Interviewing Web Designers

I'm interviewing a few Web professionals to update my website. Does anyone have recommendations on questions to ask?

I would definitely ask the following questions:

1. Is the website something you can update yourself (if you want to)? While a great design is great, do you want to have to pay to have it updated every time you add a new product or want to add something to your blog or events calendar, or whatever you plan on having on your site?
2. Can you transfer the site to a new hosting provider if you aren't happy with the service? I know of designers who insist you use their hosting but sometimes don't really have enough servers to give a good level of service. You should be able to take your site elsewhere without having to pay for a total redesign.
3. What do they know about Search Engine Optimization? There is no point to having a website if no-one knows about it. Competition is fierce to get listed in Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. Unless your designer understands how to get you showing up in search engine results, you won't find that your site gets you many new customers. I've found a lot of designers think they understand search engines, but really they don't. Ask them about customers that they have moved the needle for.

Hope this helps!

I'd also ask for examples of other sites that they have designed.  It's amazing what you can tell by looking at the work that they've done for other people's sites.  It's sort of the Web way of checking references!  You might also want to talk to one or two of those past customers to see what their experiences were like with the designer. 

I agree with #1 how much are updates going to cost you? if it is just a case of adding new product and SEO then the hosting packages here allow for you do do it yourself.

If tunrnover allows, by all means pay for each change/update but bear the cost in mind

above refers to #1 in Sian Simon's post

Ask if they will deploy your site using a CMS such as Drupal or Joomla and if they will train you on how to maintain or add your own content in the future. In that way you are not dependent on the Designer for every little tweek.