Hiring a Web Developer in Armenia: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

Choosing a web developer is one of those decisions that feels small until it isn't. A good one gives you a fast, findable website you control. A bad one leaves you with a site you can't edit, a domain registered in someone else's name, and nobody answering the phone.

I've been on the developer side of this conversation with more than 50 clients since 2022. These are the questions I'd want any business in Armenia to ask — including when they're talking to me.

1. Can I see live websites you've built?

Not mockups, not Dribbble shots — live URLs you can open on your phone. Check how fast they load, whether they work on mobile, and whether they still exist. A developer's own site is a good signal too.

2. Who will own the domain, hosting and code?

This is the most important question on the list. The domain (your .am or .com) should be registered in your name, on an account you can log into. You should own the code and have access to the hosting. If a developer insists on keeping everything under their account, walk away politely.

3. What will the site be built with — and why?

There's no single right answer — WordPress, a site builder, or custom code with something like Python and PostgreSQL can all be correct. What matters is that the developer can explain why it fits your project, and what it means for cost, speed and future changes.

4. How will it perform on mobile?

Most visitors in Armenia will see your site on a phone, often over mobile data. Ask how the developer handles image sizes, loading speed and mobile layouts. Then test the result yourself before final payment.

5. Is basic SEO included?

At minimum: proper page titles and descriptions, clean headings, fast loading, a sitemap, robots.txt, and connecting the site to Google Search Console. These cost very little during the build and a lot to retrofit.

6. How do you handle Armenian, Russian and English?

If you need more than one language, ask how each version gets its own URL and language tags, who translates the content, and how the design copes with longer text. "We'll add a translate button" is not a multilingual strategy.

7. Can I edit the content myself?

Ask for a demo of the admin panel or CMS before you sign. If changing a price or a photo requires the developer, you'll pay for that forever. For Hasmik's Club, for example, the admin panel was a core part of the project — the team runs members and events themselves.

8. Have you integrated payments, bookings or a CRM before?

If your site takes money or appointments, you want someone who has done it before and knows how to handle failures, refunds and confirmations. I've built conference registration with online payments (Epilepsy.am) and consultation booking (Kesoyan.am) — ask any developer for their equivalents.

9. What's the timeline, and how is payment split?

A professional proposal breaks the work into milestones — for example design, build, content, launch — with payments tied to each. Be wary of 100% upfront, and equally wary of a timeline that sounds too good to be true.

10. What happens after launch?

Ask about bug fixes, security updates, backups, and what small changes cost. Agree on how quickly they'll respond if the site goes down. Launch is the start of a website's life, not the end of the project.

A quick checklist

• Live portfolio sites checked on your phone
• Domain and hosting in your name
• Clear stack choice, explained
• SEO basics and Search Console included
• Multilingual plan if you need it
• Admin panel demoed
• Milestones and payment schedule in writing
• Post-launch support agreed

If you're comparing budgets, my guide on what actually drives website development costs in Armenia pairs well with this list.

Looking for a web developer?

I'm Armen Ghazaryan — a web developer and Technical Product Owner from Armenia. Ask me all ten questions: get in touch here.