Before you sign, ask 5 things: the right questions to ask before choosing a website

Here they are, one by one, with the answer you should demand.

Why these 5 questions

When you ask for a quote, the figure at the bottom of the page seems like the most important thing. It isn't. Two quotes with the same price written in bold can hide two different worlds: one gives you everything included, the other makes you pay separately for half the things and ties your hands.

The problem is you can't tell from the quote. You can only tell if you ask the right questions before signing. There are 5, they're simple, and you can ask anyone: us, another provider, the one your nephew recommended. If one of these answers doesn't come through clearly, you already have your answer.

1. Is the fee fixed or does it increase every year?

It's the first thing to ask. Will the amount you sign today still be what you pay next year? And the year after?

With some offers the starting price is deliberately low, then something is added every year: a renewal here, an increase there, and the real figure drifts away from the one you signed. You want to know just one thing: how much does it cost me to keep it running, every year, for as long as I need it?

The answer to demand: a fixed fee, written in black and white. With KeideaCMS, what we tell you today is what you pay: the same in January, the same in December, no bills popping up unexpectedly at year's end. If you want to see the difference over the long run, we explained it in the guide on how much a website costs.

2. Do you take a cut of every sale?

This question is worth gold, and almost nobody asks it. Some services, on top of the fee, keep a percentage of every sale you make. Do you sell more? You pay more. Your business grows and a slice disappears, every month, without you even seeing it.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, but you need to know it before signing. Because two offers with the same fee become very different if one also takes a cut of your earnings.

The answer to demand: ask plainly, "do you take a percentage of every sale? How much?".

With KeideaCMS there's a fixed fee: you pay that and nothing else, not a cut of every order. What you sell stays yours.

3. What's included and what's extra and paid?

This is where it all falls apart. The low price is often low because the site, as it stands, is nearly empty. The things you actually need are bought separately, one piece at a time:

• Getting found on Google.

• Protecting orders and customer data, so no one can get in and steal anything.

• Keeping the site loading instantly, so the customer doesn't get fed up and go elsewhere.

• The backup, so you don't lose everything if the site breaks one day.

None of these pieces cost much on their own. It's when they're put together that they add up, and almost always they weren't in the quote.

The answer to demand: have them tell you, item by item, what's already included and what's paid separately. With KeideaCMS these things are already included in the fee, not extras to buy and renew one by one. It's the same idea behind an all-inclusive site instead of one built piece by piece.

4. Who handles maintenance, and who do I talk to when I need help?

A website isn't something you switch on and forget. Every so often it needs updating, checking, fixing. The question is: do you take care of that, or do they? And the day something goes wrong, who do I call?

Because the worst answer is "oh, the technician has to look at that", and the technician doesn't answer. Or worse, there are three different providers passing the blame around while your site sits down.

The answer to demand: there must be a single person to answer to, not a game of pass-the-buck. With KeideaCMS we take care of the technical side, you don't have to touch anything: there's always the same contact person, speaking Italian, 7 days a week, with daily backups and site monitoring. You upload your products from a simple panel, we take care of the rest.

5. Who owns the site?

The last one, and perhaps the most important. If one day you want to change provider, is the site yours to take with you, or does it stay with them and you start from scratch?

It's the difference between owning a site and renting one. Renting is fine as long as you pay and as long as you're happy. But the day you want to leave, you find out that what you built, your products, your customers, your pages, can't be taken with you.

The answer to demand: have them tell you clearly who keeps the site and what you can take with you if you leave. With KeideaCMS, if you're not happy there's a 30-day money-back guarantee: you can try it at your own pace, without feeling trapped.

The 5 questions, all together

Keep them on your phone and ask them to anyone who offers you a website. Then put the answers side by side and decide for yourself:

We're not saying we're the only ones who answer well. We're giving you the questions. Ask everyone, even us. Honest offers aren't afraid of these 5 answers.

In a nutshell

Before signing up for a website or an online store, don't just look at the final figure. Ask 5 questions: is the fee fixed or does it increase, do they take a cut of your sales, what's included and what's extra, who handles maintenance, who owns the website. With the answers in hand you can compare two offers "apples to apples" and decide with your head, not based on the big number written on the page.