Should Your Web Designer Handle SEO and Hosting Too?
Should the team building your website also do SEO, hosting and domains? What to expect in scope, what to insist on, and where one team beats juggling five suppliers.
The short version
- A website that isn't set up to be found is only half a website. Basic SEO groundwork should be part of any professional build.
- Full ongoing SEO is a separate service — but the foundations (speed, structure, tags, mobile) belong in the design job, not as an upsell.
- You don't have to host with your designer, but they should set up or advise on hosting so the site is fast and stable.
- Owning your own domain and accounts is non-negotiable. A good team sets them up in your name, never locks you out.
When you hire someone to build a website, it’s easy to assume “website” covers everything — the design, being found on Google, hosting, the domain, all of it. Sometimes it does. Often it doesn’t. And the gaps are where people get caught out, either paying for surprises or ending up with a site nobody can find.
Here’s what should be included, what’s fair to charge extra for, and the one thing you must never compromise on.
Should your web designer handle SEO?
Yes — the foundations. Any professional build should include the SEO groundwork that lets a site be found: fast loading, clean page structure, mobile-friendly design, and proper page titles and descriptions. Google’s own SEO Starter Guide treats these as basic site health, not extras.
What’s not automatically included is ongoing SEO — the continuing work of ranking for keywords, publishing content, building local presence and earning links over months. That’s a separate service, and it’s fair for it to cost extra. The line to hold is simple: foundations belong in the build; growth is an ongoing choice.
Watch for the opposite trick, too — a cheap site that skips the foundations entirely, then sells you “SEO” later to fix problems that shouldn’t exist. A good build is set up to be found from day one.
SEO groundwork vs ongoing SEO
| SEO groundwork (in the build) | Ongoing SEO (separate service) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Technical + on-page setup | Continuing growth work |
| Includes | Speed, structure, mobile, titles, meta, sitemap | Content, keywords, local SEO, links, AI search |
| When | Once, during the build | Every month after launch |
| Should it cost extra? | No — part of a professional build | Yes — it’s ongoing work |
These days the foundations also cover being readable by AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Google’s AI overviews. The same clean structure that helps Google helps AI cite and recommend you — which is exactly the angle our SEO service is built around.
What about hosting?
Hosting is where your website lives. You don’t have to host with the company that builds your site, but your designer should either set it up for you on reliable hosting or advise you on a good option, because slow or shaky hosting undoes fast design.
The important part isn’t who hosts it. It’s that the hosting account is in your name, with you holding the login. Some designers keep hosting in their own account as a way to lock clients in. That’s a problem the day you want to move.
Domains: this one is non-negotiable
Your domain name (yourbusiness.com.au) is your address on the internet, and it must be yours. A good team registers it in your name through a proper registrar and hands you full control.
If a web designer registers your domain in their account and won’t give you access, walk away. We’ve seen businesses effectively held hostage over their own domain at renewal time. It’s the clearest red flag when hiring there is.
Why one team is usually easier
You can run five suppliers — one for design, one for development, one for hosting, one for the domain, one for SEO. Plenty of businesses do, and spend half their time being told “that’s not our part.”
The alternative is one team that handles the build, sets up hosting and domain in your name, bakes in the SEO foundations, and offers ongoing SEO if and when you want it. When we built Castle Hill Speech & OT, we handled the site, the setup and the ongoing care, so the practice had one number to call, not a supplier merry-go-round. That’s the model at 61WEB: design and SEO under one roof, with you owning everything.
What to ask before you sign
Put these questions to any web designer before you commit:
- Is basic SEO setup included, or extra?
- Who writes the page titles and descriptions?
- Do you set up hosting, and is the account in my name?
- Is the domain registered in my name, with my access?
- Do you offer ongoing SEO, and what does it cost?
Clear answers mean a clear scope. Vague ones mean surprises later.
If you’d rather not juggle it all, tell us what you’re after and we’ll lay out exactly what’s in the build, what’s ongoing, and what stays firmly in your name.
Frequently asked questions
Should my web designer do SEO?
Your web designer should build the SEO foundations into the site — fast loading, clean structure, mobile-friendly pages, proper titles and tags. That's part of a professional build. Ongoing SEO to rank and grow traffic is usually a separate, continuing service you opt into.
What's the difference between SEO groundwork and ongoing SEO?
SEO groundwork is the technical setup done during the build so the site can be found: speed, structure, mobile, page titles and descriptions. Ongoing SEO is the continuing work after launch — content, keywords, local search and links — that actually climbs the rankings over time.
Do I have to host my website with the company that builds it?
No. You can host anywhere, but your designer should either set up reliable hosting for you or advise on it, because hosting affects speed and stability. What matters is that the hosting account is in your name and you're never locked out of it.
Who should own my domain name and hosting accounts?
You should. A good web team registers your domain and sets up hosting in your name, then hands over full access. If a designer keeps these in their own account and won't give you control, that's a serious red flag.
Sources
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