What a website demo should prove before you pay for anything
Anyone can show you a portfolio. A demo is different: it's your business's site, working, before money moves. Here's how to judge one in ten minutes.
It has your name on it, not lorem ipsum
A template with placeholder text proves the template exists. A demo worth judging carries your business's name, your services, your town. If the builder couldn't be bothered to learn what you do before pitching you, that's the level of attention you'll get after paying too.
It works on your phone, on your data
Don't judge a demo on the designer's laptop in a coffee shop with good wifi. Open it on your own phone, on your own mobile data, where your clients live. Slow there is slow, whatever the pitch says.
The speed claim comes with a way to check it
Any demo can be called fast. A serious one invites you to measure: run Lighthouse in your browser, watch the load with your own eyes, compare it against your current site side by side. If the builder never mentions measurement, assume the numbers don't flatter them.
The next step is obvious on every page
Click around the demo as if you were a client: is it always clear how to contact the business, and does the contact route match how your clients behave. For South African practices that means messaging, not just a contact form three menus deep.
The walk-away is free
The promise that separates a pitch from proof: if you say no, it costs you nothing and the demo is deleted. No deposit at risk, no awkward unwinding, no invoice for "concept work." A builder confident enough to work first and be judged doesn't need to trap you. That confidence is itself the strongest signal in the whole exercise.
Try the test on us
This is how we pitch, so run the checklist against a demo of your own site: we build it first, you judge it on your phone, and no means delete, free.