The short answer
Choose the company that can show you finished work you can check, tell you in writing who will build your site, and hand over the code, domain and accounts in your name. Everything else is secondary. A good-looking portfolio and a low price tell you very little. Written scope, named people and clear ownership tell you a lot.
Below is a checklist you can use on any agency, including us. If you want the price side first, read what a website costs in Dubai. This post is about picking the team.
What should you check before you shortlist a company?
Start with proof, because it is the fastest filter.
Can you verify the portfolio?
Open the live sites, not the screenshots. Check them on your phone, on a slow connection and in Arabic if they claim Arabic work. Ask which part of each site the agency built. Agencies sometimes show a project where they only did the logo or one landing page.
Who actually does the work?
Ask for the names and roles of the people who will build your site. Some agencies sell the project with senior people and hand it to juniors or to a subcontractor you never meet. Subcontracting is not always wrong, but you should be told. If an agency will not say who builds, treat that as a no.
Is the scope and price in writing?
You want a document that lists the pages, the unique layouts, the integrations, the languages, what is excluded and what each payment is for. A vague quote becomes extras later. We cover how to compare quotes line by line in our website cost guide.
Who owns the code, domain and accounts?
You should. The domain should be registered in your name, hosting and analytics accounts should be yours, and the code should be handed over at the end. If an agency keeps the domain or the hosting login "for convenience", you are renting your own website.
Does the agency handle Arabic and right-to-left properly?
If your customers read Arabic, this is where many agencies fall short. Arabic reads right to left, so the whole layout has to be mirrored, not just the text. Menus, forms, spacing, icons and number formats need checking in both directions. Fonts must work well in both scripts.
Ask to see a live bilingual site and switch the language yourself. If you only need English at launch, ask whether the first build will let you add Arabic later without a rebuild. That is a design decision made on day one.
What about speed, mobile and SEO basics?
Many visitors will open your site on a phone, so test there first. A site that looks fine on a desktop can be slow and awkward on mobile.
Ask the agency how they check performance, and ask for a free tool such as Google's PageSpeed Insights to be run on their own portfolio sites while you watch. For SEO, you do not need promises of rankings. You need the basics built in: proper page titles, one clear heading per page, a sitemap, clean URLs, image descriptions and Search Console set up. Anyone who guarantees a number one position is selling something they do not control.
What happens after launch?
Ask what support is included, for how long and what it covers. "Support" can mean anything from fixing bugs they introduced to full monthly maintenance. Get it written down. Also ask what happens if the person who built your site leaves the agency, and whether the documentation is good enough for another developer to take over.
Questions to ask, and what to listen for
| Question to ask | Good answer | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Who will build my site? | Names and roles, and whether any work is subcontracted | "Our team will take care of it" |
| Can I call a past client? | Yes, with contact details you can use | Only written testimonials, or "we can't share clients" |
| What is in the quote, and what is not? | A written list with exclusions | A single lump sum with no breakdown |
| How do payments work? | Milestones tied to progress | Everything upfront, or most of it before any work is shown |
| Who owns the code, domain and accounts? | You, from day one | The agency holds the domain or hosting login |
| How do you handle Arabic? | Mirrored layouts, tested in both directions, live example | Translated text pasted into an English layout |
| What happens after launch? | A stated fix period and clear terms for further work | "We will always be here for you" with nothing in writing |
| How will you keep it fast on mobile? | A named process and a test you can watch | "Our sites are always fast" |
Not sure about price yet?
If you are still working out what the project should cost, start with what a website costs in Dubai. It lists the factors that move a quote and how to compare two quotes fairly.
What are the red flags?
- Pressure to pay everything upfront, or a large first payment before you have seen any work.
- Refusing to name who builds your site.
- No written scope, or a scope that changes when you ask a question.
- The agency keeps control of your domain, hosting or code.
- Guaranteed rankings or guaranteed traffic.
- A portfolio of templates with different logos on them, shown as custom work.
- No reference you can speak to.
- A quote far below the others with no explanation of what was removed.
One red flag may be a poor sales process. Three means walk away.
Local agency or offshore agency: what is the trade-off?
A Dubai-based agency can meet you in person, knows local business habits and shares your weekend. That matters for some projects, especially if you want to review designs face to face. You usually pay for that office and that location in the price.
We are an Indian agency, based in Noida. The honest case for us is a senior team and prices set for the UAE market in AED. We are open Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 21:00 IST, which is 07:30 to 19:30 Dubai time, so your whole working day is covered. Every message gets a reply within 12 hours, and calls happen on your schedule.
The honest case against us is that we are not in the room. If you want weekly in-person meetings, or you prefer a company with a local office and trade licence you can visit, a local agency is the better fit. For more on how the offshore model works in practice, read how to hire an offshore development team. For what we build for Emirates clients, see our web development company in Dubai page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a web development company in Dubai?
Verify the portfolio by opening live sites, ask who will build yours, get the scope and price in writing and confirm you will own the code, domain and accounts. Then call a past client. If an agency avoids any of these steps, move on.
What should I look for in a web development agency in the UAE?
Look for proof you can verify, named people, a written scope, milestone payments, working Arabic and right-to-left support if you need it, and clear after-launch terms. Fast mobile pages and SEO basics should be part of the build, not extras.
Should I pick a Dubai agency or an offshore one?
It depends on how you like to work. A local agency suits you if you want regular in-person meetings. An offshore agency can suit you if you want senior people and a price set for the market. Check working hours overlap before you decide. Ours cover 07:30 to 19:30 Dubai time.
Is it safe to pay a web agency upfront?
Paying everything upfront is a red flag. A fairer structure ties payments to milestones you can see, such as design approval and launch. A small first payment to start is normal. A large one before any work is shown is not.
Do I need an Arabic website?
If your customers search and read in Arabic, yes, it can bring enquiries you would otherwise miss. If most enquiries come in English, you can launch in English and add Arabic later, as long as the first build is made so that it can be added.
What should be in a web development contract?
The list of pages and features, what is excluded, the price and payment milestones, the timeline, who owns the code, domain and accounts, and what support follows launch. If it is not written, treat it as not promised.
Talk to us
If you would like to put these questions to us, book a call or email hello@astrafolio.com. We work Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 21:00 IST, which is 07:30 to 19:30 Dubai time, and every message gets a reply within 12 hours.
Next step
Want this working in your business?
A 30-minute call is enough for us to tell you what would move the needle first, what it costs and how long it takes.
Book a discovery call