What to Look For in a Web Design Agency's Portfolio Before You Hire Them

Every web design agency has a portfolio page full of attractive screenshots. Almost none of them tell you what actually matters: whether those sites work, whether they rank, or whether they're even still live. Here's how to properly assess an agency's portfolio before you commit money to a build.

Are the Sites Actually Live?

The single fastest check, and the one most people skip. Click through to each portfolio site. Is it still online? Is it still the design shown in the screenshot, or has the client since rebuilt it with someone else? A portfolio full of dead links or sites that have obviously been replaced tells you something meaningful about how those relationships went.

How Fast Do They Load on Your Phone?

Open two or three portfolio sites on mobile data, not wifi. If they take more than a few seconds to become usable, that's the experience the agency considers acceptable — and it's what your site will be like too. Page speed directly affects both rankings and conversion, so a portfolio of slow sites is a genuine warning sign regardless of how good they look in a screenshot.

Do the Sites Actually Rank?

Pick a portfolio client, work out what they'd want to rank for, and search it. A plumber in Brunswick should be findable searching "plumber Brunswick." If none of an agency's portfolio clients appear anywhere for their obvious search terms, that agency builds websites that look good and don't get found — which is a very different service to what most businesses actually need.

Is There Detail, or Just a Screenshot?

A screenshot with a company name under it tells you nothing about what was actually delivered. Look for portfolios that explain what the project involved — what the client needed, what was built, what the outcome was. Generic bullet lists repeated identically under every project ("custom design, responsive, fast loading") are filler, not information. Specific descriptions of specific projects indicate an agency that actually thinks about each build rather than running everything through the same template.

Are the Clients Comparable to You?

An agency whose entire portfolio is large corporate clients may not be the right fit for a local trade business, and vice versa. Look for work in a similar category, at a similar scale, with similar goals to yours. An agency that has genuinely delivered for businesses like yours understands the specific problems your category faces.

Can They Show You Data, Not Just Design?

Ask directly: can you show me Search Console or analytics data for a portfolio client? An agency confident in the performance of its work can usually show something concrete, even if anonymised. One that deflects entirely to visual design is telling you what they actually measure success by.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the fastest way to check an agency's portfolio quality?

Click through to the actual live sites and load them on mobile data. Dead links, replaced designs, or slow load times reveal more than any screenshot.

How do I check if a portfolio site actually ranks?

Search the obvious term that client would want to rank for, including their location. If none of an agency's clients appear for their core search terms, that's meaningful.

Should I expect an agency to share client performance data?

Some data may be confidential, but an agency confident in its results can usually show something concrete, even anonymised.

Does it matter if an agency hasn't worked in my industry?

Not necessarily, but work at a similar scale and with similar goals is a good signal they understand the specific problems your type of business faces.