Hiring a web developer when you're not technical is genuinely hard. You don't know what you don't know, which makes it easy to be impressed by the wrong things and miss the warning signs that matter. Start with the portfolio. Can they show you sites that are live, working, and similar to what you need? If someone builds ecommerce sites for small businesses, they should be able to point you to five examples on the spot. If they can't, that tells you something. Ask for a fixed price before any work starts. A good developer will give you a clear quote for a clearly defined scope. If they talk in hourly rates and vague estimates, the final bill will surprise you, and usually not in your favour. Find out who you'll actually be talking to. Some agencies pass projects between account managers and juniors. You want to know: who will build your site, and can I reach them directly with questions? Timeline is negotiable but accountability isn't. Ask what happens if the site isn't delivered on time. Ask what the support process looks like after launch. These questions separate professionals from people winging it. Finally, trust your gut on communication. If someone takes three days to reply to your first enquiry, they'll take three days to reply to your urgent problem after launch. Speed of communication is a preview of how the project will go.