How to Choose a Web Designer in the UK.
Most UK businesses hire a web designer the wrong way: they compare mockups, ignore ownership, and sign a quote that hides monthly lock-in. Use this checklist before you pay a deposit.
1. Look at live websites, not Dribbble shots
Ask for production URLs. Open them on your phone. If they are slow, use a PDF menu, or look like a ThemeForest template, that is the quality you will receive. TheoMedia publishes live prototypes and case studies for exactly this reason — see selected work.
2. Demand source-code ownership in writing
If the designer hosts the site on a proprietary account and will not give you the repo, you are renting. At launch you should receive domain control, hosting access and a GitHub (or equivalent) repository. That is non-negotiable for a commercial site.
3. Separate design from a page builder
“Custom design” on Elementor or Squarespace is still a rented platform. Ask what the site is built with. Next.js, modern static generation and a proper CMS is a different product from a £49 theme with your logo swapped in.
4. Price the three-year cost, not the deposit
A cheap build with a £150/month retainer is not cheap. UK website pricing ranges from DIY subscriptions to £20k agencies. Independent studios quoting £895–£4,995 with no lock-in are usually the honest middle.
5. Ask who you will actually speak to
If sales hands you to a junior after the contract, quality drops. Founder-led studios keep the same people on discovery, design and engineering. That is slower to scale and better for a £2k–£10k project.
6. Confirm SEO is in the build, not a later upsell
Titles, H1, canonicals, schema, sitemap, internal links and Core Web Vitals should be in the statement of work. “We can add SEO later” means it was never designed in. See our small-business SEO checklist.
A studio that publishes prices and owns the outcome.
Fixed packages from £895 / €1,050. 100% client-owned. UK and Ireland.
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