1. Ask for live work, not profile screenshots
The strongest first filter: ask for links to live websites and apps you can open right now, and ask specifically what the company's role was in each. Many portfolios show beautiful designs that never became working products.
Test those sites from your phone: load speed, navigation, quality of the Arabic version if you need one. If a company's own showcase is slow or broken on mobile, that's what you'll get too.
2. Ask about code ownership before anything else
The most common regret we hear from clients who came to us after bad experiences starts here: an agency built everything on its own accounts, then disappeared or held the project hostage — and the client owned neither the code, the domain, nor the hosting.
The healthy setup: code in a Git account you own, domain and hosting under your accounts, and a full handover at project end. Any hesitation answering this question is a clear red flag.
3. Modern technology isn't a luxury
Ask what stack they'll use and why. Sites built on modern frameworks like Next.js and React win on speed, security, and SEO, while modified off-the-shelf templates look cheaper today and become a prison tomorrow — slow, vulnerable, and impossible to extend.
4. Proper Arabic support is a real test
If your audience is Arabic-speaking, check how the company handles the language: do their sites support RTL correctly? Is the Arabic version real server-rendered content Google can read, or a JavaScript translation? That difference decides whether you appear in Arabic search results at all.
5. Transparent proposals and timelines
A professional proposal itemizes the scope, milestones with dates, and exactly what is and isn't included. Beware two-line quotes with a single number — vagueness at the start becomes disputes in the middle.
6. Post-launch support is part of the deal
A website isn't delivered and forgotten. Ask what happens after launch: is there a warranty period for bug fixes? How are future changes priced and requested? Companies confident in their work answer clearly, because they plan for a long relationship — not a one-off deal.
7. Questions to ask in the first meeting
Take this list with you — the answers reveal any company's level within fifteen minutes:
- Show me three live projects similar to mine — what exactly was your role?
- Who owns the code, domain, and hosting after delivery?
- What stack will you use, and why for my project specifically?
- What does the milestone timeline look like? When do I see a first version?
- What does post-launch support include, on what terms?
- Who is my point of contact during the build?
Bottom line: the cheapest is usually the most expensive
Most rebuild projects we deliver today are rescues of 'cheap' projects that failed — meaning their owners paid twice. The right metric isn't the lowest price but the highest value: a company whose live work you can see, where you own everything, and that stays with you after launch.