How to choose a web developer in Lebanon: 10 questions to ask
SummaryYou are about to pay someone between $500 and $5,000 for a thing you cannot inspect yourself. In Lebanon that someone might be a student, a freelancer, a small agency in Beirut or a company that mostly serves the Gulf. They all say the same words: modern, responsive, professional.
You do not need to learn code to choose well. You need 10 questions and an ear for specific answers. A good developer answers with numbers, names and links. A bad one answers with adjectives.
I am a web developer in Lebanon, so I am not neutral. That is why I put my own answers in a short section near the end. Judge them with the same 10 questions.
1. What is the full price, before you start?
Ask for one number, in writing, tied to a list of what you get: how many pages, which features, which languages. If the answer is an hourly rate, ask for a cap. If the answer is "it depends", ask what it depends on and get a number for each case.
A good answer sounds like: "5 pages, a booking calendar, Arabic and English, $X. Half now, half before launch."
A weak answer sounds like: "Let's start and see how it goes."
The price is the easiest thing to fix before work starts and the hardest thing to fix after.
2. When will it be live, and what happens in between?
A date is not enough. Ask what you will see, and when. A design to review on a set day. A working site to click through on another. A launch date.
For a normal business site, the Lebanese guides I read quote 2 to 4 weeks, and one says 1 to 2 weeks once your content is ready. Agencies with a longer process plan for 7 weeks or more. None of those is wrong. What is wrong is a timeline with no checkpoints, because then "almost done" can last for months.
A good answer sounds like: "Day 1 you brief me, day 3 you see the design, day 7 you are live."
3. Who actually builds it?
In an agency, the person you meet is often not the person who builds your site. With a freelancer, the work is sometimes passed to someone else. Ask for the name of the person who will open the code editor.
Ask what it will be built on, too. One Lebanese guide notes that freelancers in the $500 to $1,500 range usually deliver a template on WordPress. That is fine if you know it and the price matches. It is not fine if you were told "custom design".
A good answer is a name and a method. "I design it and I build it. It is a custom design, not a template."
4. Who answers after launch, and what does that cost?
Every site breaks at some point. A form stops sending. A photo will not upload. The domain expires. Ask who you message when that happens, how you reach them, and the price.
A good answer has three parts: a person, a channel and a number. "Me, on the same WhatsApp, and small edits are inside a care plan from $40/month."
A weak answer is "email support" with no name, or "our team will get back to you", or silence.
5. Whose name is on the domain, and who holds the files?
This is the question most people skip, and it is the one that hurts most later. Your domain is your address. If it is registered under the developer's account, you do not own it. If the site sits on their hosting with no export, you cannot leave.
Ask three things. Is the domain in my name, with my login? Can I get the files or an export of the site? If I stop paying you, does the site stay up?
A good answer is: "Yes, yes and yes. The site, the domain and the content are yours."
6. Have you tested it on a phone, on mobile data?
Google states that it uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking. In other words, Google looks at your site the way a phone sees it. Google's own research also found that 53% of mobile visitors leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
In Lebanon, StatCounter put mobile at about 47% of web traffic in September 2026, so roughly half of your visitors are on a phone. And anyone who taps through from Instagram is on a phone every time.
Ask the developer to open a site they built on their own phone, in front of you, on 4G. Not on the office Wi-Fi.
7. How will a customer reach me from the site?
A website that brings customers has one clear button. Call, WhatsApp, book or order. Pick the main one and it should be on every page, within one tap.
Ask what happens when a visitor taps it. Does WhatsApp open with your number and a prepared message? Does the form send to an address you check? Does the booking land on a calendar you look at?
A good answer walks you through the tap, step by step. A weak answer is "we can add a contact page".
8. What SEO basics are included?
Nobody can promise you a Google ranking. Walk away from anyone who does. What a developer can promise is the basics that let Google find you: a title and description on every page, headings that say what the page is about, a site map, a page that loads in a few seconds, and your business name, location and phone number written as text, not hidden in an image.
Ask which of those are included in the price. With me, basic SEO is in every package. Ongoing SEO, with new content each month, is a separate monthly plan, and it should be with anyone.
9. Can I open 3 sites you built, right now?
Not screenshots. Not mockups. Live links, in a browser, on your phone. Then tap around. Does the menu work? Does the WhatsApp button open WhatsApp? How long does the home page take to show up?
A developer with real work will send you links in a minute. One without will send you a PDF.
10. What happens when I want changes?
Two kinds of change. During the build, you will see a design and want things moved. Ask when that review happens and how many rounds are included. After launch, you will want to change a price or add a photo. Ask what one small edit costs, or whether it is inside a monthly plan.
A good answer gives both. "You see the design on day 3 and tell me what to change. After launch, edits are inside Care from $40/month."
What good answers have in common
Go back over the 10. Every good answer had a number, a name or a link in it. $890. Day 3. My name. thenestfaqra.com. The weak answers had words you cannot check: soon, professional, our team, depends.
That is the whole test. Numbers, names and links can be checked. Adjectives cannot.
My answers to the 10 questions
So you can hold me to the same standard:
- Price: fixed, agreed before I start. Landing page from $390, business website from $890, online store from $990. 50% upfront, 50% before launch, in USD.
- Timeline: 7 days. Day 1 you brief me, day 3 you see the design, day 7 you are live.
- Who builds it: I do. One person designs and builds, start to finish.
- After launch: me, on the same WhatsApp. Care plan from $40/month covers hosting, backups, security and edits.
- Ownership: the site, the domain and the content are yours.
- Mobile: every site is mobile-ready and I test it on a phone before launch.
- Contact flow: WhatsApp integration is in every package.
- SEO: basic SEO is in every package. Growth plan from $300/month if you want ongoing work.
- Live examples: karlrouhana.com, with the real domains in the browser bar.
- Changes: you review the design on day 3. After launch, edits are inside Care.
Domain and third-party fees are not included, and I say so before you pay.
Red flags
Some things end the conversation for me, and they should for you.
- No price in writing before the first payment
- A promise of a specific Google ranking
- The domain registered in their name "to make it easier"
- No live site you can open on your phone
- A monthly fee you cannot cancel without losing the site
- "Our team" with no person attached
- A timeline with no dates
- A quote that does not mention the domain or third-party fees at all
One of these is a question to ask. Three of these is a different developer.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a website developer in Lebanon?
Ask the 10 questions above and listen for numbers, names and links. Then open 3 sites they built on your phone. If the price is fixed, the timeline has dates, the domain will be in your name and a named person answers after launch, you have found a good one.
Freelancer or agency, which is better for a small business?
For a shop, clinic, restaurant or service business, a single developer who designs and builds usually gets you live sooner and for less, because there are no layers. An agency makes sense when you need a team: a brand, a campaign, a large platform. The Lebanese guides I read put freelancers at roughly $250 to $1,500 for a business site and small agencies at $2,000 to $5,000.
Should the developer be in Lebanon?
It helps. They know that customers in Lebanon message on WhatsApp before they fill a form, that Arabic runs right to left, that cash on delivery still matters for stores, and which payment gateways actually work here. They are also in your time zone when something breaks.
How much should I pay upfront?
Half is normal. I take 50% upfront and 50% before launch. Be careful with 100% upfront from someone with no live work, and with 0% upfront, which usually means the price is not fixed.
What if I already have a website?
Ask the same 10 questions about a redesign. Ask especially who owns the current domain and whether the old content can be moved across. I redo old sites at the same prices and keep what already works.