A mockup tells you about taste, not results
A portfolio screenshot captures the day a project was handed over. It cannot tell you how the page opens on a weak mobile connection outside Tashkent, what happens after someone taps Submit, or whether the enquiry ever reaches a salesperson. Design matters, but it is only one part of a site that earns money.
So start with a simple rule: open the live websites, not the images. If a portfolio project is offline, has been rebuilt beyond recognition or looks abandoned, that tells you something about how the studio treats clients after delivery.
A practical test of the best web studios' own sites
Pick three or four projects and go through each as an ordinary customer would. Do it on your phone, on mobile data rather than office Wi-Fi.
- First screen: within a few seconds, can you tell what the company does and what it offers?
- Speed: does the page become usable quickly, or do you stare at a blank screen?
- Forms: send a test enquiry and ask where it landed, whether in a CRM, email or a Telegram chat.
- Consistency: do fonts, spacing, buttons and colours follow one system across pages?
- Languages: are the Uzbek and Russian versions equally polished, or is one an afterthought?
- Contact and payment buttons: do calls, Telegram links and Click or Payme redirects work without errors?
Match the format to the job, not to your ambition
A landing page does one thing: it collects enquiries for a specific offer, such as booking a service or ordering equipment. A corporate website explains who you are through services, projects and team, which matters in B2B where buyers compare several suppliers. An online store adds a catalogue, a cart and payment.
The best site is not the most complex one but the one that solves your current problem. A small shop in Tashkent may do very well with a landing page, an active Instagram profile and a Telegram bot taking orders. A wide catalogue needs a proper store, perhaps alongside listings on Uzum or OLX. Begin with the task, then choose the format.
What drives the price and the timeline
A price attached to a portfolio project is not your price. The cost is shaped by how much content you already have, the number of pages and languages, integrations with a CRM, payment systems and messengers, the complexity of the design and the number of approval rounds. That last factor often decides the timeline: slow feedback on the client side stretches a project more than development itself.
Compare what each quote contains, not only the total in sums. Does it include testing, analytics setup, training for your staff on the admin panel and fixes in the first weeks after launch? A cheap offer without those items frequently ends up costing more.
Questions to ask before you sign
A good studio welcomes direct questions. A weak one starts to dodge them. Ask these early:
- Who tests the site before release, and against what checklist?
- Is analytics with goal tracking live on launch day?
- Who owns the domain, hosting and source code?
- Who supports the project after handover, and how fast do they reply?
- Will you work with a project manager or directly with the people building the site?
- Which numbers will the studio report: enquiries, calls, search visibility?
Reading reviews without being misled
An overall star rating says very little. Look for reviews that name a concrete task, describe communication during the work and, above all, cover what happened after launch: did the studio keep answering once it had been paid?
The market in Tashkent is uneven, with freelancers, small teams and full-service agencies all competing. The real difference is rarely price. It is whether the contractor will report in numbers instead of impressions. Agree on metrics up front, such as cost per enquiry, form conversion and search visibility. Without basic analytics you cannot tell whether the website pays for itself.
How we approach it at markdev
At markdev we build websites end to end: structure and design, analytics, and integration of forms with the channels where you receive leads. We avoid promising what cannot be guaranteed and report results in plain metrics. If you want to test your selection criteria against a real project, tell us about your business and we will discuss the right format and the order of work.
FAQ
How can I check that a studio's portfolio site really works well?
Open it directly on your phone, judge the loading speed, click through the menu and submit a test enquiry. That shows real quality, not just a picture.
What matters more for a website, design or loading speed?
Both count, but a slow site loses visitors before they read anything, especially on mobile data. Attractive design does not make up for a long wait.
Do I need a full website if I already have Instagram?
Not always. Some businesses are fine with a landing page, Instagram and a Telegram bot. You need a site for search traffic, a catalogue, B2B trust or end-to-end analytics.
What should be included in the cost of a website?
Ask whether testing, analytics, admin-panel training and post-launch fixes are included. The contents of the quote matter more than the final figure.
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