[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":829},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-cat-process-en":3},[4,174,459,681],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"category":151,"date":152,"description":153,"extension":154,"faq":155,"image":165,"meta":166,"navigation":167,"path":168,"readingTime":169,"seo":170,"stem":171,"updated":172,"video":172,"__hash__":173},"blog_en\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fchoosing-a-domain-for-your-business.md","Which Domain Should Your Business Choose? co.il or com, and How Not to Lose It",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":140},"minimark",[10,18,27,32,39,45,48,52,59,62,66,74,80,86,90,97,105,108,112,115,119,125,129,132],[11,12,13,17],"p",{},[14,15,16],"strong",{},"The short answer:"," for an Israeli business - co.il, with a name short enough to survive a phone call unspelled, registered in your name (not the developer's), with auto-renew on. That's most of it. The elaborations and the dilemmas - below.",[11,19,20,21,26],{},"Choosing a domain sounds like a five-minute decision, and in practice it's one of the most expensive ones to fix later: the domain gets printed on business cards, sits inside the email addresses, accumulates standing with Google, and replacing it is ",[22,23,25],"a",{"href":24},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fmigrate-to-wordpress-without-losing-google\u002F","a full migration project",". Worth getting right the first time.",[28,29,31],"h2",{"id":30},"coil-or-com","co.il or com?",[11,33,34,35,38],{},"For a business whose customers are in Israel, ",[14,36,37],{},"co.il is the default",": it tells the customer \"local business\" before they even enter, and it matches expectations - an Israeli typing an Israeli business's address will guess co.il.",[11,40,41,44],{},[14,42,43],{},"com is right"," when part of the business faces abroad, or when the brand aims there. And if the com of your name is free - register it even when you don't need it, and redirect it to the site: the yearly cost is small, and it blocks the scenario where someone else sits on your name with a different ending.",[11,46,47],{},"What's not worth doing: agonizing for a month. A domain is an address, not a strategy - the brand is built from what's on the site, not from the suffix.",[28,49,51],{"id":50},"the-name-itself-the-phone-call-test","The Name Itself: The Phone-Call Test",[11,53,54,55,58],{},"The simple test worth more than any rule: ",[14,56,57],{},"say the address out loud on the phone, once, without spelling it."," If the other side types it correctly - you have a good name.",[11,60,61],{},"What helps pass the test: as short as possible; no hyphens if you can avoid them (nobody remembers where the hyphen goes); no ambiguous English spelling (k or c? i or y?); and preferably the business name as-is, not a slogan. If your business name transliterates loosely - register the common variation too and redirect.",[28,63,65],{"id":64},"the-name-is-taken-now-what","The Name Is Taken. Now What?",[11,67,68,69,73],{},"First check ",[70,71,72],"em",{},"what"," is taken: an active website of a real business, or an empty parking page waiting for a buyer.",[11,75,76,79],{},[14,77,78],{},"An active business"," - let it go and move to a variation. Even if another extension is free, living next to another business with the same name is a recipe for confusion, for emails going to the wrong address, and sometimes for legal trouble.",[11,81,82,85],{},[14,83,84],{},"A parked domain"," - you can ask the price, but with open eyes: speculative holders price by your desire, not by value. In most cases a good variation - a short added word, a different extension - achieves the same result at a fraction of the cost.",[28,87,89],{"id":88},"the-most-important-section-whose-name-is-on-the-registration","The Most Important Section: Whose Name Is on the Registration",[11,91,92,93,96],{},"This is where the mistakes I meet again and again live, so I'll be categorical: ",[14,94,95],{},"the domain is registered in the business owner's name. Always."," Not the developer's, not the agency's, not \"my brother-in-law's computer guy's\".",[11,98,99,100,104],{},"A domain is the hardest digital asset to recover: whoever controls the registration can point the website anywhere, read the business's email, or simply vanish with the keys. It usually happens without malice - a vendor that closed, a developer who stopped answering, an account opened a decade ago on a lost email. The full ownership checklist - in ",[22,101,103],{"href":102},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fwho-owns-your-website\u002F","\"who really holds your website\"",".",[11,106,107],{},"And three small habits that prevent most disasters: auto-renew on with a valid card; the email on the registrar account is one that's alive and checked; and the registrar credentials are kept by you, not only by whoever built the site.",[28,109,111],{"id":110},"and-a-hebrew-domain","And a Hebrew Domain?",[11,113,114],{},"It exists (Hebrew addresses can be registered), but I rarely recommend one as the primary domain: email on a Hebrew domain still hits compatibility problems, typing it requires switching languages, and sharing it in messages sometimes renders as technical gibberish. A short Latin address with a Hebrew website wins almost every scenario.",[28,116,118],{"id":117},"replacing-the-domain-of-an-existing-site-wait","Replacing the Domain of an Existing Site? Wait",[11,120,121,122,104],{},"If a site is already live and the new name itches - remember the domain has accumulated standing: links, indexing, Google's familiarity. Switching without an orderly redirect plan burns all of it. ",[22,123,124],{"href":24},"How to do it without losing Google - here",[28,126,128],{"id":127},"bottom-line","Bottom Line",[11,130,131],{},"A good domain is short, survives a phone call, sits on co.il for an Israeli business - and is registered in your name with auto-renew on. Most of the decision closes in one evening; the right ownership can't be fixed retroactively in one evening.",[11,133,134,135,139],{},"Torn between names, or not sure whose name your current domain is under? ",[22,136,138],{"href":137},"\u002Fen\u002Fcontact\u002F","Ask me"," - that check takes minutes and saves years.",{"title":141,"searchDepth":142,"depth":142,"links":143},"",2,[144,145,146,147,148,149,150],{"id":30,"depth":142,"text":31},{"id":50,"depth":142,"text":51},{"id":64,"depth":142,"text":65},{"id":88,"depth":142,"text":89},{"id":110,"depth":142,"text":111},{"id":117,"depth":142,"text":118},{"id":127,"depth":142,"text":128},"Process","2026-10-05","A short domain guide: co.il vs com, picking a name that survives a phone call, what to do when it's taken, whose name it's registered to - and keeping it.","md",[156,159,162],{"q":157,"a":158},"Which is better for an Israeli business - co.il or com?","For a business serving an Israeli audience, co.il is the right default: it signals a local business and matches what customers expect to type. If the com version is free, it's worth registering too and redirecting - but don't lose sleep if it's taken.",{"q":160,"a":161},"Whose name should the domain be registered to?","The business owner's, always - not the developer's, the agency's or the marketer's. The domain is the hardest digital asset to recover: whoever controls the registration controls the website, the email and the business's continuity.",{"q":163,"a":164},"What do you do when the name you wanted is taken?","First check who holds it - an active business or a parked domain. Then try short variations that still survive a phone call, or another extension. Buying from a speculative holder is possible but expensive; a good variation usually wins.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fchoosing-a-domain-for-your-business\u002Fog-en.jpg",{},true,"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fchoosing-a-domain-for-your-business",6,{"title":6,"description":153},"en\u002Fblog\u002Fchoosing-a-domain-for-your-business",null,"Ej_Z61MuG2qjHA_wYf-8FMzSe_LD9W5dH6G-K5qce_A",{"id":175,"title":176,"body":177,"category":151,"date":450,"description":451,"extension":154,"faq":172,"image":452,"meta":453,"navigation":167,"path":454,"readingTime":169,"seo":455,"stem":456,"updated":457,"video":172,"__hash__":458},"blog_en\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-does-a-website-take.md","How Long Does a Website Take? A Timeline by Type of Site",{"type":8,"value":178,"toc":441},[179,187,190,193,253,257,260,293,300,303,307,310,316,322,328,334,340,346,350,356,362,368,374,380,384,387,393,403,409,413,416,420,427,431,434],[11,180,181,182,186],{},"\"How long will it take?\" is always the second question, right after ",[22,183,185],{"href":184},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost\u002F","\"what does it cost\"",". And the honest answer - the one nobody likes giving - is that the part which depends on me is usually the shorter one.",[11,188,189],{},"I can tell you exactly how long my work takes. What I can't promise is how long it'll take you to settle on the headline for your homepage. And in most projects that run longer than expected, that's precisely where the clock stopped.",[11,191,192],{},"In short, the article's ranges in one table - from the moment content and branding are in hand:",[194,195,196,209],"table",{},[197,198,199],"thead",{},[200,201,202,206],"tr",{},[203,204,205],"th",{},"Site type",[203,207,208],{},"Estimated time",[210,211,212,221,229,237,245],"tbody",{},[200,213,214,218],{},[215,216,217],"td",{},"Landing page",[215,219,220],{},"3 to 7 working days",[200,222,223,226],{},[215,224,225],{},"Small brochure site",[215,227,228],{},"Two to three weeks",[200,230,231,234],{},[215,232,233],{},"Brochure site with a CMS",[215,235,236],{},"3 to 5 weeks",[200,238,239,242],{},[215,240,241],{},"Online store",[215,243,244],{},"A month and up",[200,246,247,250],{},[215,248,249],{},"Making an existing site accessible",[215,251,252],{},"Days to weeks, per the audit",[28,254,256],{"id":255},"the-ranges-without-the-gloss","The Ranges, Without the Gloss",[11,258,259],{},"From the moment content and branding are in hand - not \"roughly\", actually in hand:",[261,262,263,269,274,279,288],"ul",{},[264,265,266,268],"li",{},[14,267,217],{}," - 3 to 7 working days. One page, one message, one form.",[264,270,271,273],{},[14,272,225],{}," (4–6 pages) - around two to three weeks.",[264,275,276,278],{},[14,277,233],{}," you update yourself - three to five weeks, depending on how many content types there are.",[264,280,281,283,284,104],{},[14,282,241],{}," - a month and up, often more. Not because of the design, but because of what's wired into it: payments, invoicing, delivery, stock. Each of those connections is a test in its own right, and I went into why in ",[22,285,287],{"href":286},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fshopify-vs-woocommerce-israel\u002F","the stores guide",[264,289,290,292],{},[14,291,249],{}," - days to weeks, entirely dependent on what the first audit turns up.",[294,295],"blog-figure",{"alt":296,"height":297,"src":298,"width":299},"Website build time ranges by type, in weeks",630,"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-does-a-website-take\u002Ftimeline-ranges-en.webp",1200,[11,301,302],{},"Note the opening condition: \"from the moment content and branding are in hand\". That isn't a footnote, it's the clause that decides everything.",[28,304,306],{"id":305},"what-actually-causes-delays-and-its-almost-never-the-code","What Actually Causes Delays - and It's Almost Never the Code",[11,308,309],{},"Here's what holds projects up in practice, in order of how often it happens:",[11,311,312,315],{},[14,313,314],{},"1. There's no content."," A site skeleton sits finished, waiting three weeks for copy. This is the number one cause, by a wide margin.",[11,317,318,321],{},[14,319,320],{},"2. There are no images, or the images are bad."," Blurry phone shots of the product, a logo that exists only as a small JPG from 2014, and not one photo of the team. Good photography changes a site more than any effect.",[11,323,324,327],{},[14,325,326],{},"3. Too many decision-makers."," When four people must approve every headline, each round takes a week. A project with one contact who decides moves twice as fast.",[11,329,330,333],{},[14,331,332],{},"4. A change of direction mid-way."," \"Actually, should we add a store too?\" Entirely legitimate - but it's a different project, and it's worth saying so out loud rather than discovering it in the schedule.",[11,335,336,339],{},[14,337,338],{},"5. Access and credentials."," Who owns the domain? Who holds the hosting account? The answer \"oh, the guy who built our site six years ago\" easily adds a week.",[341,342,343],"blockquote",{},[11,344,345],{},"Projects almost never run late because the code was too hard. They run late waiting for the copy for an About page.",[28,347,349],{"id":348},"how-to-actually-shorten-it","How to Actually Shorten It",[11,351,352,355],{},[14,353,354],{},"Prepare the content before starting."," Even a rough draft. Editing an existing sentence is far easier than inventing one against a blank page.",[11,357,358,361],{},[14,359,360],{},"Appoint one decision-maker."," Everyone else can comment, but one person closes. That single change shortens timelines more than anything else.",[11,363,364,367],{},[14,365,366],{},"Gather the access up front."," Domain, hosting, Google account, brand assets. Five minutes now, a week saved later.",[11,369,370,373],{},[14,371,372],{},"Agree what's in the first version."," A live site with four good pages beats a perfect site that doesn't exist yet. The rest gets added afterwards.",[11,375,376,379],{},[14,377,378],{},"Book a photographer, if there's budget."," One shoot day does more for a site than two weeks of design polish.",[28,381,383],{"id":382},"the-day-after-launch-isnt-the-finish-line","The Day After: Launch Isn't the Finish Line",[11,385,386],{},"A common planning mistake is counting up to launch day and stopping there. There's another week or two of things that happen afterwards, and they belong inside the plan:",[11,388,389,392],{},[14,390,391],{},"Connecting the domain."," A DNS change usually propagates within hours but can take up to a day, depending on the provider. Don't schedule a launch for the hour a campaign is already running.",[11,394,395,398,399,104],{},[14,396,397],{},"Google doesn't see you on day one."," Indexing a new site takes days to weeks. Submit the sitemap, request indexing for the main pages - and don't panic that the site \"isn't on Google\" after two days. More in ",[22,400,402],{"href":401},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fwebsite-not-showing-in-google\u002F","the indexing guide",[11,404,405,408],{},[14,406,407],{},"The first week of real use."," The first leads expose things no test did: a question that keeps coming up by phone because the copy isn't clear, a form field people fill in wrong. Plan a small fix round for a week or two after launch - it's part of the project, not a bug in it.",[28,410,412],{"id":411},"and-what-about-urgent","And What About \"Urgent\"?",[11,414,415],{},"Sometimes it genuinely is urgent - a trade show, a campaign, a launch. We can work fast, but we have to be honest about what gets compressed. What I don't compress: speed, accessibility and testing. What can be compressed: the number of pages in version one, the design rounds, and how much of the copy gets written from scratch.",[28,417,419],{"id":418},"but-an-ai-builder-makes-a-site-in-an-hour","\"But an AI Builder Makes a Site in an Hour\"",[11,421,422,423,104],{},"True, and genuinely impressive. Except the builder spends that hour on the part that's short with me too: the skeleton. What takes weeks in a real project is exactly what the builder skips - your content instead of generic filler, Hebrew that actually works, speed, accessibility to the standard, and connections to your systems. It's also why an hour-built site looks like an hour-built site. When a builder is nevertheless the right call - ",[22,424,426],{"href":425},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fdiy-website-builder-vs-developer\u002F","I laid it out honestly here",[28,428,430],{"id":429},"the-bottom-line","The Bottom Line",[11,432,433],{},"A real timeline isn't a nice promise in a meeting - it's the result of agreeing up front what's being built, who decides, and what already exists. With me that's settled in a short document before anything starts, so nobody discovers surprises halfway through.",[11,435,436,437,440],{},"Got a date you need to hit? ",[22,438,439],{"href":137},"Tell me the date and what you already have"," - I'll tell you whether it's realistic, and if it isn't, what we can do by then instead.",{"title":141,"searchDepth":142,"depth":142,"links":442},[443,444,445,446,447,448,449],{"id":255,"depth":142,"text":256},{"id":305,"depth":142,"text":306},{"id":348,"depth":142,"text":349},{"id":382,"depth":142,"text":383},{"id":411,"depth":142,"text":412},{"id":418,"depth":142,"text":419},{"id":429,"depth":142,"text":430},"2026-08-12","How long building a website really takes: real ranges by type, what actually causes delays (hint: not the code), and how to shorten it.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-does-a-website-take\u002Fog-en.jpg",{},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-does-a-website-take",{"title":176,"description":451},"en\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-does-a-website-take","2026-10-07","0jmFxyhdEPNGGdSl8IT6dlO5qLQ1tqNyP1wR1lJEn5s",{"id":460,"title":461,"body":462,"category":151,"date":672,"description":673,"extension":154,"faq":172,"image":674,"meta":675,"navigation":167,"path":676,"readingTime":677,"seo":678,"stem":679,"updated":457,"video":172,"__hash__":680},"blog_en\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost.md","How Much Does a Website Cost in 2026? What Actually Sets the Price",{"type":8,"value":463,"toc":662},[464,467,470,474,478,484,490,499,509,515,521,525,528,533,537,545,549,555,559,563,566,607,611,642,646,649,652,655],[11,465,466],{},"It's always the first question, and fairly so - nobody starts a project without a sense of scale. So here's the honest answer: for the same \"business website\" you'll get quotes spanning a tenfold range, sometimes more. Not necessarily because someone is playing you, but because \"a website\" is one word covering entirely different products.",[11,468,469],{},"You won't find a price list here - nor on most serious developers' sites - and further down I'll explain why that's actually a good sign. What you will find: exactly what sets the price, so you can read quotes like someone who understands what's written in them.",[28,471,473],{"id":472},"the-six-things-that-move-the-price","The six things that move the price",[294,475],{"alt":476,"height":297,"src":477,"width":299},"The six factors that set a website's price","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost\u002Fprice-levers-en.webp",[11,479,480,483],{},[14,481,482],{},"1. How many page types, not how many pages."," A homepage, a service page, a contact page - each is a template that needs designing and building. But twenty service pages using the same template cost nearly the same as five. When someone asks \"how many pages,\" the real question is how many distinct templates.",[11,485,486,489],{},[14,487,488],{},"2. Custom design versus an existing theme."," A ready-made theme adapted to your brand saves weeks of design work. Design from scratch around the business costs more - sometimes worth every shekel, sometimes unnecessary. This difference alone can double a quote.",[11,491,492,495,496,104],{},[14,493,494],{},"3. A store and its systems."," The moment payments, inventory, invoicing and shipping enter, it's no longer \"a website with an extra page\" - it's a different product. Every such integration means configuration, testing, and potential faults. I covered this in depth in ",[22,497,498],{"href":286},"the store guide",[11,500,501,504,505,104],{},[14,502,503],{},"4. Who writes the content."," If the copy, photos and logo arrive from you ready to use - you've saved money. If a copywriter, photographer or designer is needed, that enters the price, at the developer's or a separate vendor's. Incidentally, it's also ",[22,506,508],{"href":507},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-long-does-a-website-take\u002F","the number-one schedule killer",[11,510,511,514],{},[14,512,513],{},"5. Integrations with external systems."," A CRM, a booking system, a newsletter, accounting software - every integration is real work, even when it looks like \"just a button\".",[11,516,517,520],{},[14,518,519],{},"6. Accessibility, speed and standards."," A site that meets IS 5568 in code, loads fast on mobile and is built for search takes work that a \"just make it exist\" site doesn't. The difference isn't visible in the demo; it shows a year later, in Google and in the demand letters that never arrived.",[28,522,524],{"id":523},"why-serious-developers-dont-publish-a-price-list","Why serious developers don't publish a price list",[11,526,527],{},"Because a price without discovery is a guess, and whoever guesses, guesses in their own favor. A real quote comes after a conversation that clarifies what you need: how many templates, what already exists, what gets connected. Someone quoting a number before asking a single question is either building in a safety margin you're paying for - or planning to discover \"extras\" later.",[341,529,530],{},[11,531,532],{},"The first number thrown out in a conversation isn't the price. It's an opening move - or a warning sign.",[28,534,536],{"id":535},"how-much-does-a-wordpress-website-cost","How much does a WordPress website cost?",[11,538,539,540,544],{},"The most common question, so a straight answer without numbers (why without - previous section): a WordPress site on a quality theme adapted to your brand is usually the most economical route to a full business website, because much of the work already exists. The price climbs with everything that moves away from the shelf: design from scratch, multiple content templates, system integrations and paid plugins. And don't forget the running cost - licences, hosting and ",[22,541,543],{"href":542},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-does-website-maintenance-include\u002F","monthly maintenance"," - which on WordPress is a real part of the picture.",[28,546,548],{"id":547},"how-much-does-an-online-store-cost","How much does an online store cost?",[11,550,551,552,104],{},"A store is always more expensive than a comparable brochure site, and not because of the design: payments, invoicing, shipping and inventory are systems that need connecting, configuring and testing. The gap between a \"simple\" store and a complex one is set mostly by catalogue size and integrations, and the platform choice changes the cost structure - subscription and fees versus build and maintenance - ",[22,553,554],{"href":286},"as detailed in the full comparison",[28,556,558],{"id":557},"the-too-cheap-quote-up-close","The too-cheap quote, up close",[294,560],{"alt":561,"height":297,"src":562,"width":299},"A too-cheap quote versus a serious one - the differences","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost\u002Fcheap-vs-serious-en.webp",[11,564,565],{},"Some cheap quotes are legitimate - a ready theme, a small scope, a developer early in their career. And some are quotes whose cheapness surfaces later:",[261,567,568,574,584,590,596],{},[264,569,570,573],{},[14,571,572],{},"\"Everything included\" with no scope document."," When what's included isn't written down, everything you ask for becomes an \"extra\".",[264,575,576,579,580,583],{},[14,577,578],{},"The domain and hosting registered to the developer."," That's what lock-in looks like. Check ",[22,581,582],{"href":102},"whose name is on the assets"," before signing.",[264,585,586,589],{},[14,587,588],{},"\"Accessibility? We'll install a plugin.\""," An overlay widget doesn't meet the standard, and the legal exposure stays yours.",[264,591,592,595],{},[14,593,594],{},"Not a word about maintenance."," A website isn't a shelf product; what happens after launch is worth asking before launch.",[264,597,598,601,602,606],{},[14,599,600],{},"Speed not mentioned at all."," A slow site quietly burns your ad budget. Test a site the developer built ",[22,603,605],{"href":604},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fpagespeed-100-guide\u002F","with Google's tool"," - it takes a minute.",[28,608,610],{"id":609},"how-to-compare-quotes-properly","How to compare quotes properly",[612,613,614,620,626,632],"ol",{},[264,615,616,619],{},[14,617,618],{},"Demand a line-item breakdown."," Design, development, content, integrations, accessibility, maintenance. A one-line quote can't be compared.",[264,621,622,625],{},[14,623,624],{},"Make sure everyone is pricing the same thing."," If one quote includes copywriting and another doesn't, you're not comparing prices - you're comparing apples to nails.",[264,627,628,631],{},[14,629,630],{},"Ask what happens when you want a change."," The hourly rate after launch reveals a lot about your shared future.",[264,633,634,637,638,583],{},[14,635,636],{},"Ask to see a two-year-old site."," Not the polished launch - what's left of it. I keep ",[22,639,641],{"href":640},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-choose-a-web-developer\u002F","a full list of questions to ask a developer",[28,643,645],{"id":644},"the-real-price-isnt-what-you-paid-on-launch-day","The real price isn't what you paid on launch day",[11,647,648],{},"A cheap site that brings no enquiries is the most expensive kind there is. A site built right - fast, accessible, findable on Google - returns the difference in leads, usually faster than you'd think. That calculation is worth running over three years, not over the first invoice.",[28,650,651],{"id":127},"Bottom line",[11,653,654],{},"\"How much does a website cost\" is the right question with a conditional answer: it depends on how many templates, who designs, what's connected, who writes, and to what standard. Anyone answering it with a number before understanding your needs answered a different question.",[11,656,657,658,661],{},"Want a real number instead of a guess? ",[22,659,660],{"href":137},"Tell me what you're building"," - a short discovery call, then a proper quote with a full breakdown. No surprises later.",{"title":141,"searchDepth":142,"depth":142,"links":663},[664,665,666,667,668,669,670,671],{"id":472,"depth":142,"text":473},{"id":523,"depth":142,"text":524},{"id":535,"depth":142,"text":536},{"id":547,"depth":142,"text":548},{"id":557,"depth":142,"text":558},{"id":609,"depth":142,"text":610},{"id":644,"depth":142,"text":645},{"id":127,"depth":142,"text":651},"2026-09-20","Why website quotes vary tenfold: the six things that move the price, the questions to ask, and how to spot the cheap quote that ends up expensive.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost\u002Fog-en.jpg",{},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost",7,{"title":461,"description":673},"en\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-much-does-a-website-cost","N9hwAE47ckQkvNg8spr75ANzH4UZEc6zKg51d20D5ns",{"id":682,"title":683,"body":684,"category":151,"date":821,"description":822,"extension":154,"faq":172,"image":823,"meta":824,"navigation":167,"path":825,"readingTime":677,"seo":826,"stem":827,"updated":172,"video":172,"__hash__":828},"blog_en\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-choose-a-web-developer.md","How to Choose a Web Developer: 9 Questions to Ask Before You Sign",{"type":8,"value":685,"toc":809},[686,689,692,697,701,711,715,721,725,733,737,745,749,756,760,763,767,770,774,777,781,784,789,793,796,802],[11,687,688],{},"Most people choose a web developer on two things: the price, and whether the portfolio looks good. Both matter and neither is enough. The sites that arrive for repair a year or two later were almost always built by someone with a reasonable portfolio and a sensible price - the problem was in what nobody asked beforehand.",[11,690,691],{},"Here are nine questions worth asking anyone who offers to build you a site. Including me. The answers matter less than the willingness to answer them clearly.",[294,693],{"alt":694,"caption":695,"height":297,"src":696,"width":299},"The nine questions for a web developer, on one page","Save this - all nine questions","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-choose-a-web-developer\u002Fnine-questions-en.webp",[28,698,700],{"id":699},"_1-whose-name-will-the-domain-hosting-and-code-be-in","1. Whose Name Will the Domain, Hosting and Code Be In?",[11,702,703,704,707,708,104],{},"The only acceptable answer: ",[14,705,706],{},"yours."," The domain registered to you, the hosting account yours, and the code - including admin access - in your hands from day one. A developer who registers the domain in their own name \"for convenience\" has created a dependency that will cost money the day you want to part ways. I went deeper in ",[22,709,710],{"href":102},"the ownership guide",[28,712,714],{"id":713},"_2-what-exactly-is-included-and-what-isnt","2. What Exactly Is Included, and What Isn't?",[11,716,717,718,104],{},"\"A website\" is a broad word. Content - who writes it? Images - who supplies them? Design - how many rounds? Languages - one or two? WhatsApp integration, forms, analytics? A good proposal itemises. A proposal that says \"complete brochure site\" in one line leaves all of those questions for an argument later. What belongs in a quote in the first place, and what moves the number - I broke it down in ",[22,719,720],{"href":184},"the pricing guide",[28,722,724],{"id":723},"_3-what-happens-after-launch","3. What Happens After Launch?",[11,726,727,728,732],{},"The question most people don't ask. Is there a warranty period for faults? What does a small change cost in six months? Is there a maintenance plan, and what does it cover? An unmaintained site breaks - ",[22,729,731],{"href":730},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fwordpress-site-hacked-what-to-do\u002F","I wrote about what happens when it blows up"," - and it's better to know in advance who's responsible.",[28,734,736],{"id":735},"_4-will-the-site-be-accessible-to-is-5568","4. Will the Site Be Accessible to IS 5568?",[11,738,739,740,744],{},"Not \"accessibility can be added\", but - is it part of the build. In Israel it's an obligation, not a feature. If the answer includes the words \"plugin\" or \"widget\", ",[22,741,743],{"href":742},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fisraeli-website-accessibility-law\u002F","read this"," before continuing. A good answer talks about code, keyboard testing and an accessibility statement.",[28,746,748],{"id":747},"_5-how-will-you-make-sure-the-site-is-fast","5. How Will You Make Sure the Site Is Fast?",[11,750,751,752,755],{},"A good answer contains a number or a tool: \"we test in PageSpeed Insights before launch\", \"our target is green on mobile\". A weak answer: \"the site will be fast\". Speed isn't a feeling, it's ",[22,753,754],{"href":604},"a measurable metric"," - and you can ask to see one of their earlier sites in the tool, right now, in the meeting.",[28,757,759],{"id":758},"_6-can-i-see-a-site-you-built-two-years-ago-as-it-looks-today","6. Can I See a Site You Built Two Years Ago - as It Looks Today?",[11,761,762],{},"A portfolio shows launch day. The interesting question is what happened afterwards: is the site still up? Still fast? Still accessible? A good developer is happy to show an older site. If every example is from the last few months, it's worth asking why.",[28,764,766],{"id":765},"_7-who-do-i-talk-to-during-the-project","7. Who Do I Talk To During the Project?",[11,768,769],{},"The contact in the meeting isn't necessarily the builder. That's fine in a larger company, but know it up front: who answers a question on a Tuesday afternoon, and how quickly. \"A direct line to the person building it\" and \"a project manager who passes things along\" are two entirely different experiences, and both are legitimate - as long as you weren't promised one and given the other.",[28,771,773],{"id":772},"_8-if-you-disappear-tomorrow-what-do-i-do","8. If You Disappear Tomorrow - What Do I Do?",[11,775,776],{},"An uncomfortable question, and an important one. The good answer: \"you have every access, the code is documented, and any reasonable developer can pick it up.\" If the answer revolves around \"we don't disappear\" - that isn't an answer. Developers don't vanish on purpose; they change careers, move abroad, close businesses. Your site needs to survive that.",[28,778,780],{"id":779},"_9-what-wont-you-do","9. What Won't You Do?",[11,782,783],{},"A developer who can say \"I don't do that, get someone who specialises\" is worth more than one who says yes to everything. Nobody is an expert in code, design, copywriting, paid campaigns and photography all at once. An honest answer about limits is a very good sign - it says the other answers were honest too.",[341,785,786],{},[11,787,788],{},"A good site isn't one that looks excellent on launch day. It's one that still works, is still yours and can still be fixed - three years from now.",[28,790,792],{"id":791},"how-to-use-the-list","How to Use the List",[11,794,795],{},"You don't need to interrogate anyone. Ask the questions in the intro call, pleasantly, and notice not just the answers but their pace. Someone who does this seriously answers all of them without effort, because they've already thought about it. Someone who stumbles on question 1 or 8 - think again.",[11,797,798,799,104],{},"And the tenth question, which you'll ask anyway - \"how long will it take?\" - has ",[22,800,801],{"href":507},"an honest answer of its own",[11,803,804,805,808],{},"And if you'd like to hear how I answer these nine - ",[22,806,807],{"href":137},"let's talk",". I promise to answer the eighth one too.",{"title":141,"searchDepth":142,"depth":142,"links":810},[811,812,813,814,815,816,817,818,819,820],{"id":699,"depth":142,"text":700},{"id":713,"depth":142,"text":714},{"id":723,"depth":142,"text":724},{"id":735,"depth":142,"text":736},{"id":747,"depth":142,"text":748},{"id":758,"depth":142,"text":759},{"id":765,"depth":142,"text":766},{"id":772,"depth":142,"text":773},{"id":779,"depth":142,"text":780},{"id":791,"depth":142,"text":792},"2026-08-30","Nine questions to ask before commissioning a site: who owns the domain and code, what happens after launch, accessibility and speed, and what if they vanish.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-choose-a-web-developer\u002Fog-en.jpg",{},"\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-choose-a-web-developer",{"title":683,"description":822},"en\u002Fblog\u002Fhow-to-choose-a-web-developer","UK1EVy1A5YYnO0l3xOpLQzmhZ3wSUI4xIiteZtYn-ZM",1792660237094]