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Key takeaways
- Judge an agency by live sites you can open on your own phone, not by screenshots or review stars.
- Get ownership of the domain, hosting and content in writing before work starts.
- Ask who maintains the site after launch, and how fast they respond when it breaks.
- Anyone guaranteeing a number-one Google ranking is telling you something about themselves.
Kathmandu has hundreds of web design companies and freelancers, and from the outside most of them look the same: a portfolio grid, some logos and a contact form. The difference shows up months later, when the site needs a change or stops working. These twelve questions are designed to surface that difference before you sign.
Start with the work, not the pitch
The most reliable evidence of what an agency will build for you is what it has already built for others, still running today. Screenshots and mock-ups prove that someone can make a picture. A live site you can open on your own phone, over mobile data, proves that they can ship and keep something running.
When you open a site from their portfolio, check three things: does it load quickly on your phone, can you complete the main action (an enquiry, a booking, an order), and is it still being updated? A portfolio full of sites that have quietly gone offline tells you what happens after launch.
The 12 questions to ask
- Can I see three live sites you built, similar to mine? Open them yourself. Ask what the agency built and what was a template or someone else's work.
- Whose name will the domain be registered in? The only acceptable answer is yours, with an email address you control.
- Who owns the hosting account, the code and the content? You should be able to move to another provider without starting again.
- Who writes the text and supplies the photos? If it is you, agree deadlines. If it is them, agree what is included.
- Can you show me the admin I will use? Ask for a short demo of editing a page, a price or a notice. If it is confusing in the demo, it will be worse on your own.
- How will it perform on a mid-range Android phone? Ask how they test. A good answer mentions real phones and page weight, not only a desktop browser.
- Can you build Nepali pages, and who checks the Nepali? Machine translation alone is not enough for anything customers will rely on.
- If we take payments, how are they verified? The answer must involve checking the payment server to server with eSewa, Khalti or the bank, never trusting the browser's redirect.
- What happens after launch? Ask about the support period, response times, and the yearly or monthly cost of maintenance.
- How do you handle security and backups? Ask where backups are stored and when a restore was last tested.
- Is the quote fixed, and what is excluded? Get the scope, timeline and payment schedule in writing.
- Who will actually do the work? Some agencies sell and then subcontract. That can be fine, but you should know who to call.
Green flags and red flags
| Green flag | Red flag |
|---|---|
| Live sites you can open and test | Only screenshots, mock-ups or "confidential" projects |
| Domain registered in your name | "We'll handle the domain for you" with no detail |
| A clear written scope and fixed quote | A price that changes once work has started |
| Honest about what SEO can and cannot do | "Guaranteed first page of Google" |
| Explains trade-offs and suggests leaving things out | Says yes to everything without asking why |
| Countable facts about their own work | Large round numbers and five-star badges with no source |
| Hands over all logins at launch | Keeps the admin to themselves |
Freelancer, small studio or large agency?
Each can be the right choice. A good freelancer is often the best value for a small site, but ask what happens if they are ill, busy or move abroad. A small studio usually offers continuity and a range of skills without large-agency overhead. A large agency suits projects that need many people at once, but make sure your project is not handed to the most junior person on the team.
Whichever you choose, the questions above apply equally. Ownership, maintenance and real live work matter more than the size of the team.
Matching the agency to the project
If you need a straightforward business site, most competent agencies can deliver it. If you need software — a dealer portal, an online shop with stock, a booking system, or a mobile app — ask specifically for examples of that kind of project. Building custom software is a different skill from designing a brochure site, and the risks are higher because your operations start to depend on it.
For example, our Sintech project is a wholesale system with a dealer app on Google Play, an admin panel with separate roles for sales and repair staff, and in-app support calls. Asking an agency to walk you through something comparable they have built is the quickest way to find out whether they can handle yours.
Where to start
Shortlist three agencies whose live work you have opened and liked. Send each the same written brief and the twelve questions above, and compare the answers side by side along with the quotes. Our guide to website costs in Nepal will help you judge whether the prices are realistic. And if you would like us to be one of the three, get in touch — we are happy to answer every question on this list in writing.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single best company, only the best fit for your project. Shortlist agencies whose live sites you have tested on your own phone, ask them the same questions, and choose on evidence and clarity rather than on the lowest price.
They can do the paperwork, but the domain must be registered in your name with an email you control, and you should have the login. Otherwise you do not legally control your own web address.
Yes, if they can show live work, put the scope in writing and hand over every login at launch. Ask what happens if they become unavailable, and make sure you hold the domain and hosting accounts yourself.
No honest agency can, because nobody controls Google's results. Good SEO improves your chances with technical fixes, useful content and a strong Google Business Profile, and it reports on calls and enquiries rather than promises.
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