How to choose a web development company in Chennai: 12 questions to ask before you pay

Chennai has hundreds of web development companies, from two-person studios in Anna Nagar to agencies on OMR with floors of staff. Most are competent. The problems clients bring to UgeWorks after a bad experience are rarely about competence; they are about things nobody asked before signing. Ask these.

Ownership

1. Will the domain, hosting and source code be in my name?

The single most important question. Some vendors register the domain and hosting under their own account and keep the code. Leaving them then means rebuilding. The right answer is: domain in your registrar account, hosting in your AWS or equivalent account, code in your GitHub, from day one.

2. What happens if we part ways?

Ask for it in writing: you keep everything, you get admin credentials, and any handover is included. A vendor who hesitates here is telling you something.

The people

3. Who will actually write the code?

The person you meet in the sales call is often not the person who builds the site. Ask to speak to the engineer. At a small studio or a freelance developer they are the same person, which is the main reason to choose one.

4. Can I see a site you built that is still live and still fast?

Portfolios show launch-day screenshots. Open the live sites on your phone. Run them through PageSpeed Insights. A site that was fast at launch and is slow now tells you about maintenance.

The scope

5. What exactly is excluded?

A good quote lists what is not included as clearly as what is: content writing, photography, logo, copy revisions beyond a number, third-party fees. If nothing is excluded, everything will become a change request.

6. Is content included, and what happens if I cannot provide it?

Low quotes often assume you deliver finished copy and images. Ask what happens when you cannot. The answer should be a price, not a renegotiation.

7. Is this a template or custom, and which parts are which?

Both are legitimate. Paying custom prices for a template is not. See WordPress versus custom code for what each gets you.

The build

8. How will speed be measured, and what is the target?

Google's own targets are an LCP of 2.5 seconds, INP of 200 ms and CLS of 0.1. A vendor should be able to say which they aim for and show a past site that hits them on mobile.

9. Will the site be built mobile-first?

Google indexes the mobile version of your site first. Most Chennai traffic is on phones. "Responsive" is the minimum; "designed on a phone first" is the answer you want.

10. What recurring licences does the build carry?

Premium themes, page builders, form plugins, security plugins: each is an annual renewal that breaks something when it lapses. Ask for the list and the yearly total. Custom code has none.

After launch

11. What does support cost, and what does it cover?

Hosting, SSL renewal, backups, uptime, small text changes, security updates. Get the monthly or yearly number and what is in it. "We will support you" without a number is not an answer.

12. Will you set up analytics and Search Console, and will they be in my account?

You cannot improve what you cannot measure. Google Search Console and analytics should be live at launch and owned by you, not by the vendor.

What good answers sound like

Everything in your name. The engineer on the call. Live sites that are still fast. A scope that names its exclusions. Speed targets with numbers. No licences to renew. Support with a price. If a vendor gives those twelve answers, the rest is portfolio and price, and you can compare those honestly.

That is also the checklist UgeWorks is built to pass; the web development page sets out the answers.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. PageSpeed Insights
2. Web Vitals thresholds (web.dev)
3. Mobile-first indexing (Google Search Central)