Top 9 Things to Look for in a Web Designer
Your website is often the first thing a potential customer sees before they ever talk to you.
And unlike a first conversation — where you can charm someone, answer their questions, and read the room — your website has to do all of that on its own. It needs to communicate who you are, build trust, and give someone a reason to reach out, all without you being there.
That’s a tall order. And it’s why choosing the right web designer matters more than most business owners realize until they’ve already made the wrong call.
Here a the top 9 things to look for in a web designer.
1. They think strategically, not just aesthetically
The best web designers aren’t just making things look pretty. They’re solving a business problem.
Before they open a design tool, they should want to know: Who are your customers? What do you want visitors to do when they land on your site? What makes your business different from your competitors? What’s working — and what isn’t — about your current online presence?
A designer who jumps straight to colors and layouts without asking those questions will build you something that looks nice but doesn’t necessarily perform. The strategic conversation is what separates a website that looks good from one that actually does something for your business.
2. They have a strong portfolio
Don’t just look at screenshots. Click through the actual sites they’ve built.
Navigate around on your phone. See how fast they load. Check whether the sites feel like the businesses they represent — or whether they all look like variations of the same template. A strong portfolio shows range, intentionality, and real attention to the details that actually matter to users.
Ask about results too. Did any of their projects lead to better search rankings, more leads, or higher conversion rates? A designer who tracks outcomes and can talk about them is a designer who cares about whether the work actually works.
3. They understand SEO and build with it in mind
A beautiful website that nobody can find is a missed opportunity.
Search engine optimization works best when it’s done from the beginning — while your site is being built. This ensures clean site architecture, proper heading hierarchy, optimized page titles and meta descriptions, fast load times, image alt text, mobile responsiveness, and content that’s written for the way people actually search.
In 2026, this also extends to AI visibility — making sure your content shows up when people ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s AI Overviews for a recommendation. A designer who doesn’t understand this is building you a site for the search landscape of five years ago.
Ask any designer you’re considering: how do you approach SEO during the build?
For a more in-depth look at SEO and AI visibility, check out my blog post on what Google and AI look at when ranking your website.
4. They design for mobile first
More than 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Google ranks sites based primarily on their mobile version. And users who hit a site that’s slow, hard to read, or clunky to navigate on a phone leave — fast.
A designer who treats mobile as an afterthought, or who builds on desktop and then “makes it work” on mobile, is building backwards. The phone experience should be at the center of every design decision, with the desktop version built out from there.
When you’re reviewing a designer’s portfolio, pull it up on your phone first. If their own work doesn’t load well or look right on mobile, that tells you everything you need to know.
5. They communicate clearly and actually listen
A web design project involves a lot of back-and-forth — sharing feedback, making decisions, navigating revisions. How a designer communicates during that process makes an enormous difference in whether the experience is smooth or stressful.
Before you hire anyone, notice how they communicate in the early conversations. Do they respond promptly? Do they explain things in plain language or hide behind jargon? Do they ask questions about your business, or do they spend most of the time pitching their own process?
Ask about timelines, what’s included in revisions, and how they prefer to communicate during the project. A designer who is clear about all of this upfront is going to be much easier to work with when things get complicated — and at some point, they always do.
6. Their work looks and feels like each client's brand — not like theirs
A designer’s job is to translate your business into a visual experience. Not to express their own aesthetic preferences.
The best designers have a strong visual sensibility but keep it in service of the client. When you look at their portfolio, the sites should feel distinct from one another — each one clearly reflecting a specific business, its industry, its personality, and its customers. If every site looks like a variation on the same theme, that designer has a house style they’re imposing on everyone.
Your brand has a personality. Your website should communicate it — through color, typography, imagery, and the tone of the copy — in a way that resonates with the specific people you’re trying to reach.
7. They think about conversion, not just information
A website that tells your story but doesn’t move visitors toward taking action is only doing half its job.
Every page should have a clear answer to the question: what do I want this person to do next? Call? Fill out a form? Book an appointment? Read something else that builds more trust?
A good designer thinks about this at every step — the layout, the placement of calls to action, the content flow, the friction points that cause people to hesitate or leave. They should be able to explain why they made the choices they made, not just what they did.
8. They build sites that are technically sound
Design is what people see. But there’s a whole layer underneath that determines how your site actually performs.
Page speed. Security. Accessibility compliance. Clean code that doesn’t break when plugins update. A content management system you can actually use without a developer. These things matter for your visitors, for your SEO, and for your own sanity when you need to make a quick update.
Ask how they approach performance optimization, what platform they build on and why, and whether the sites they build meet ADA accessibility standards. A designer who can answer those questions confidently is one who thinks beyond how the site looks.
9. They offer you support after your site is launched
Your website needs to be updated, maintained, and adapted as your business changes and as technology evolves.
The best designers offer some form of ongoing support — whether that’s a maintenance plan, continued SEO work, or just being available when something needs to be changed quickly. Ask what happens after launch before you sign anything.
And beyond the formal support structure, pay attention to how invested they seem in your long-term success. A designer who genuinely cares about your business is going to show up differently than one who’s moving on to the next project the moment your site goes live.
Make sure it's a good fit
You’re not just buying a website. You’re entering a working relationship with someone who is going to represent your business online.
The right designer asks smart questions, communicates clearly, builds with SEO and performance in mind, and cares about whether your site actually performs — not just whether it looks good in their portfolio.
If you’re looking for web design in Highlands Ranch or anywhere in the south Denver metro, I’d love to have a conversation about what your business needs. Schedule a free consultation.
Why Choose
Heather Siegel Design
At Heather Siegel Design, we blend creativity, strategy, and SEO-driven design to create websites that not only look beautiful — but also deliver real results. Our approach combines branding, thoughtful design, user experience, and search engine optimization to help businesses increase visibility, build credibility, and grow confidently online.
If you’re ready for a website that works as hard as you do, we’re here to bring your vision to life.
Let’s build something powerful together.