Hiring someone to build your website is a significant investment — usually in the low thousands for a small business site, higher for e-commerce or custom apps. The wrong choice costs you months of lost time and a site that does not do what you hoped it would. The right one pays for itself many times over.

Here is what I would look for if I were on the hiring side of this conversation.

1. Look at real live work, not just screenshots

A portfolio full of pretty mockups tells you nothing. Anyone can ship a beautiful Figma frame. The test is whether they can turn it into a real website that performs.

Open their live projects on your phone. Ask yourself:

  • Does the site load fast? (Count Mississippi — under 3 seconds is the minimum bar.)
  • Does the mobile layout work, or does it feel like a squished desktop?
  • Is the typography readable at arm's length?
  • Do the buttons respond instantly when you tap?
  • Is the information you need visible in the first screen?

Then run one of their sites through Google PageSpeed Insights. If it scores under 90 on mobile, the developer is shipping work that Google is actively penalizing. That is a red flag.

You can do this test on my own work — the portfolio page links to every project I have built.

2. Ask about their process

A good developer wants to understand your business before they start designing anything. If a conversation with them starts with "I have a template that would be perfect for you", they are trying to sell a product, not build your site.

Specific questions that reveal a lot:

  • How do you start a project? (The right answer involves questions about your business, not your budget.)
  • Who writes the copy? (If they say "you do" without helping structure it, that is often where projects stall.)
  • Do you design in Figma before coding? (If not, expect endless revisions during build.)
  • How do you handle SEO and performance? (If they say "we use an SEO plugin", run.)
  • How many rounds of revisions are included?
  • What happens if the scope changes mid-project?

You are looking for clear, specific answers. Vagueness here translates directly into painful projects.

3. Understand what they actually deliver

"A website" is a vague deliverable. A good developer can list exactly what you get:

  • Design files (Figma or similar)
  • Responsive implementation (desktop, tablet, mobile)
  • Basic SEO setup (meta tags, schema, sitemap, robots.txt)
  • Performance targets (Lighthouse scores)
  • Analytics wiring
  • Deployment and domain configuration
  • A handover document for content updates
  • A defined support window after launch

If any of these are missing from the proposal, they are either add-ons with extra cost or they will not happen. Clarify before signing.

4. Full-stack vs. assembled team

For a small business site, a single full-stack developer who covers design, development, SEO basics, and deployment will almost always deliver faster and cheaper than a team of specialists. Fewer handoffs, fewer coordination costs, one person accountable for the whole result.

For larger projects — six figures, complex integrations, enterprise scale — a small team with specialized roles is worth the overhead. Know which side of that line your project sits on.

5. Communication style

This is the thing people underrate most. You are going to be exchanging messages with this person for weeks. If their replies take four days, if their written English is hard to parse, if they do not ask clarifying questions — you will hate every step of the project.

Test it during the quoting phase. Ask a specific question and see how they respond. Speed, clarity, and thoughtfulness at this stage predict what working together will feel like.

6. What happens after launch

A website is not a one-time project. Content changes, browsers update, security patches come out, integrations break. Ask:

  • Is basic maintenance included for a period after launch?
  • What is the hourly rate for small fixes?
  • How do you handle urgent issues (the site is down on a weekend)?
  • Can I edit content myself, or do I call you for every text change?

The ideal arrangement is a short warranty period (usually 30 days), followed by hourly or retainer-based support. Clients who want full control of content get a simple admin panel wired in during the build.

7. Red flags to walk away from

  • Quotes that are suspiciously cheap (under €500 for a full business site usually means a template slap-job).
  • Full payment upfront with no milestones.
  • No contract.
  • No specific timeline.
  • "SEO guaranteed" — nobody can guarantee rankings, and anyone who claims to is lying.
  • Pressure to decide today.
  • Refusing to show live work or provide references.

What I do differently

My process is structured to avoid all of the above. I lay out the full scope in writing before any payment. I share a staging URL from day one so you can watch progress in real time. I run performance and SEO checks as part of the build, not as an afterthought. And I stay responsive after launch.

If any of this sounds like what you want for your next project, email info@tonibarisic.com or use the contact form. I am based in Split, Croatia and I work with clients across Europe and beyond.