How to check a designer's past sites actually perform

A designer's portfolio can look polished whether the sites behind it actually earn their keep or sit idle. Too often, businesses hire on the strength of visual appeal, only to launch into crickets: no traffic, no leads, no conversions. By the time they realise the problem, they've lost months and thousands of rand. The fix starts before you sign—by checking whether the sites a designer shows you are genuinely live, measurable, and performing.

Search for the sites in Google

Start here: type the designer's portfolio projects into Google search. A live, indexed site should appear in results. If it doesn't, ask why. Sometimes a site is new and hasn't been crawled yet, but if multiple portfolio pieces vanish from Google, that's a red flag. A designer who doesn't ensure their own work ranks should raise immediate questions about their commitment to SEO. You're not looking for page-one dominance for every project—you're looking for evidence that the sites exist and are discoverable. Check the Google cache too. Go to `cache:website-url.co.za` to see when Google last indexed each one. If the cache is stale (months or years old), the site may be abandoned or no longer live.

Request traffic and conversion proof

Ask the designer for screenshots of live analytics—Google Analytics, or another tracking tool—showing real visitor numbers, where traffic comes from, and what visitors do on the site. A credible designer will have client permission to share anonymised performance data or will give you a reference contact to verify directly. Don't accept a sales story; ask for the numbers. What matters depends on the site's goal: an e-commerce site should show order volume or revenue per visit; a lead-generation site should show form submissions or qualified inquiries; a content site should show engagement (time on page, return visitors). If the designer balks at sharing any metric, they either don't track results or aren't confident in them. Either way, that's a reason to look elsewhere.

Phone three client references and ask specific questions

Get contact details for at least three past clients—ideally ones whose business mirrors yours or whose site goals align. When you call, don't ask generic "were you happy?" questions. Instead, ask: Did the site go live on time and on budget? Since launch, has it generated leads, sales, or the traffic the designer promised? Has the site been easy to update, or do you need the designer for every small change? Would you hire them again, and if so, for what? Equally, ask whether they'd caution against it: "What would you do differently if you could start over?" A client who hesitates or gives vague answers may have had a poor experience but feels uncomfortable criticising. A client who speaks clearly—and admits trade-offs—is usually honest. Record their answers or take detailed notes so you can compare themes across all three calls.

Check the site's technical health yourself

Once you've identified a promising designer, spend ten minutes auditing one of their live portfolio sites using free tools. Use Google PageSpeed Insights (paste the URL) to see performance scores on mobile and desktop. Visit the site on your phone and tap around—does it load smoothly, or does it stall? Hover over images to check if they're properly optimised or bloated. Right-click and inspect the code (select "Inspect" in your browser) to see whether it's clean or cluttered with redundant scripts. You don't need to understand code, but sloppy, slow sites hint at poor craftsmanship. A site that ranks, loads fast, and feels responsive to user input suggests a designer who thinks beyond aesthetics.

These checks take a few hours total and can save you from hiring someone whose portfolio is all surface. When you've gathered evidence—live rankings, real performance metrics, honest references, and sound technical fundamentals—you'll have confidence that a designer can deliver a site that works, not just one that looks good. On Strove, verified web designers have ratings and reviews from real clients; use those alongside your own digging to narrow your shortlist before committing.