What a web designer does
A web designer plans and designs how your website looks and works: layout, navigation, typography, imagery, and the path a visitor takes from landing to contacting you. The real deliverable isn’t pretty pages — it’s a site that gets a stranger to do the thing your business needs (call, book, buy).
The most common confusion is with web developers. A designer decides what the site should be; a developer makes it function in a browser. Many independents do both, especially on platforms like Squarespace or Webflow, but never assume — ask. The web designer vs web developer breakdown covers where the line actually sits.
What it costs
Independent web designers typically charge $500–$8,000 per project. A simple template-based site for a service business lands near the bottom; a custom multi-page design with e-commerce or bookings climbs toward the top. What moves the price:
- Custom vs template — customizing a well-chosen template costs a fraction of a from-scratch design, and for most small businesses it’s the right call. See template vs custom website before you decide.
- Page count and features — a five-page brochure site and a twenty-page site with a store are different projects wearing the same name.
- Design-only vs design-and-build — if the quote is design-only, budget separately for a developer.
Full pricing detail lives in our web design cost guide.
How to evaluate one
Look at live sites, not portfolio screenshots, and look at them on your phone — most of your traffic is mobile, and weak designers treat mobile as an afterthought. Then ask about one site: who was it for, what was it supposed to accomplish, and what did they change from the first draft. A professional answers in terms of the client’s goals. An amateur answers in terms of fonts.
A professional’s process runs roughly: questions about your business, sitemap and rough structure, design of key pages, your feedback, then the full build-out. If someone jumps straight to “here’s your homepage,” they’re decorating, not designing.
What to prepare before you start
Designers don’t write your copy or take your photos — and vague content is the number-one cause of stalled web projects. Before kickoff, have your page list, the words for each page (drafts are fine), photos or a budget for stock, and your logo files. Put it all in a project brief with a real budget range.
One honest note: if all you need is a one-page site to prove you exist, a DIY builder over a weekend is a defensible choice. Hire a designer when the site has a job to do — generating leads, taking bookings, selling — and you can name what that job is.
Questions to ask before you hire
- Do you design only, or do you also build the site — and on what platform?
- Can you show me a live site you designed and tell me what it was supposed to accomplish?
- How do you handle mobile — is it designed first or adapted after?
- What happens after launch — who updates the site, and can I do it myself?
- How many pages and revision rounds does your quote include?
Red flags
- A portfolio of mockups with no live URLs — designs that never shipped are half a skill.
- No questions about your customers or what the site is supposed to make happen.
- A fixed-price quote promising "unlimited pages." Someone is about to be unhappy, and it might be you.
- They can't tell you who builds the design or what it will cost to build.