Check the portfolio, not just pretty pictures
Open the live sites, test them on a phone and in Google PageSpeed Insights, and look for projects similar to yours.
Review the proposal
- Is there a clear list of work and deliverables per stage?
- How many revisions are included?
- Are deadlines and responsibilities stated?
- What's billed separately?
Contract and ownership
Make sure the domain, hosting, source code and all access are registered to you.
Red flags
- A "from" price with no breakdown.
- 100% prepayment.
- Promises of "#1 on Google in a week".
- Refusing to register the domain to the client.