What's Actually Included in Your Website Project? 10 Questions Most Buyers Forget to Ask and Regret Later
If you are paying an agency to build or redesign your website, you are probably focused on the things you can see. The design. The homepage. The photos and graphics. The words on the page. That all makes perfect sense, because those are the flashy parts of the project, and are likely where you'll spend most of your time on reviews and approvals.
But some of the most important work in a website project tends to be invisible. Most of it happens behind the scenes, and almost none of it shows up in a design presentation deck. The odd thing about these tasks is that nobody notices when they are missing until something goes wrong.
Most agencies know about the usual technical items, like creating a robots.txt file, submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console, and mapping 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones. If your agency is not doing those, that is a problem. But there is a second layer of tasks that are just as critical and far easier to miss.
Below are ten of them. For each one, you'll find included an open-ended question to ask during discovery or strategy sessions, plus the reason it matters. The questions are deliberately not yes or no. When an agency or freelance partner has to explain how they handle something, you learn far more than you would from a quick "yes, we do that."
1. Analytics and Conversion Tracking Setup
Ask: "Walk me through how you decide which actions on our site count as conversions, and how you set up and verify that tracking before launch."
Why it matters: Once the new site is live, the old site's data stops being useful for comparison unless someone captured a baseline. If tracking is not defined and tested before launch, you lose the ability to tell whether your investment is working. This question also shows whether the agency thinks in terms of your business goals or only in terms of delivering pages.
2. Google Search Console and Google Business Profile Verification
Ask: "How do you handle ownership and verification of our Google properties, and what happens to our existing profiles and listings when the new site goes live?"
Why it matters: These accounts hold your search history, indexing data, and local listing. If they live under the agency's login, you can lose access the day the relationship ends. The question also shows whether the agency plans for what happens to your existing listings and rankings at launch, when URLs change and mistakes tend to appear.
3. Form and CRM Integration Testing
Ask: "Describe your process for testing every form from submission to CRM record, including how you confirm notifications, source data, and workflows are working correctly."
Why it matters: Forms are how a website turns visitors into revenue, and a broken one is a major problem that isn't easily recognizable upfront. Nobody sees an error right away. Leads just stop arriving, and weeks of missed inquiries can pass before anyone notices. This question shows whether the agency tests the full path from submission to CRM record, or only checks that the form looks right.
4. On-Page SEO Migration
Ask: "How do you determine which existing titles, meta descriptions, headings, and page elements to carry over, and how do you handle new pages that have no SEO history?"
Why it matters: A redesign often rewrites page titles, headings, and descriptions without anyone checking what those pages were ranking for. Years of search equity can disappear in a single launch. Asking how the agency decides what to preserve shows whether SEO is built into the project or treated as an add-on.
5. Content Ownership and Inventory
Ask: "How do you approach auditing our current content, and what does the process look like for deciding who writes, approves, and uploads each page?"
Why it matters: Content is the most common reason website projects run late and over budget. When no one owns writing, approval, and upload, the schedule stalls while everyone waits on everyone else. This question surfaces who is responsible for what before the timeline is locked in, and it sets realistic expectations about your own role in the project.
6. Site Speed and Core Web Vitals
Ask: "What does your performance process look like from design through launch, and what benchmarks do you aim to hit before the site goes live?"
Why it matters: Speed affects search visibility, bounce rate, and conversion, especially on mobile. It is much cheaper to design for performance from the start than to fix a heavy site after launch. This question tells you whether performance is a planned part of the build or something that only gets addressed if someone complains.
7. Cross-Browser, Mobile, and Accessibility Testing
Ask: "Tell me how you test across devices, browsers, and accessibility standards, and what you do when you find issues late in the project."
Why it matters: Your customers use many devices and browsers, and a layout that looks perfect on the designer's screen can break on theirs. Accessibility adds a legal and reputational dimension, since inaccessible sites can draw complaints or lawsuits. This question clarifies what testing is included and how issues are handled when they surface late.
8. Legal and Compliance Pages
Ask: "How do you determine which legal and compliance pages and disclosures our site needs, and who is responsible for reviewing and approving them?"
Why it matters: Privacy policies, cookie consent, and required disclosures tie directly to how your site collects data through forms, analytics, and ad pixels. Agencies often assume the client will supply them, and clients assume the agency will. This question settles responsibility early and prevents a last-minute scramble or an unprotected launch.
9. Backups, Security, and Hosting Setup
Ask: "Explain how hosting, security, and backups will be set up and managed, and who will own the accounts, logins, and domain registration when the project is done."
Why it matters: A site that is not backed up, patched, and monitored is a risk to your business, not just your marketing. Ownership matters just as much. If the agency controls your domain or hosting account, you have limited leverage if the relationship changes. This question gets ownership, access, and recovery plans out in the open.
10. Training, Documentation, and Post-Launch Support
Ask: "What does the handoff look like after launch, including training, documentation, and the support we can expect in the first 30 to 90 days?"
Why it matters: A website you cannot update is a website that goes stale. Launch is rarely the end of the work, since small issues appear in the first weeks that no amount of testing fully catches. This question shows whether the agency is invested in your success after the final invoice, and whether you will be able to manage the site with confidence.
The Common Thread
If you look back over that list and you'll notice a pattern. None of these items are flashy. None of them will impress anyone in a design meeting. And almost all of them go unnoticed right up until the moment they fail.
That is exactly why they are worth asking about early. A good agency or freelance partner will welcome these questions, because they signal that you are a client who understands what a successful launch really takes. An agency that gets defensive, or answers with a quick "yes, of course," speaks volumes about how they're viewing the priorities of the project or their lacking processes.
You do not need to be a technical expert to protect your investment. You just need to ask questions that make the process visible, and listen closely to how the answers are given.
A website is one of the biggest marketing investments a business makes. Make sure the work that holds it together is not left to chance.
If you are planning a new website or a redesign and want a second set of eyes on the scope, we're happy to talk it through. Understanding what's necessary for a successful project is vital, and we'd love to help you work through the strategy of how to get there.