Start with their portfolio. Look for sites that load in under 2 seconds on mobile, have clean navigation, and actually convert visitors into leads or sales. A designer who only shows beautiful mockups but can't point to real performance metrics is a red flag. Ask for Google PageSpeed scores and traffic growth examples from past clients. Technical competence matters as much as aesthetics. The designer should understand semantic HTML, mobile-first responsive design, and how their choices affect SEO. If they build exclusively on page builders like Elementor or Divi without optimizing load times, you'll inherit a slow site. At Ottawa SEO Inc., we've rebuilt dozens of visually appealing Toronto sites that ranked poorly because the original designer ignored technical fundamentals like heading hierarchy, alt text, and schema markup. Communication and process separate good designers from great ones. They should ask about your business goals, target audience, and competitor landscape before talking about colors or layouts. Expect a clear timeline with milestones and a contract that specifies revisions, hosting responsibilities, and ongoing maintenance. Beware of designers who promise a site in under two weeks or charge under $2,500 for custom work—you typically get template-level quality at that price point. Local Toronto designers offer the advantage of in-person meetings and familiarity with your market, but remote collaboration works fine if they have strong references. Check their Google Business Profile reviews and ask for two or three past clients you can contact directly. Ask those references how the designer handled revisions, whether the site was delivered on time, and if they've needed ongoing support. Finally, confirm they deliver the final site with full admin access, source files, and documentation. Some designers lock you into proprietary systems or charge monthly fees to keep your site online. You should own your website outright after launch, with the freedom to move hosts or hire another developer if needed.