How to hire an offshore web agency without getting burned

We are an offshore agency, which makes this an odd article to write. But we lose work to bad experiences people had before they met us, so it is in our interest for the industry to be less frightening.

Here is what we would tell a friend hiring a team in another country.

Nine questions to ask

1. Can I see three sites you built that are still live?

Not screenshots. Live URLs you can open. Then check whether they are still maintained, still fast, and still online. Anyone can show a portfolio image.

2. Who is my named contact, and what happens when they are unavailable?

You want one person, not a rotating queue. Ask what happens if that person is ill or leaves.

3. What are your actual working hours in my time zone?

Not "we are flexible". A specific window. Then judge whether the overlap is enough for how you like to work.

4. Will the domain, hosting and accounts be in my name?

This is the single most important question on the list. See below.

5. What exactly is in scope, and what is extra?

Get a page list. Get a revision count. Get it in writing. Most disputes are scope disputes wearing a different hat.

6. What happens after launch?

How long is support included, what does it cover, and what does ongoing maintenance cost. A site with nobody maintaining it becomes a security problem within a year.

7. If this is a rebuild, how will you handle my existing URLs?

If they do not immediately mention 301 redirects and a URL map, they will cost you your existing traffic. This question alone filters out a lot of people.

8. How do payments work, and what triggers each one?

Milestones tied to deliverables, not dates. Never pay the whole thing upfront.

9. Can I talk to a current client?

A team with happy clients can usually arrange this. A team that cannot is telling you something.

Three things to insist on in writing

You own everything from day one

Domain registered in your name with your email. Hosting account in your name. Google Business Profile, ad accounts and analytics owned by you, with the agency added as a user. Source files delivered at handover.

The classic bad outcome is not theft. It is a relationship going quiet while the agency holds the domain, and you discover you cannot move without their cooperation. Owning the accounts makes leaving possible, which in turn makes staying a choice.

Fixed scope before any money moves

A written page list, a revision count, and a definition of "done" for each stage. Vagueness always resolves in favour of whoever is doing the work.

A regular update whether or not there is news

A short written update on a fixed day each week. The value is not the content — it is that silence becomes visible immediately rather than three weeks later.

Warning signs

• Certifications you cannot verify. Partner programmes and ISO certificates are all publicly checkable. Look them up. If a claim does not check out, nothing else on the site can be trusted either.
• Client logos with no live links. Logos are the easiest thing in the world to put on a page.
• Guaranteed page-one rankings. Nobody can guarantee this. It is either ads being sold as SEO, or it is untrue.
• No published pricing and no straight answer when asked. Some flexibility is reasonable. Total evasion usually means the price depends on what they think you will pay.
• Testimonials with first names, stock photos and no company. Real testimonials come with something checkable attached.
• Pressure to sign quickly. A discount that expires on Friday is a sales tactic, not a business reality.

What good actually looks like

Slightly boring, in truth. Clear scope, predictable updates, questions asked early, bad news delivered promptly, and accounts in your name. The exciting-sounding pitches are usually the ones that go wrong.

And one last thing: judge a team by what they say when the honest answer costs them money. Ask whether you really need a rebuild. Anyone who says "probably not, here are four things to fix instead" has just told you more about how they work than any portfolio could.