How to hire a freelance web designer (and what to ask before you sign)

It's natural to choose a web designer by the prettiest portfolio. It's the part you can see. But a beautiful website and a website that brings in clients aren't always the same thing, and the difference usually shows up months later, once the page is live.

I wrote this guide to help business owners hiring a website, a landing page or a brand identity make a good choice the first time, especially when working with a freelancer in another country.

1. Look for decisions in the portfolio, not just screens

With today's tools, lots of people can put together a nice screen. What helps you choose well is whether the designer can explain why the screen looks the way it does.

When you open a case study, look for answers to three questions:

• What was the client's problem?
• What was decided to solve it?
• What changed afterwards?

If the portfolio only shows loose images, ask the designer to walk you through one project. That conversation tells you a lot about how they think.

2. Ask how they will know the website worked

This question says a lot about how someone works. A live website is the beginning of the story, and it helps to agree from day one how you will follow what happens next.

Ask: "Once the site is live, how will we know if it is bringing in leads?". A good answer mentions measuring how many people visited, where they came from, how many reached the part of the page where you ask for something, and how many actually contacted you. If the answer stops at making the site "look modern", it is worth asking for more detail.

3. Check the time zone and the way you will communicate

Hiring remotely works very well when a few things are agreed at the start:

• Overlap hours. You do not need the same time zone, you need a few shared hours. I work from Brazil (UTC-3), which overlaps well with the business day across the Americas and with the afternoon in Europe.
• One channel. Email, Slack or WhatsApp, but one place where decisions are written down.
• A rhythm. A short update on fixed days is worth more than long meetings.
• Language. Make sure you can have a real conversation about your business, not just exchange files.

4. Understand what is included

Similar quotes can hide very different deliverables. Before comparing prices, confirm whether these are included:

• The copy for the page, or whether you will write it yourself
• A mobile version designed from the start, not just "adapted"
• Domain, hosting and who keeps the access to them
• Basic SEO: title, description, speed and a structure Google understands
• How many rounds of revisions there are
• What happens after launch, if something needs to change

5. Make sure you own everything

With a freelancer abroad, write this down clearly: the domain is registered in your name, you have the logins, and you receive the source files at the end. Agree on currency, payment schedule and how invoices are sent before the project starts.

6. See how they treat your words

Copy is half of a page. A thoughtful web designer will want to understand how your clients talk, what doubts they have before buying and what truly makes you different.

If you already have your own way of speaking, it deserves to be respected. Replacing your voice with generic copy can erase exactly what makes clients trust you.

Questions to bring to the first call

1. Can you walk me through a project similar to mine?
2. How will we know the website is working?
3. Which hours do we overlap, and how will we communicate?
4. Who writes the copy?
5. What is included, and what is billed separately?
6. After launch, who updates the site, and how fast?

In short

Look for someone who explains their decisions clearly, cares about what happens after launch and talks more about your clients than about tools. Distance is not a problem when the process is clear. A beautiful website matters, and it is even better when it also helps your business day to day.

If you like, I can look at your current website with you and show you where it could improve. It is the review I do before any project.