Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Creative Agency

Hiring a creative firm is unusually hard to evaluate: the work all looks good in a portfolio, and you can't judge quality until you've paid. These questions are the ones that actually reveal something.

About ownership

Any hesitation here is the answer. A firm that keeps your assets is protecting itself against your ability to leave.

• Will I own the domain, the files and the finished work outright?
• If we stop working together, what exactly do I keep, and what stops functioning?
• Is the website built on a platform I could hand to another firm?

About who does the work

• Who specifically will do this — will I meet them?
• Is any of it subcontracted, and to whom?
• How many projects will be running alongside mine?

About results

The first one is the most revealing question on this page. Everyone has projects that underperformed. An honest answer tells you what happens when something goes wrong, which is the part of the relationship you can't see in a portfolio.

• Can you show me a project where the outcome wasn't what you hoped, and what you learned?
• What will we measure, and how will I see it?
• What do you need from me for this to succeed?

About money and time

That last question catches a common pattern: a competitive build price followed by expensive, mandatory maintenance. Ask for the two-year number, not the launch number.

• Is this a fixed price, and what specifically triggers an additional cost?
• What happens if the project runs past the date?
• What does it cost to maintain in year two?

The signals worth noticing

Good: they ask about your business before proposing anything, they tell you something you don't need, they give you a written scope, and they're specific about what could go wrong.

Bad: guaranteed rankings, pressure to sign this week, packages priced before anyone has asked what you sell, and a proposal that never mentions how you'd measure success.