How to Choose a Website Company in India: 10 Checks Before You Pay

Before you pay any website development company in India, check ten things in writing: who owns the domain and the code, what hosting and renewals cost each year, how fast the site loads on a phone, what SEO is actually done, whether WhatsApp and enquiry clicks are tracked, who fixes problems after launch, the exact scope and delivery date, any hidden yearly charges, how GST is shown on the invoice, and whether you can see real work. A provider who answers all ten clearly, before taking money, is usually a safe choice, whatever their size.

Why do so many business owners regret their first website company?

Not usually because the design was bad. The regret comes later. The developer stops answering calls, the domain turns out to be in their name, the hosting bill doubles in year two, or the site looks fine on a laptop and crawls on a phone. Each of these could have been caught with one question before payment.

India has thousands of capable web designers, from one-person studios in small towns to large agencies in Bengaluru, Pune and Gurugram. Size does not decide quality. Clear answers do. Use the checks below on every quote you collect, including ours.

Check 1: Who will own the domain and the website code?

The domain (yourbusiness.in or .com) should be registered in your name, with your email address, from day one. If a developer registers it in their own account “for convenience”, you are renting your own address. Ask to see the registration details after purchase.

The code matters too. Ask: “If I leave, what exactly do I get?” A good answer names the files, the content and a handover period. A vague answer, or an exit fee, is a warning.

How Adyft Sites answers it: the domain is always registered in your name. If you leave, we hand over the ready-to-run website files, the source project and all your blog posts with a WordPress import file, and help you move for 30 days. No lock-in, no exit fee.

Check 2: What will hosting and renewals cost every year?

Many quotes include “1 year free hosting and domain”. That is fine, as long as you know the year-two price. Ask for the renewal cost of hosting, domain, SSL certificate and any email accounts, written down, before you agree.

With Adyft Sites, hosting, SSL, daily backups, security updates and 24/7 uptime monitoring are all inside the monthly fee. The only separate yearly cost is the domain itself, usually about ₹500–1,200 a year, paid to the registrar in your name.

Check 3: How fast will the site load on a mobile phone?

Most of your visitors will arrive on a phone, often on mobile data. A slow site loses them before they read your phone number. Ask the developer for the speed score of two sites they have already built, and test those sites yourself with Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool on the mobile setting.

Heavy themes, large uncompressed photos and plug-ins stacked on top of each other are the usual causes of a slow site. Adyft Sites are built with Astro, a modern framework that sends plain, light pages to the browser, with optimised images. We aim for a speed score of 90+ on mobile.

Check 4: What SEO work is actually done, not just promised?

“SEO friendly” on a quote can mean almost anything. Ask for a list of specific tasks. A real list looks like this:

• 1Keyword research based on what people in your city actually search.
• 2A unique title, description and headings on every page.
• 3Google Search Console set up in your name and the sitemap submitted.
• 4Schema (structured data) that tells Google your business type, address and hours.
• 5An llms.txt file so AI assistants can read a clean summary of your business.
• 6Separate pages for main services and nearby areas, if the plan includes them.

All of these are included on every Adyft Sites plan. Growth adds 5 service pages and 3 town or area pages; Pro adds 12 service pages and 8 area pages. One honest note: no company can promise you the first position on Google, and you should be careful of anyone who does.

Check 5: Will WhatsApp clicks, calls and enquiries be tracked?

In India, many customers would rather send a WhatsApp message than fill a form. If the website does not count those clicks, you cannot tell whether the site is bringing business or just sitting there. Ask whether Google Analytics (GA4) will be set up, and whether WhatsApp button clicks, phone calls and form submissions will be recorded as separate events.

Every Adyft Sites plan comes with a WhatsApp button, an enquiry form, and tracking for GA4, the Meta pixel, call clicks and WhatsApp clicks. If you run ads later, that tracking is already in place.

Check 6: Who looks after the site after launch?

A website is not finished on launch day. Prices change, staff change, plug-ins need updates, and sometimes a site goes down at 10 pm on a Saturday. Ask three questions: how do I request a change, how fast will you reply, and who fixes it if the site breaks?

Check 7: Is the scope and timeline written down?

Ask for the number of pages, the names of those pages, who writes the text, how many rounds of changes are included, and the delivery date. Spoken promises over the phone are easily forgotten by both sides.

Adyft Sites lists every plan page by page on our pricing table. Starter has 5 pages (Home, About, Services list, Gallery, Contact) and goes live in under 7 days once we have your details and photos. Growth has 12 pages in about 12 days, and Pro has 30 pages in about 18 days. We write every page ourselves after you answer a few questions on WhatsApp, so you are not stuck writing text at midnight.

Check 8: Are there hidden yearly charges?

Common surprises include an “annual maintenance charge” that was never mentioned, a separate fee for SSL, paid plug-in licences, charges for each small text change, and a fee to hand over the files. Ask the provider to list every recurring charge for the next three years, then add them up.

Here is that same exercise for Adyft Sites, using the monthly fee with blog articles on and off. The domain is extra.

Without blogs, the three-year totals are ₹18,763, ₹32,963 and ₹65,963. You can switch blog articles on or off any month by sending us a message. The monthly fee starts only when your site goes live.

Check 9: How is GST shown on the invoice?

Two quotes of the same amount are not equal if one adds GST on top and the other does not. Ask every provider whether their price includes GST, what the final total is, and whether you will get a proper invoice. If you are GST registered yourself, your accountant can tell you whether you can claim input credit.

Adyft Sites prices in India are shown in rupees, plus GST if applicable. Ask us for the total before you pay, so you compare like with like.

Check 10: Can you see real work before you pay?

Ask for links to live websites, not screenshots. Open them on your own phone. Check how fast they load, whether the phone number is tappable, and whether the WhatsApp button works. If possible, ask to speak to one past client.

You can browse our 42 industry designs and sample websites before ordering, and message us on WhatsApp with any question before you pay. Before launch you get a private preview link to check the site on your own phone and ask for changes.

How do the 10 checks look side by side?

When is another provider the better choice?

Be honest with yourself about what you need. If you want a large custom portal, a website in Hindi or another regional language, or complex software that connects to your billing system, talk to a specialist agency or ask us for a written quote after a free call. If you only need a single page with your phone number and enjoy doing things yourself, a do-it-yourself builder may be enough. For most shops, clinics, consultants, institutes and service businesses that simply want customers to find them and contact them, a done-for-you plan with clear answers to these ten checks is the shorter road.