brand approvals, and testing. A great agency will respect your time while keeping you strategically engaged on decisions that impact customer acquisition and conversion optimization.

Ask for:

• A breakdown of your team’s role by phase.
• Meeting cadence and approval checkpoints.
• Examples of how they’ve worked with busy client teams without slowing progress.

7. How Does Your Agency Approach Website Security And Compliance For Sensitive Data?

Security is non-negotiable, especially for enterprise B2B or eCommerce sites. A good agency bakes in privacy compliance (GDPR, CCPA), HTTPS, secure integrations, and regular vulnerability testing.

Ask for:

• How they build security measures that maintain customer trust and protect conversion rates.
• Compliance protocols for data collection and storage.
• How they future-proof security in evolving regulatory environments.

8. What Are Your Best Practices For Aligning With Our Brand’s Strategic Goals?

It’s not just about capability. It’s about chemistry. The right partner understands your business model, supports your GTM strategy, and knows how to drive marketing outcomes, not just launch sites.

Ask for:

• Case studies from brands with similar revenue goals and customer acquisition challenges.
• Strategic input the agency offers beyond design (e.g., content, SEO, CRO).
• How they measure partnership success after the site goes live.

9. How Do You Integrate SEO and Content Strategy From the Initial Design Phase?

An SEO-optimized website doesn't just drive traffic — it drives the right traffic that converts into customers. An SEO-first site starts with technical planning, keyword research, content hierarchy, and UX mapping — all before a single pixel is designed. Strategy leads the build, not the other way around.

Ask for:

• Their process for integrating content, SEO, and UX early.
• How they optimize for keywords that drive customers, not just traffic.
• Tools used for content planning, SERP gap analysis, and internal linking.
• Examples of SEO strategies that improved both traffic quality and conversion rates.

10. What Kind Of Post-Launch Support And Ongoing Optimization Services Do You Offer?

Your site is never 'done.' Continuous testing, performance improvements, content updates, and evolving user behavior demand proactive post-launch support.

Ask for:

• Support plans that include conversion rate optimization (CRO) and revenue tracking
• Metrics they use to evaluate post-launch success.
• Their approach to iterative site enhancements over time.

Bonus: What questions should your current agency already be asking you?

If your current partner isn’t digging into your KPIs, audience behavior, long-term goals, and digital marketing performance metrics, it might be time to re-evaluate. They may be treating your website as a design project rather than a revenue-generating business asset. A strategic agency doesn’t just execute — they challenge, collaborate, and elevate.

Make Your Website Work Harder for Your Business

Choosing the right web design and development agency is about finding a strategic partner who understands your business goals, knows how to solve your unique challenges, and can future-proof your digital presence as marketing evolves.

By asking these critical questions, you’re setting the stage for a website that doesn’t just look great, but delivers measurable results — better leads, stronger brand authenticity, and an experience that keeps your audience coming back.

If you’re ready to treat your website like the strategic asset it is, let’s talk.