How to Choose a Web Development Company: Questions to Ask

Introduction

• Choosing a web or app development company is a decision you live with for years. You will keep the code, hosting and accounts they hand over, or struggle without the ones they don't.
• Proposals look similar on the surface but differ a lot in what they actually include: who owns the domain, who writes the content, how many revision rounds, what happens after launch.
• This guide is for business owners in Oman, the Gulf, Yemen and the wider Arab world, whether you hire a company in your city or work remotely with an agency in another country.
• Inside: what to check before signing, red flags, a ready list of questions, and practical advice for remote collaboration.

Prepare before you evaluate anyone

Answer these yourself before requesting quotes. You will save time on both sides and get proposals you can actually compare.

• Goal: what should happen after someone visits? A WhatsApp message, a booking, a purchase, a quote request.
• Type: company website, campaign landing page, online store, internal system or mobile app.
• Languages: Arabic only, or Arabic and English. This affects design, content and cost.
• Budget: a rough range, not an exact figure. What moves the price is explained in website cost factors.
• Deadline: when do you really need to launch, and why? A season, a branch opening, a campaign.
• Written request: one or two pages listing pages and features. Send the same text to every company so you compare like with like.

What to check in the quality of their work

Live past work you can open

• Ask for live links, not just screenshots or a PDF portfolio. Images tell you nothing about speed or usability.
• Open the sites on your phone. Do they load quickly? Are buttons clear? Does the contact form work?
• Ask what the company actually did on each project: design only, or development, content and hosting too?
• If you are working remotely, ask for work close to your sector or market, not only work that looks good.

Arabic and RTL quality

• Arabic is not a mirrored English template. Check menus, icons, arrows and forms in right-to-left layout.
• Look at the Arabic font: is it readable on mobile? Do numbers and prices display correctly?
• For a bilingual site, ask how both versions are managed and linked to each other. More in bilingual website design.

Mobile speed

• Most of your visitors in the Gulf and the region browse on a phone. Ask: do you test mobile speed before handover, and with what tool?
• Google publishes its page experience thresholds: LCP up to 2.5 s, INP up to 200 ms, CLS up to 0.1. Ask whether the company targets them.

SEO basics: included or not?

• Does the quote include page titles and descriptions, clean URLs, an XML sitemap and Search Console setup?
• Are images compressed and given alt text?
• Be wary of the opposite: anyone who promises the first page of Google before starting is promising something they do not control.

What to check in the contract and handover

Ownership and access

This is the most important point and the most often skipped. Ask about each item directly:

• If the project runs on a licensed theme or platform, ask what happens to the licence if the relationship ends.

Content

• Who writes the copy? Who supplies photos? Who translates into English?
• Late content is a common cause of late launches. Agree on your own delivery dates too.

Revision rounds

• How many revision rounds are included in design, and in development?
• What counts as a revision, and what counts as a new request with extra cost?

Timeline and milestones

• Ask for clear stages: design, approval, development, review, launch.
• Each stage should have an expected date and something you can see yourself, such as a preview link.

Payment schedule

• Payments are usually tied to milestones rather than paid in full upfront.
• Fix the currency, the payment method and who pays transfer fees.

Support after launch

• How long is the free bug-fix period, and what does it cover?
• Is there a monthly maintenance plan? Does it include updates, backups and monitoring?

Written scope

• All of the above should be in writing: pages, features, languages, integrations, and what is out of scope.
• A verbal promise in a meeting or a WhatsApp chat is weak ground in a dispute.

Red flags before you sign

Working remotely with an agency in another Arab country

Remote work between Oman, the Gulf, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere is common. It works well when a few details are settled early:

• Time zones: differences inside the region are usually small, but weekends can differ between countries. Agree on contact hours and days.
• Channels: WhatsApp suits quick questions, but important decisions should be recorded by email or in a shared document.
• Meetings: a short video call at the start and end of each stage saves many messages.
• Contract: ask which entity you are contracting with, where it is registered, and which law governs the contract if there is a dispute.
• Currency: state the contract currency clearly, and who absorbs exchange differences and bank fees.
• Local content: an agency from another country may not know your audience's dialect or habits. Review the copy yourself.
• Local payment gateways: for a store, confirm the team knows which payment gateways are available in your country.

Questions to ask before you sign

Copy this list and send it to every company you talk to:

1. Can I open three live projects you built, and what was your role in each?
2. Whose name will the domain and hosting account be in?
3. Will I receive the source code and full admin access at handover?
4. Is the design made for my project, or an adapted template?
5. How do you handle Arabic and RTL, and the English version if there is one?
6. How do you test mobile speed before launch?
7. Exactly which SEO basics are included?
8. Who writes the content and supplies images, and when must I deliver my part?
9. How many revision rounds are included at each stage?
10. What are the project stages and the expected date of each?
11. What is the payment schedule, in which currency, and what is each payment tied to?
12. What does post-launch support cover, and for how long?
13. What are the recurring yearly costs after launch: domain, hosting, licences?
14. What is out of scope, and how is it priced?
15. Who is my main contact, and how do I reach them?

How to compare proposals

• Put every proposal in one table: what is included, duration, price, support and ownership.
• Do not compare on price alone. A cheaper quote without account handover can cost you more later.
• Notice how each company answers your questions. A clear written answer says a lot about how they work.
• Ask each company for a staged timeline, and check whether the dates are realistic for the amount of work.
• Compare the cost over one or two years, not the build alone: domain, hosting, licences and maintenance.
• A short call with the person who will actually work on your project tells you more than a general company presentation.

Summary

• Choose on evidence: live work, a written scope, clear ownership of every account, and milestones with payments tied to them.
• The biggest red flags: no written scope, guaranteed rankings, templates sold as custom work, and refusal to hand over access.
• Remote work with an agency in another country is practical when decisions are documented and currency and contract terms are fixed.
• If you would like to put these questions to us, see our website design and development service, starting from 100 OMR, or contact us for a written proposal with scope and milestones.