How to Choose a Web Design Agency for a Hispanic-Owned Business: 10 Questions
Written by the Dizayn team
Key takeaways
- The US has 65.2 million Hispanic residents (Census Bureau, July 2023): your agency needs to know how to reach them in their language.
- Google says it plainly: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking. If an agency promises one, walk away.
- Since October 21, 2024, the FTC rule bans buying or faking reviews. An agency that offers them puts your business at risk.
How do you choose a web design agency for a Hispanic-owned business?
Pick the one that can answer three things with facts: who writes your Spanish content, who owns the domain and accounts, and how you'll measure whether the site brings in customers. Price and design matter, but an agency that fails those three leaves you with a nice-looking site nobody finds.
This guide is for Hispanic-owned businesses selling in the United States. If you're looking for an SEO agency for the Mexican market, see how to choose an SEO agency in Mexico.
The 10 questions to ask before you hire
1. Who writes the Spanish?
Ask for the person's name and background. Machine-translated copy shows in the first line, and your customers notice before Google does. What you want to hear: "a native Spanish speaker writes it and someone else reviews it."
2. Who owns the domain?
It should be registered in your name, with your email, even if the agency helps you buy it. If you ever switch agencies, the domain is the one thing you can't replace without losing what you've built on Google.
3. Who owns the Google accounts?
Search Console, Analytics and your Google Business Profile are created under your account, and the agency is added as a user. Google explains that a Search Console owner can add and remove users at any time.
4. How do you build the bilingual site?
The right answer: English and Spanish pages, each with its own URL, linked with hreflang tags. Google requires that each version lists itself and all the others, or it ignores the tags. If they pitch an auto-translate button, that's a bad sign. More in our bilingual website guide.
5. What exactly does the price include?
Get it in writing: number of pages, languages, hosting, domain, post-launch changes and support. Two quotes with the same total can cover very different things.
6. Can I call two of your references?
A logo on their site isn't enough. Ask for contacts at two real clients and call them. Ask whether the project launched on time and whether the agency still answers.
7. How will you report to me?
A useful report shows Search Console data filtered by country and language, not just "visits." Ask how often it arrives and who walks you through it.
8. How do Spanish-speaking leads reach me?
The form, click-to-call button and WhatsApp need to work on both versions, and someone on your team needs to be able to reply in the language the customer used.
9. What hours do you answer?
If the agency is in another country, confirm how many business hours you share. A question answered the next day slows down the whole project.
10. What happens if I cancel?
The contract should say you get the files, accounts and domain at no extra cost. If it doesn't, ask for it before you sign.
Red flags before you sign
The clearest ones come from official sources. Google's page Do you need an SEO? lists what to watch for, and the FTC regulates reviews.
- They guarantee a #1 ranking or claim a "special relationship" with Google.
- They emailed you out of the blue with a generic offer.
- They won't explain what they change on your site.
- They offer five-star reviews or "review packages." Buying or faking reviews is banned under the FTC rule.
- The domain or the accounts end up in the agency's name.
- The Spanish site is a machine translation of the English one.
Freelancer, local agency, remote Latino-owned agency or nearshore Mexico?
Each option fits a different need. The real differences are the hourly rate, who writes the Spanish and how many working hours you share. According to Clutch, US agencies average $100-149 USD per hour and Mexican agencies $25-49 USD.
| Freelancer | Local US agency | Remote Latino-owned agency | Nearshore Mexico | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate | Varies widely | $100-149 USD (Clutch) | Depends on the country | $25-49 USD (Clutch) |
| Native Spanish | Depends on the person | Not always | Yes | Yes |
| Shared hours | Depends | Full | Depends on the country | Full or near-full |
| Design, SEO and content | Usually one of them | Yes | Varies | Yes |
| If something breaks | You depend on one person | Team, US contract | Team, check the contract | Team, English contract |
A freelancer works for a simple site. A local agency makes sense if you want in-person meetings. With a remote Latino-owned agency, check which country it's in and how many hours you share. For Mexico, Guadalajara is on UTC-6 all year, the same clock as Texas and Chicago in winter. If you're comparing costs, see what a Mexican agency charges.
What about Dizayn?
We're a small studio in Guadalajara building websites, SEO and GEO in native Spanish and in English. To be upfront: we don't have US clients yet. What we do have is Mexican cases with measurable data. Luvory, for example, grew from 1,431 to 12,542 impressions and improved its average position from 10.0 to 6.7 in Google Search Console between April and September 2026.
Sites cost $3,000 to $15,000 USD per project, with managed hosting included and the domain in your name. English contract, USD invoices.
If you want us to answer these 10 questions for your project, see our web design service for US businesses or get in touch.
FAQ
- Does it have to be a Hispanic agency to build a good Spanish site?
- Not necessarily, but someone with native Spanish has to write and review the copy. An English-only agency can hire a translator, but then ask who that person is, whether they know your customers, and who fixes it when a sentence sounds off.
- Is it OK if the agency wants full payment upfront?
- For website projects it's common to pay in stages: a deposit at signing and the rest when the design is approved and when the site launches. Paying 100% before you see anything leaves you no leverage if the project slips or misses what was agreed.
- What if my current agency has the domain in its name?
- Ask in writing for a transfer to an account of yours at a domain registrar. It's a routine process that shouldn't cost you more than the renewal. If they refuse or ask for a fee to release it, that's the best reason to switch agencies.
- Can I use Wix or Squarespace instead of an agency?
- For a simple starter site, yes, if you have the time to maintain it yourself. An agency makes sense when you need properly linked English and Spanish versions, local SEO across several cities, or a site that brings in leads you can measure.
- Does Dizayn have Hispanic clients in the US?
- Not yet. Our published cases are businesses in Mexico, such as Luvory, Studio Yume and Vexon. We work in native Spanish and in English, and we apply the same process and the same Search Console measurement with US clients.