Most companies approach hiring a web design agency the wrong way. They look at portfolios, choose the one that excites them visually, sit through a pitch, and sign a contract — without asking the questions that actually predict whether the engagement will go well.
The result is a familiar pattern: the early work looks promising, communication slows after kickoff, the person who pitched you is replaced by someone junior, revisions cost more than expected, and the site that launches is fine but doesn’t do what you needed it to do. The agency isn’t necessarily bad. The evaluation process just didn’t test for what mattered.
This is a buyer’s guide. It covers what actually separates strategic web design agencies from production shops, the specific questions worth asking in an agency review, and the answers that should give you confidence versus the ones that should make you keep looking.
The Question Nobody Asks: Who Runs Your Project After the Pitch?
This is the most important question in any agency evaluation and the one almost no one asks directly.
At most web design agencies of any size, the answer is: a different person than the one who pitched you. The creative director or principal presents the strategy, shows the portfolio, wins the relationship. After the contract is signed, a project manager takes over day-to-day communication, and a junior designer executes the work with the creative director reviewing at milestone stages.
This is not inherently bad. It is the standard model for agencies above 10 people. But it is not what most clients think they are buying when they choose an agency based on the principal’s work and presence in the pitch.
At Splash Creative, David Herskowitz runs every project personally — strategy, design direction, and copywriting. There is no project manager between the client and the person doing the work. That is a structural difference worth asking about directly at any agency you evaluate.
Six Things That Actually Predict Engagement Quality
1. Does their portfolio include your business model?
Not your industry — your business model. The signals that build trust for a B2B professional services buyer are fundamentally different from those that convert a DTC consumer or a SaaS trial user. An agency that has built excellent consumer brand sites is not necessarily equipped to build a site that converts enterprise buyers. Ask specifically: do you have examples of websites built for companies selling to the same type of buyer I have?
2. Do they write copy, or do they hand you wireframes?
The most common source of website project failure: the agency designs beautiful layouts with placeholder text, hands the wireframes to the client for copy, and the final site launches with copy that doesn’t fit the design and wasn’t written for conversion. Ask directly: who writes the copy, and is it included in the scope?
3. Can they explain design decisions in business terms?
Ask them to walk you through one specific decision in their portfolio — a layout choice, a headline, a CTA placement — and explain what business outcome it was trying to drive. Agencies doing strategic work can answer this immediately. Production shops will describe the aesthetic rationale but can’t connect it to a business result.
4. Does their old work still look good?
Ask to see a website they built three years ago. Agencies building on strategic foundations produce work that ages well. Agencies chasing trends produce work that looks dated within 18 months. The three-year test surfaces which kind of agency you are evaluating.
5. What happens after launch?
Ask specifically: what is the post-launch support model, is it billable, and at what rate? And: how do you measure whether the site is working six months after launch? Agencies that have thought about outcomes beyond delivery will have specific answers. Those focused on delivery alone will not.
6. Is the scope fixed or hourly?
Fixed-scope engagements give you a documented deliverable set and a price before you sign. Hourly billing gives the agency unlimited upside and gives you unlimited exposure. Splash Creative works on fixed-scope engagements only — you know the price and the deliverables before the contract is signed.
For a full comparison of the best web design agencies in New York City — organized by specialty, project range, and buyer type — see the guide to best web design agencies in NYC for 2026.
If you are evaluating web design agencies and want a direct conversation about whether Splash is the right fit for your project, contact David directly. Projects start at $15,000.
Related: Best web design agencies in NYC | How Splash Creative works | Best branding agencies in NYC | How much does a website cost?
