Before Hiring a Website Agency, Ask These Seven Questions

In the export website market, quotes range from ¥500 to ¥500,000 — and the skill gap is even bigger than the price gap. How do you screen? Don't listen to pitches. Screen with questions. After these seven, you'll know exactly how reliable the other side is.

Before you ask, get one thing straight

You're not looking for "someone who can build websites." You're looking for "someone who can turn a website into a customer-acquisition channel." So every question revolves around one core: will this website actually bring me inquiries?

The seven questions (ranked by kill power)

1. "Send three live case studies — I'll open them on my phone right now."

Mockup images don't count. Open the case sites: is the mobile version a broken, shrunken mess? Does the page load fast? Anyone who can't answer or only sends screenshots is out.

2. "If I stop renewing, does the site stay online? Can I take the source code and data?"

This is the most brutal question of all (an earlier post covers it in detail). Those who dare put it in writing stay; those who dance around it are out.

3. "Can I see the delivery checklist? How does item-by-item acceptance work?"

Delivery without a checklist means no standard — they say it's done, you say it isn't, and you're arguing in the air. There are very few agencies in the country willing to write 51 pages of copy and 46 images into a checklist, line by line.

4. "Who handles search-engine indexing after launch? Name the specific steps."

"We guarantee indexing" is an empty phrase. Make them get specific: who generates the sitemap, who submits it to which webmaster platforms, how long until pages show up in the index. Anyone who can't name four concrete steps doesn't have a process at all.

5. "How long does it take? If it stalls, who's responsible?"

A template site taking over a month needs explanation. Most timeline delays aren't technical — the other side is waiting for your materials, and nobody told you what to prepare.

6. "Who writes the page copy — from the materials we provide, or do you make it up?"

"Our professional copywriters handle everything" sounds great, but writers who don't understand factories produce nothing but "superb quality, serving the world." The correct answer: they guide you to supply the facts (capacity, certifications, specs) and they structure the expression.

7. "How do you measure whether the site is a success?"

Anyone who says "it looks premium" is out. A passing answer is the chain "indexed — keyword library — rankings — inquiries," with a checkable metric at each stage. Anyone who promises "25 inquiries per month" — ask them to write it in the contract with a money-back clause, and watch how fast they backpedal.

Bonus points and red flags

Bonus: they ask about your products, your target markets, where your current customers come from — it means they're thinking about customer acquisition, not just web pages.

Red flags: pushing packages before listening, rushing the deposit, "the price goes up if you don't sign today."

The final safety net

Get every verbal promise into the contract or into written chat records. In export-website disputes, ninety percent are won by whoever asked one more question at the beginning.

Memorize the seven questions — whether you ever use me is up to you. Or send me the other side's answers and I'll review them for free, once.

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