How to Choose the Right Agency for Your Project: A Practical Checklist

Introduction

Choosing an agency is less about picking a famous name and more about picking a partner that fits your scope, constraints, and working style. This checklist helps you compare agencies consistently so you can make a confident choice based on evidence, not impressions.

Quick Answer

Choose an agency by defining success first, shortlisting 3 to 5 options, and scoring each one against the same criteria: relevant experience, a clear delivery process, inspectable proof of quality, realistic timelines and pricing, and verified trust through references plus third-party reviews. To reduce risk, start with a small paid discovery or pilot before committing to a full engagement.

1) Define success before you talk to agencies

Write down what a win looks like so every vendor is evaluated against the same target.

Include:

• Outcome: what changes when the project is done
• Audience: who the work must persuade or serve
• Constraints: timeline, budget range, approvals, compliance
• Non negotiables: brand standards, accessibility, performance, tooling
• Deliverables: what you expect to receive and in what format

Questions to ask yourselves:

• What does “done” look like in one sentence?
• What will improve measurably?
• What would make this project a clear miss?

2) Match the agency to the exact work you need

Many agencies can do adjacent work. You want overlap with your real problem and deliverables.

Look for:

• Similar project type (web, ecommerce, brand, SEO, video, product UX)
• Similar stage (early stage vs multi stakeholder orgs)
• Similar complexity (integrations, CMS, localization, governance)
• Similar quality bar (systems, accessibility, performance, content rigor)

Questions to ask:

• What 2 to 3 projects are most comparable to ours?
• What constraints made those projects hard?
• What tradeoffs did you make and why?

3) Evaluate the process, not just the portfolio

A strong process usually predicts a strong outcome.

Ask how they handle:

• Discovery: turning goals into requirements and priorities
• Planning: milestones, dependencies, and scope control
• Collaboration: feedback intake, decisions, and approvals
• QA: testing, bug tracking, acceptance criteria
• Launch and handoff: training, documentation, support

Questions to ask:

• What are your milestones and what do you deliver at each one?
• How do you handle conflicting stakeholder feedback?
• What does “ready to launch” mean in your workflow?

4) Request proof you can inspect

Portfolios are necessary, but not sufficient. Ask for artifacts that show how they deliver.

Examples:

• A sample timeline or project plan
• A redacted discovery summary or brief template
• A design system snapshot (components, rules, usage)
• A QA checklist (accessibility, responsiveness, performance, browsers)
• A reporting template (SEO, analytics, campaign measurement)

Questions to ask:

• What does a good handoff look like to you?
• What documentation do clients actually receive?
• How do you prevent quality slipping late in the schedule?

5) Use one scoring rubric across your shortlist

A rubric reduces bias and makes internal alignment easier.

Score each agency 1 to 5 on:

• Scope fit
• Relevant experience
• Process clarity
• Communication strength
• Quality evidence
• Timeline realism
• Budget clarity
• Risk management

Mini scoring template (copy and paste):

• Agency A: Scope __/5, Experience __/5, Process __/5, Comms __/5, Quality __/5, Timeline __/5, Budget __/5, Risk __/5. Notes: ____
• Agency B: Scope __/5, Experience __/5, Process __/5, Comms __/5, Quality __/5, Timeline __/5, Budget __/5, Risk __/5. Notes: ____
• Agency C: Scope __/5, Experience __/5, Process __/5, Comms __/5, Quality __/5, Timeline __/5, Budget __/5, Risk __/5. Notes: ____

6) Validate trust with references and third party signals

References and independent review platforms help confirm that what you were promised matches the working reality.

What to validate:

• Results for similar clients
• Consistency across projects
• How problems were handled (scope changes, delays, surprises)
• Whether deliverables remained usable after handoff

For third-party validation, you can review our services and client feedback on our GoodFirms profile, and you can also explore other providers on the GoodFirms for comparison.

Questions to ask references:

• What went wrong and how did the agency respond?
• Were scope and timelines managed well?
• Would you hire them again and why?

7) Reduce risk with a small paid discovery or pilot

If stakes are high, a pilot is often the fastest way to confirm fit.

Common options:

• Discovery sprint (requirements, roadmap, priorities)
• UX audit (issues, quick wins, prioritized fixes)
• Design concept sprint (1 to 2 key pages or flows)
• Technical feasibility review (architecture, CMS, integrations)

Questions to ask:

• What decisions will the pilot enable?
• What will we have in hand at the end?
• How does this translate into a full scope and timeline?

8) Confirm ownership, access, pricing, and handoff before signing

Misalignment here creates expensive friction later.

Confirm:

• Ownership of source files, accounts, and domains
• Admin access (Figma, analytics, CMS, ad accounts)
• Revision limits and what counts as a change request
• How changes are priced
• Post launch support window and response times

Questions to ask:

• What is explicitly in scope and explicitly out?
• How do you price changes?
• What does support look like after launch?

Final Tips

The fastest path to a confident choice is to define success in writing, compare agencies with one rubric, pressure test their process with specific questions, validate trust through references and third-party reviews, and use a small paid pilot when the cost of being wrong is high.