What are the most common mistakes business owners make when hiring a web designer? Choosing on price alone, not getting ownership of the domain and hosting in writing, approving a design without testing it on a phone, and ignoring whether the finished site will be found in search and AI tools. For a small business in Philadelphia or the surrounding suburbs, the website is often the first impression a customer gets, so a bad hire can cost you customers for years. This guide from AIG Web Methods covers eight mistakes worth checking for before you sign, and what to ask instead.
Mistake 1: Choosing a Web Designer on Price Alone
The lowest bid is tempting when you are watching costs. But a web design quote usually reflects what is actually being delivered. A very low quote often means a template with no custom structure, no attention to how search engines and AI tools read the page, and no plan for updates after launch. Owners then pay twice: once for the cheap site and again when it has to be rebuilt.
Compare scope, not just the number. Ask whether the site is built on WordPress or on a locked platform the designer controls, who owns the content when it is done, and whether any search or AI visibility work is included or priced separately.
Mistake 2: Not Asking Who Owns the Website
This one does the most damage. Some designers build on platforms where the owner never gets full admin access, or where the domain, hosting and content sit in the designer’s account instead of the business’s. If that designer stops answering, raises prices or closes, the business can be locked out of its own website.
What to get in writing before you sign
- The domain registration is in your business’s name and account
- The hosting account is yours, with your login
- You have full administrator access to the content management system
- You receive copies of any paid themes, plugins or licenses bought for the site
If a designer hesitates to put that in writing, keep looking.
Mistake 3: Hiring for Looks and Skipping Mobile Testing
A beautiful homepage means little if visitors cannot find your phone number, the site loads slowly on a phone, or the contact form quietly fails to deliver messages. Designs often get approved from a presentation on a large screen, while most of your customers will first see the site on a phone.
The numbers make the point. According to the Pew Research Center Mobile Fact Sheet, 91 percent of U.S. adults owned a smartphone in its 2025 survey, up from 35 percent in Pew’s first smartphone survey in 2011. Ownership was 97 percent for ages 18 to 29 and 78 percent for adults 65 and older.
A five minute test before you approve the design
- Open the site on your own phone over cellular data, not office Wi-Fi.
- Find the phone number and tap it. It should start a call.
- Fill out every form and confirm the message actually arrives.
- Click every button in the main menu and the footer.
- Ask a customer or friend to book an appointment without your help and watch where they get stuck.
Mistake 4: Overlooking Whether the Site Will Be Found
Many owners assume that once a website is live, customers will find it. A site built with no attention to local SEO or structured content can sit buried deep in search results. A designer who talks only about colors, fonts and layout, and never about how the site will rank locally or how search engines read it, is leaving out part of the job.
The website also works best alongside an actively managed Google Business Profile, since that profile is what shows up in the map results for many local searches.
Mistake 5: Forgetting AI Search Visibility
Some customers now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI features for a local recommendation instead of scrolling a list of links. Those tools draw on consistent business information across the web, structured data and pages that answer real questions. Ask any designer you interview: does your process account for how AI search tools read and recommend local businesses? A blank look is useful information. You can check where your business stands today with a free AI visibility scan.
Mistake 6: No Plan for Updates and Maintenance
A website is closer to a storefront than a one time purchase. Owners often sign for the build and never discuss what happens next: who updates prices, who fixes a broken plugin, who adds a new service or location. Without a plan, small problems pile up until the site looks abandoned or breaks.
Before hiring, ask what ongoing support costs and what you will receive each month. A plain English monthly report of what changed and why tells you far more than silence after launch.
Mistake 7: Skipping Real Examples of Past Work
A polished pitch is easy to believe. Ask to see live sites the designer built for other local businesses, not mockups, and ask whether those clients would talk to you. Ask specifically about businesses of your size and trade. A designer who has only built sites for large national brands may not understand what a local service business needs: calls, booked appointments and a clear path from search to contact.
Mistake 8: Treating the Website as a Standalone Project
A website disconnected from your Google Business Profile, local search work, review requests and follow up does far less than one built as part of a system. Owners often hire one person to build the site, another for SEO, another for ads, and no one for the follow up that turns a visitor into a customer.
A better approach treats the website as the hub, connected to local search visibility, automated follow up texts and emails, and review requests, all working from the same information. Small businesses in the Philadelphia suburbs often get more from the same monthly budget once those pieces are connected.
How AIG Web Methods Builds Websites
AIG Web Methods is a digital marketing agency in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, founded by its owner after 25 years of experience in enterprise IT at Vanguard. That background shapes how we approach website design: as a technical system that has to load fast, work on every phone, hand off cleanly to search engines and AI tools, and stay maintained. We also build the pieces many web projects skip, such as the follow up, review requests and an AI chatbot for a small business website that answers visitor questions after hours.
Talk to AIG Web Methods about your situation.
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Tell us about your business and we will look at your website, Google Business Profile and local rankings, then send you a plain-English list of what to fix first. Your information is never shared.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make sure I own my website after a web designer builds it?
Ask in writing that the domain registration, hosting account and content management system login are in your business name and under your control, and get it confirmed before you sign, not after the site is built.
Is the cheapest web design quote ever a good idea?
Sometimes, if you know exactly what is and is not included. Compare the scope of work, not only the price, and ask what happens after launch for updates and support.
How important is it that my website works well on phones?
Very. Pew Research Center found 91 percent of U.S. adults owned a smartphone in 2025, so many customers will see your site on a phone first. Test it on your own phone before you approve the design.
Does my new website need to be set up for AI search tools?
It helps. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI features draw on consistent business information, structured data and pages that answer real questions, so a site built with those in mind has a better chance of being cited.
What should I ask a web designer about maintenance?
Ask what ongoing support costs, who handles updates and fixes, and whether you will get a regular plain English report of what changed on your site.
If you are about to hire a web designer, or suspect your current site was set up in a way that holds your business back, AIG Web Methods offers a free 30-minute strategy call. Call (215) 999-6120, email admin@aigwebmethods.com, or send AIG Web Methods a message.
About the Author
This guide was written by the founder of AIG Web Methods in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. Before starting AIG Web Methods, the founder built 25 years of experience in enterprise IT at Vanguard, and holds an MBA from Penn State and a BS in Computer Science from Temple University. The founder works directly with each client on website design, local SEO, Google Business Profile management and AI search optimization. Read more about the founder and AIG Web Methods.