What Should You Look for in a Web Developer? A Shropshire Owner's Guide

Short answer: a good web developer builds you a site that’s fast, easy to contact from, built to be found on Google and AI search, and genuinely yours — with transparent pricing and real results to point to. A prettier site that’s slow, invisible and hard to leave is a liability, not an asset. Judge on outcomes, not just how it looks in the mock-up.

If you’re a Shropshire business owner trying to choose, here’s the checklist we’d use ourselves.

1. Do they build for speed?

Ask how fast your site will load and whether they build for Core Web Vitals. Over half of visitors leave a page that takes more than three seconds to load, so a slow site quietly costs you enquiries every day. If a developer can’t talk about performance, that’s a red flag.

2. Is it built to convert, or just to look nice?

A beautiful site that doesn’t guide visitors to enquire is an expensive brochure. Ask how they’ll turn visitors into calls, quotes and bookings — clear calls to action, an obvious way to get in touch, fast follow-up. Design should serve the enquiry, not just the eye.

3. Is it built to be found — including by AI?

Ask about SEO and structured data. In 2026, being found means both ranking on Google and being readable by AI search tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI. In our own audit of 100 Shropshire websites, 28% had no structured data at all — leaving them invisible to AI. Make sure yours won’t be one of them.

4. Is the pricing transparent?

You should get clear, fixed options — not a vague hourly promise that balloons. Ask what’s included, what isn’t, and what the ongoing costs (hosting, maintenance) will be. Honest developers are happy to put numbers on it.

5. Will you actually own it?

Make sure the site, domain and data are yours, with no lock-in that forces you to keep paying just to make basic changes or to move away. “Fully yours” should be a given.

6. Can they show real results?

Ask for genuine examples and numbers, not vague claims. Real developers can point to real outcomes — like a client getting 500+ leads in five months on a £10-a-day budget, or 2,000+ organic leads over two years. If every case study is fuzzy, be cautious.

7. Does local matter to you?

For much of the work it doesn’t — good developers deliver remotely across the UK. But a local team can meet you in person, understands the Shropshire market, and can set up your Google Business Profile for local search. If that matters, choose someone you can sit down with.

The bottom line

Don’t choose on the mock-up alone. Choose the developer who talks about speed, enquiries, being found, honest pricing and real results — because those are the things that actually grow your business.

We’re a Shrewsbury team based on Battlefield Enterprise Park, and we’re happy to give you a straight, no-obligation opinion on your current site or your plans.

Get a free audit → · See our web development in Shrewsbury and our pricing.