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18 questions to ask a web agency in Spain before signing

27 August 20261 min

18 questions to ask a web agency in Spain before signing

The 18 questions to ask a web agency in Spain before signing: what answer you should demand, what is a red flag, and what the contract must state.

Before signing, ask in writing who will hold the rights to the code, whether the price includes VAT, what is included in each phase, what metrics will be used to measure results, and what happens thirty days after the launch. The answer matters less than the delivery: a specific figure is a good sign; an elastic promise is not.

Almost all lists of questions circulating in Spanish are designed to look good in a meeting. This list is for something else: so that you know exactly what answer you need to hear and which one should make you walk away.

Each question comes with two things. The expected answer, which is what you can demand and include in the contract. And the red flag, which is the actual phrase you will hear when the studio on the other side doesn't have that answer prepared. We are not looking for anyone to fail an exam: we are looking for you and the person who is going to build your website to end up saying the same thing in writing.

The industry standard: Asking "how much does it cost?" and comparing three quotes based on the bottom number. The bottom number does not tell you what you are buying.

Our criteria: Asking about scope, ownership, and measurement, and comparing three quotes based on what each party commits to deliver.

1. What is included in this price and what is billed separately?

Expected answer: A closed list of deliverables and another list, equally explicit, of what is not included: copywriting, photography, font licenses, translations, migration of old content.

Red flag: "Whatever you need." A scope without boundaries is a scope that will be renegotiated once you have already paid the first invoice.

2. Does the price include VAT?

Expected answer: "It is X € plus 21% VAT," stated without you having to ask twice.

Red flag: A budget where VAT does not appear anywhere. If you are an SME that deducts VAT, the difference is a treasury issue. If you are an association, a clinic, or any exempt entity, that 21% is a pure cost you just discovered too late.

3. Do you bill by the hour or by a fixed phase?

Expected answer: Either is fine, as long as it is clearly stated. By the hour, with an agreed rate and cap. By phase, with a fixed price agreed upon before starting. We work with a fixed price per phase, agreed upon before starting, and with no surprise hours.

Red flag: "We'll see as we go." "We'll see as we go" means you assume the entire uncertainty of the project.

4. If the project runs long on your end, what happens?

Expected answer: Nothing on your invoice. The cost overrun of a poorly made estimate is paid by the one who made it.

Red flag: Silence, or an explanation about industry unforeseen events. Unforeseen events exist: the distribution of risk is what is negotiated.

5. What do I have to provide you, and by when?

Expected answer: A list with dates. Texts, vector logo, domain access, billing details, who approves.

Red flag: When they don't ask for anything. The number one reason a website is delayed is not development: it is the content that never arrives.

6. What does winning look like in this project?

Expected answer: Two or three measurable success criteria, written down before moving a single pixel. More qualified quote requests. Fewer phone calls asking what is already on the website. A load time below a specific threshold.

Red flag: "That it looks modern." That cannot be verified, so it cannot be claimed either.

Section 2 · Ownership, handover, and keys

This is where projects are lost, and almost no Spanish guide explains this with the regulation in hand.

7. When we finish, who owns the code?

Expected answer: "You do, and the contract says so in these words." In Spain, the assignment of exploitation rights is interpreted restrictively: Article 43 of the consolidated text of the Intellectual Property Law limits the assignment to the rights, modalities, time, and territorial scope that are expressly determined; if the duration is not stated, it is understood to be assigned for five years.

Red flag: "The code is yours, of course" without that phrase appearing in any document. A "sure" is not an assignment.

8. Can I have access to the repository from day one?

Expected answer: Yes, with your own account, from the first commit. Not at the end, not in a ZIP file.

Red flag: "We will deliver everything to you when we finish." A repository you cannot access is a repository you cannot verify even exists.

9. Will you give me the design source files and the licenses in my name?

Expected answer: Editable source files, the documented design system (grid, typographic rhythm, proportions, tokens), and font licenses purchased with your data, not the studio's.

Red flag: Delivering only PDFs or screenshots. And a font license in the agency's name is a license that expires the day you change studios.

10. In whose name are the domain, hosting, and accounts registered?

Expected answer: Everything in your name and with your credit card, with the studio as an invited user.

Red flag: Having the domain registered in the agency's name "for simplicity." That doesn't simplify: it ties you down.

The keys to your project are four documents with your name on them, not the good intentions of the person answering your phone call.

11. Who is responsible for accessibility?

Expected answer: A clear position on the European Accessibility Act. Accessibility requirements are mandatory for products and services from June 28, 2025, according to Article 2 of Law 11/2023, which transposes Directive (EU) 2019/882. Micro-enterprises providing services are exempt: fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet not exceeding 2 million euros.

Red flag: Selling it as a plugin or widget that "makes the website accessible in five minutes." No overlay makes a non-compliant website compliant.

Law 11/2023 and its development are still evolving: in February 2026, Royal Decree 143/2026 was published, which creates the technical support and coordination unit for surveillance authorities. Verification date of this section: 08-27-2026. If you are reading this months later, check the status before signing.

12. Who drafts the legal texts and who signs the data processing agreement?

Expected answer: The studio distinguishes between what it can and cannot do. Setting up cookie consent, yes. Drafting your privacy policy as legal counsel, no. And if they are going to touch your users' personal data, the contract under Article 28 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 is required.

Red flag: "We will include the legal texts as a gift." A legal text copied from another website is a risk with your name on it.

13. Are you a digital agent and what is the status of my voucher?

Expected answer: The truth about the schedule. As of August 27, 2026, the Digital Kit does not accept new applications in open calls; Order TDF/39/2026 modified the regulatory bases to redistribute remnants from previous calls.

Red flag: "We'll process it for you, don't worry" accompanied by a quote that coincidentally matches the voucher amount.

14. If you work as a freelancer, does your invoice include withholding?

Expected answer: Yes, if you are a professional registered in the second or third sections of the IAE and you bill me as a company or professional. The general rate is 15%, and 7% for new freelancers during the year of registration and the following two years.

Red flag: An invoice without withholding when it corresponds. The one who deposits that withholding to the Tax Agency is you, and the problem of a poorly presented form 111 is also yours.

15. What numbers do you commit to achieving in writing?

Expected answer: The Core Web Vitals thresholds, named one by one.

Metric"Good" thresholdWhat it measures
LCP2.5 s or lessHow long it takes for the largest element to render
INP200 ms or lessHow long it takes for the page to respond to a gesture
CLS0.1 or lessHow much the content moves while loading

All three are evaluated at the 75th percentile of real loads, measured separately on mobile and desktop, according to the web.dev documentation consulted on 08-27-2026.

Red flag: Showing you a PageSpeed screenshot with a green 100. That 100 is lab data. What Google uses is field data.

16. With what tool and what data will you measure?

Expected answer: Field data, with the named source, and one measurement before and one after the launch.

Red flag: If the only measurement is on launch day, with the website empty of content and without traffic.

17. Who is actually going to work on my project?

Expected answer: Names, roles, and what part is subcontracted. Subcontracting is not bad: hiding it is.

Red flag: A polished sales team and not a single name of who writes the code.

18. What does support include and what happens when it ends?

Expected answer: A defined period, with what it covers and what it doesn't. At Aura, we include 30 days of support after launch, and documentation designed so that your team can continue without us. Handover is a delivery, not a dependency.

Red flag: A mandatory maintenance fee without which the website stops working. That is not support: that is a key kept by someone else.

#PhaseWhat we doDeliverables
01ListenWe start by asking, not proposing.Interviews · Audit · Agreed brief
02DefineWe agree on what winning means before moving a pixel.Objectives · Scope · Success criteria
03MapStructure before surface.Architecture · Flows · Grid
04DesignTypographic rhythm and proportion, not decoration.System · Components · States
05BuildEvery commit reviewed, every deployment reproducible.Code · CI/CD · Testing
06Launch and accompanyLaunch is a checklist, not a leap of faith.Handover · Documentation · 30 days support
  • The price explicitly indicates "plus VAT" and the applicable rate
  • The assignment names the code, the design source files, and the documentation
  • The assignment indicates duration and territorial scope, to avoid falling into the five-year default
  • The domain and hosting are in your name
  • Success criteria are written and measurable
  • Support has a start date, end date, and scope
  • What you deliver and by what date is specified
  • It is stated who is responsible for accessibility and under what standard

What we do when we are asked these questions

We answer them in the first call, which lasts 30 minutes and costs nothing. We respond in less than 24 business hours. Brand and web in 6 to 12 weeks, digital products in 8-week phases, fixed price per phase agreed upon before starting. We accept a limited number of projects per year, so if we are not a fit, we tell you on that same call and save you the trouble of a quote.

A website is not bought: it is commissioned, reviewed, and received with the keys in hand. If the preliminary conversation cannot withstand eighteen specific questions, the project won't withstand three months either.

Does this way of working suit you? Tell us what you are facing.

Frequently asked questions

How many of these questions should I ask in the first meeting?

The six from the first block and the four from the second: scope, price, ownership, and keys. The rest can wait for the written proposal, but none can go unanswered before signing.

Is it normal for an agency to not want to give me access to the repository?

It is frequent, and it shouldn't be. Your access from day one does not interfere with the team's work and is the only way to know that the code exists and is progressing.

If the budget is €1,500, do I also have to demand all this?

Yes, and it costs the same: these are contract paragraphs, not hours of work. That price range is market-driven, not an Aura offer: our floor is €3,000 including VAT. What changes with the price range is the scope, not the ownership or transparency.

Can I ask that the Core Web Vitals be included in the contract?

You can, with two conditions: that they be measured with field data and that it be limited to the templates built by the studio. Nobody can guarantee the performance of a video you upload yourself in 2027.

What do I do if I already signed and didn't ask any of this?

Request in writing the assignment of rights and access to the accounts before the final payment, which is your only moment of real negotiation. If they refuse, at least you will know what you are buying.

Keep reading

Transparency note. Some of our own data in this guide is still being measured on real projects, with a single method. We will publish it with its sample size and date range once the sample is large enough; until then, every figure you see carries its source and date of consultation.

Sources

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