Short answer: Before you hire a web designer, open sites they built on your phone, interview them and call a past client. Get a written proposal, and keep the domain, the hosting and your Google accounts in your name. The designer gets user access, never your owner role.
When to bring a designer in
Google’s advice on hiring an SEO says a great time to hire is when you plan a redesign or a new site. The earlier, the better. We would bring in the web designer at that same moment.
Google lists technical advice on website development among the services an SEO offers: hosting, redirects, error pages and the use of JavaScript. A web designer decides those things too, so include SEO in the brief from the start.
If you already have a site, our website redesign guide helps you choose between a redesign and smaller changes.
Web designer or web developer
W3C describes the roles in a web project, and it lists web designer as a job title for UX design. That role covers information architecture, wireframes and prototypes that define how the site works.
Visual design covers the look: layout, fonts and colors.
Web developer appears under front-end development, the role that codes and delivers the site from the requirements it receives. W3C adds that one person may fill more than one role.
So ask who does each part: the structure, the look, the code and the launch.
Check their past work yourself
W3C’s Easy Checks give anyone a first idea of a page’s accessibility, technical or not. W3C suggests trying them on pages from suppliers you might work with, and most of them need only a web browser.
Try the three quickest on a site they built. The page title should briefly describe the page. Images that carry information need a text alternative, and decorative images an empty alt. Ideally, the headings start with an h1 and don’t skip levels.
W3C warns that these checks cover only a few issues, so a page can pass them and still have barriers. Our website accessibility checker guide goes further, and PageSpeed Insights shows how fast their pages load.
What to ask before you hire
Google suggests these questions for interviewing an SEO. They work with a web designer too:
- Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
- What results do you expect, in what timeframe, and how do you measure success?
- What is your experience in my industry, and in my city?
- How will we communicate, and will you share every change you make to my site?
A good candidate asks about you too, Google adds: what makes your business unique, who your competitors are and how your customers find you. If they’re not interested, find someone who is.
Then call a past client. Google suggests asking whether the service was useful, whether they were easy to work with and whether the results were positive.
What should stay in your name
The person who builds the site doesn’t need to own it. Agree in writing which accounts are yours before anyone creates them:
| Account | Who should hold it | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | You, as the registrant, in your own registrar account | Who owns a domain |
| Hosting | You, as the account holder | What is web hosting |
| Search Console | You, as a verified owner; the designer as a full user | Google Search Console guide |
| Google Analytics | You, as Administrator; the designer as Editor | Google Analytics 4 guide |
| Site admin | You, with your own administrator login | Our case, below |
Roles from Google’s Search Console Help and Analytics Help, read November 5, 2026.
Search Console’s help describes what owners can do: add and remove users, change settings, see all data and use every tool. A property needs at least one verified owner, or nobody can open it.
A full user can see all the data and take some actions. In Google Analytics, an Administrator manages users, while an Editor controls the property’s settings but can’t manage users.
Give access, not your password
Add the designer as a user with the role the job needs, instead of sharing your login. For an SEO audit, Google suggests read access to Search Console only, without write access.
When the work ends, remove the access you no longer need. Google warns that a removed Search Console owner can verify again unless you also delete their verification tokens.
If the only verified owner leaves your team, Google says to verify ownership again to keep access. That is easier when the domain and the hosting are already yours.
What the proposal should say
Our website cost article lists what every quote should answer in writing: pages and languages, who writes the copy, what happens after launch, and whose name the domain and hosting are in.
Ask about accessibility too: who tests it, and how? W3C’s roles page says the person managing the project should build accessibility into estimates and requirements documents.
And ask when you will see the wireframes and a prototype, before the build starts.
How to hire a web designer
- Write down the one action the site must get, such as a call, a form or a WhatsApp message.
- Shortlist designers whose own sites work well on your phone.
- Run the quickest Easy Checks on a site each one built.
- Interview them with Google’s questions and call a past client.
- Ask for a written proposal that covers pages, languages, copy, accessibility and the launch.
- Agree in writing which accounts are in your name, before anyone creates them.
- At handover, sign in to every account yourself and remove the access you no longer need.
When to walk away
Google’s warning signs for SEOs fit any web professional. No one can promise you first place on Google, so walk away from anyone who does.
Be careful with a company that is secretive or won’t explain what it intends to do. Google also warns about firms, web consultants and agencies that email you out of the blue.
What we hand over, checked on our page
We read our own web design page on November 5, 2026, in English and Spanish, as a visitor’s browser receives it. Its handover section opens with a promise: “You do not rent the site from us. Everything lands in your name, and if you leave, it keeps running.”
Below it, the page lists what the client gets: the domain registered in their name, their own hosting account and full administrator access to WordPress. Analytics, Tag Manager and the Meta pixel are theirs. So are the photos, logo files, a full copy of the site, editable templates and a recorded training video.
We also ran the three quickest Easy Checks on both versions of the page. Each has its own title, different from the other language and from the home page. Each has 27 headings, starts with a single h1 and never skips a level.
Each version has 19 images, and all of them carry a text alternative: 17 describe what they show, and the 2 decorative ones have an empty alt, as W3C recommends.
Before you sign
- You opened sites they built on your phone.
- Their pages pass the title, text alternative and heading checks.
- A past client told you how the work went.
- The proposal names pages, languages, copy, accessibility and the launch.
- The domain, hosting, Search Console and Analytics are in your name.
- Nobody promised you first place on Google.
RememberHire on work you can check and accounts you keep. The designer gets the access the job needs, and you keep the owner role in every account.
Our web design service sets up every account in your name from the start. Tell us about your site through the form or on WhatsApp.
Quick answers about hiring a web designer
How do I hire a web designer?
Decide the one action the site must get, then shortlist designers whose own sites work well on your phone. Run W3C’s Easy Checks on a site each one built, interview them with Google’s questions for hiring an SEO, call a past client and get a written proposal.
What is the difference between a web designer and a web developer?
W3C lists web designer as a job title for UX design: information architecture, wireframes and prototypes. Visual design covers the look. Web developer appears under front-end development, the role that codes and delivers the site. One person may fill more than one role.
Who should own my website?
You should. Keep the domain registered in your name and the hosting account in your name. Hold the owner role in Search Console and the Administrator role in Google Analytics, and give your web designer user access with the role the job needs.
What access should a web designer have?
Only what the job needs, added as a user instead of sharing your password. In Search Console, a full user sees all data and can take some actions. In Google Analytics, an Editor controls the settings but can’t manage users. Remove access when the work ends.
What should I ask a web designer before hiring?
Google’s questions for hiring an SEO work well here. Ask for examples of previous work and the results they expect, in what timeframe. Ask about their experience in your industry and your city, and whether they will share every change they make to your site.
Sources
Read on November 5, 2026. Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO? Search Console Help: Managing owners, users, and permissions. Analytics Help: Access and data-restriction management. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Easy Checks: A First Review of Web Accessibility and Roles Involved in Accessibility. Our case: our web design page, read on November 5, 2026.