The design is the easy part to judge. What separates one web design company in Dubai from another is what happens with your domain, your logins and your edits once the invoice is paid.
Judge them on live websites, not mockups
A portfolio of polished mockups tells you someone is good with design software. A live site tells you far more. Open one on your phone, on mobile data, and see how long it takes to load. Tap the WhatsApp button. Send a test message through the contact form if there is one.
Ask any web design company in Dubai for three or four sites they built that are still online, and check they're really theirs. A footer credit helps. So does a quick message to the business owner, if you can find them.
Ours are public. Saudi Bus Rentals (saudibusrentals.com) and Yes Coaches (yescoaches.co.uk) are coach hire sites, Abu Dhabi CCTV (abudhabicctv.ae) installs security systems, and Signs Abu Dhabi (signsabudhabi.ae) makes signage. You can look at any of them without speaking to us first.
Look for work close to your trade if you can. Not because a restaurant designer can't build a clinic site, but because they'll already know what your customers look for.
Who owns the domain and the hosting logins
This is the question most people skip. It's also the one that causes the most grief two years later.
Your domain should be registered to your business, and you should be able to get the login for wherever it's held. Same for hosting. If the agency registers everything under its own account and the relationship ends badly, moving away turns into a negotiation. For a .ae domain, ask whose name and licence details it's registered against.
Business email works the same way. If your info@ address lives on the agency's server, ask how you'd move it if you left. Losing two years of customer emails hurts more than losing a website.
Ask for it in writing. Who holds the domain? Who holds the hosting account? Will I get the logins on request? A good supplier answers in one message.
One caveat from our side. Having the logins doesn't mean you should use them. Plenty of owners have taken a site offline by changing a setting in the hosting panel they didn't recognise. Keep the details somewhere safe and leave them alone unless you're moving.
What happens after the site goes live
A website isn't finished on launch day. Opening hours change for Ramadan. A second branch opens in Abu Dhabi. Somebody has to make those edits.
Ask how changes are handled and what they cost. Some studios hand you an editor and leave you to it. Others, us included, make the changes for you. Our Care & support plan is AED 399 a month and covers content edits, backups, security checks and priority WhatsApp support.
Speed matters as much as price here. If the phone number on your site is wrong, you want it fixed the same day, not next Thursday. Ask how quickly a small change usually gets done, and if you send requests by WhatsApp, email or a support ticket.
Neither model is wrong. Pick the one that matches how much time you'll realistically spend on your own site, which for most owners is close to none.
And ask what the yearly renewal costs and what it includes. You want that number before you sign, not in a reminder email eleven months later.
Warning signs worth walking away over
Most web designers in the UAE do fair, honest work. A few habits are worth taking seriously wherever you see them, though, whatever the price or the size of the company.
Any one of them on its own doesn't prove a company is dishonest. A one-person studio might ask for full payment on a very small job because invoicing in stages isn't worth the admin. But if you spot two or three of these together, slow down and ask more questions before you transfer anything.
- A guarantee of first place or page one on Google, which nobody can control
- No written scope showing pages, features and what's excluded
- The domain registered in the agency's name with a fee to release it
- Full payment upfront with no stage where you approve the design
- No clear answer on yearly renewal costs
- Silence on WhatsApp for days during the sales stage
Questions for your first call
You don't need a script. A handful of plain questions sorts the serious studios from the rest quickly.
How many pages does this price cover? Who writes the text? When will I see the first design, and how many rounds of changes are included? What's the yearly renewal, and what's in it? If I leave in two years, what do I get handed?
Listen for specifics. Don't worry, we'll sort it out isn't an answer to any of them.
Find out who you'll actually deal with, too. At plenty of agencies the person who sells you the site never touches it, which is fine as long as you know who to message when something breaks at 9pm before a weekend promotion.
Our consultation is free, and these are fair questions to put to us as well. You can book one through our contact page.
Comparing quotes side by side
Line quotes up by what's inside them, not by the total. Count pages, check whether hosting, SSL, email and the domain are included and for how long, and see who's writing the content. Our guide to what drives website cost in Dubai goes through each of those line by line.
Be careful with open-ended hourly pricing. Billing by the hour isn't wrong, but an estimate of around 20 hours on a site where nobody has decided the content can easily become 40. A fixed price for a written scope is easier to plan around.
Timelines are worth comparing too. Ours is 48-72 hours for a standard site once we have your content, and that last part matters more than most suppliers say. The slow part of nearly every project is waiting for text, photos and logins, not the design. Have a look at what to prepare before the build and you'll cut weeks off whichever company you choose.
If you'd like us on your shortlist, call or WhatsApp +971 52 292 3875 and tell us what you need.
Questions people ask
Should my domain be registered in my name or the designer's?
In your business's name, with access to the account it's held in. That way you can move hosting or designers later without asking anyone's permission.
Is a deposit before work starts normal?
Yes, a deposit is common. Be wary of paying the full amount before you've seen and approved a design.
Can any agency guarantee my site will rank first on Google?
No. Rankings depend on things no agency controls, so treat a guarantee as a reason to look elsewhere.
Does the company need an office in Dubai?
Not necessarily. Our office is in Abu Dhabi, and most of our work with Dubai clients happens by phone, WhatsApp and email.
What should I look for in a designer's portfolio?
Live sites they built that are still online, ideally for businesses like yours. Open them on your phone and test the contact buttons yourself.