How to compare website quotes

Send the same brief to everyone

Describe what you sell, who buys it, the action the website needs to support and what is failing today. Include the required pages, forms and connections. Say whether your text and photos are ready.

Tell providers your constraints: a launch event, an existing booking system, team members who need to update the site, or content that must be preserved. Ask them to identify assumptions in their quote. An assumption you never discuss can become a charge later.

Get specific about what is included

• Writing: new copy, editing your draft, or placing text you supply?
• Design: a template, customised layouts, or fully bespoke design?
• Content entry: how many pages, products or projects will be added?
• Forms and integrations: which exact systems will connect, and who tests them?
• Revisions: how many rounds, what counts as a round, and when must feedback arrive?
• Launch and migration: who handles old URLs, analytics, domain changes and launch checks?
• Handover: which accounts, training and documentation will you receive?

Terms like ‘SEO included’ and ‘fully optimised’ need a list of deliverables. Ask what the provider will actually check or configure and what evidence you will receive. A phrase is not an acceptance criterion.

Agree how you will accept the work

Replace ‘looks good’ with a short test plan. For example: the enquiry form arrives in the right inbox, required pages work on a phone, the team can edit a project and important old addresses reach the right new pages.

Ask who fixes issues found during this review and how long the post-launch correction period lasts. Keep new requests separate from faults in the agreed work. That distinction protects both sides from a vague finish line.

Compare support and the exit

Ask what happens if the provider becomes unavailable or you choose to move. Can you access the domain, export content and obtain a backup? Are there licence restrictions or platform limitations? Get the answers in writing.

A managed platform can be a good choice if its limits fit your needs. A custom build can also be a good choice if you have someone to maintain it. The decision is which responsibilities you want to own and which you are paying someone else to handle.

Make the final comparison

List the same time period and currency for each quote, then add the recurring charges and known extras. Keep a separate list of unanswered scope questions. The cheapest calculated total is not automatically the best offer.

Choose the provider whose scope, examples, communication and support give you confidence they can deliver the outcome. Before paying a deposit, confirm the final deliverables, schedule and payment milestones in the agreement.