Most business owners in Ludhiana have been burnt at least once by a website developer. We hear the same stories at Excellence Web Services almost every week — payments made, deadlines missed, deliverables that look nothing like the mockup, and developers who stop answering the phone.
This is the conversation I wish more business owners would have before they sign the cheque. Fifteen questions, in roughly the order I'd ask them.
Money & risk
1. What's your payment structure?
If a developer wants 100% upfront, walk away. Even 50% is aggressive. A good agency in 2026 should be willing to take 20–30% to start, with milestone-based payments. Some — like us — work Pay-After-Service where the bulk is contingent on delivery.
2. What happens if the project goes over budget or timeline?
Listen for accountability. A real answer involves change orders, written estimates, and named handover dates.
3. Who owns the final code, assets and domain?
The answer should always be: you do. If the developer wants to keep source code "for IP protection", that's a hostage situation.
Tech stack & quality
4. What technologies will you use, and why?
This isn't about whether they say "React" or "WordPress". It's whether the choice fits your needs. A 5-page small-business site doesn't need a custom Next.js build.
5. How will the site perform on a mid-range Android phone?
The honest answer involves Core Web Vitals, image optimisation, lazy loading, and a Lighthouse audit at the end.
6. How do you handle SEO from day one?
Look for: meta titles, descriptions, sitemap.xml, robots.txt, JSON-LD schema, alt text, Open Graph tags, fast page loads. SEO done at the end is dramatically more expensive than SEO done during build.
People & process
7. Will I work with the person I'm talking to now?
In a small agency, often yes. In a larger one, you might get sold by a partner and delivered by a junior.
8. Can I see live work shipped in the last six months?
Ask for three live URLs you can visit right now.
9. Will you put me in touch with two past clients?
Good agencies say yes immediately. The conversations are short, candid, and tell you everything.
Scope & deliverables
10. What exactly is included?
In writing. Pages, revisions, stock images, copywriting, logo, source files.
11. What's NOT included?
More revealing. Ongoing maintenance, content updates, new features, hosting costs, third-party licences.
12. What does post-launch support look like?
At Excellence, we include 30 days complimentary bug-fix and 12 months free maintenance (downtime, unexpected errors). After that, AMC or hourly.
Outcomes & accountability
13. What does success look like in 90 days?
Good agencies answer in business terms: leads, ranking improvements, conversion lift. Weak agencies answer in deliverable terms: "the site will be live".
14. What happens if I'm not happy?
Look for a remediation process and refund policy.
15. How do we communicate?
Daily WhatsApp? Weekly calls? Project-management tool? Mismatch in expectations is what kills projects.
Red flags to walk away from
- Refusal to put scope in writing.
- Aggressive pressure to sign today.
- Refusal to share three live URLs.
- Vague answers about code/design/domain ownership.
- Pricing dramatically below market — usually means the work will be outsourced to someone you didn't meet.
Green flags to lean toward
- They ask more questions than you do in the first call.
- They volunteer past work without asking.
- They write scope down before the second call.
- They're willing to take partial payment up-front and earn the rest.
- They explain trade-offs honestly.
- They're located in or near Ludhiana, so meetings can happen.
If you're starting this conversation now, the Excellence Web Services team would love to be on your shortlist. Our Pay After Service model is built around the risk-share concern this entire post is about.