Quick answer: Choose a designer by what is written down: the pages, the fee, who owns the domain, and what you pay in year two. Our anchors are £150 for up to three pages, £295 for up to six, and £495 for up to twelve. Year two is around £60 to the providers. The studio is in Coulsdon, and we say so.
A search for a Maidstone web designer produces studios in the town, freelancers nearby, and firms further away who cover Kent. Distance is not the only test. A local address does not fix a site you cannot leave, and a remote studio is fine if the scope is clear.
Questions to ask any designer
Who registers the domain, and in whose name? What happens if you stop working together? Can you have the hosting login on day one? If the answers are vague, the cheap build is not cheap. You should be able to move the site later without asking permission.
How many pages are in the fee, and what is a page? A homepage with ten scrolling sections is not six pages. Our packages say up to three, six or twelve so that argument does not happen later.
How are changes handled after launch? A typo should not need a new contract. A new section might. Ask which is which before you sign. Ask who answers the phone if the form breaks on a Monday morning.
Money, in writing
Ask for the build fee, the first-year running costs, and the renewal. We include the first year of domain, hosting and SSL. Year two is around £60, paid to those providers, not a second design invoice.
Ask what is not included. Photography, a large shop, a complex diary and a monthly care plan are the usual extras. Care is available, and it is not hidden inside £150. There is no monthly care fee unless you choose one.
Be wary of a price that depends on you not reading the renewal. A three-page site at £150 should still be understandable in year two. If it is not, the number was a lead, not a price. A quote that will not name the page limit is not ready to accept.
Place and honesty
Ask where the studio is. Ours is Coulsdon. We work with Maidstone, Bearsted, Kings Hill, Aylesford and the rest of Mid Kent as a service area. We do not rent a mailbox in the town and call it an office.
If someone claims a Maidstone shop, ask to use it as the address on the footer and on the Google profile. The address should match. Inconsistent addresses are how local listings fall apart. Our published address is 109A Brighton Road, Coulsdon, CR5 2NG, and the phone is +44 7576 480744.
Remote work is a reasonable default. A workshop in person is for a brief that needs one, not for show. The contact page says we reply within one working day. Hours on the site are Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00 GMT.
Proof you should believe
Believe a description of the process and a page you can click around. Do not believe a row of stars with no source, or a client name the designer cannot let you check. A named review that the business did not write is not social proof.
Look at whether the designer's own site tells the truth about price and place. If their site is vague, the site they build for you is likely to be vague as well. Prices that change between the homepage and the quote email are a reason to pause.
The meeting-room picture here is an example illustration. There is no client in it. Treat any image on a proposal the same way: ask if it is a real project. An illustrated high street is not evidence that a studio has built a shop on that street.
What we will tell you
We will tell you which package fits, or that you need a quote because a shop or a diary is larger than the package. We will not add town pages to inflate the page count. Starter is £150, Business is £295, Growth is £495.
A small brochure is often ready in a few weeks. We will say if your date is unrealistic. The stages are discovery, structure, build and launch, with a sign-off between them. Larger work, including a shop, takes longer because the products and the test orders are part of the job.
If you want that conversation, use the contact form, WhatsApp, or the phone number already on this site. Read the packages on web design first so the call is about your pages rather than ours. Email is [email protected].