A website quote is only as good as the brief behind it. If you send one sentence, you will get a rough guess, and the quotes you receive will not be comparable. Before you contact an agency, a freelancer or us, prepare the twelve points below. It takes an hour or two and it saves weeks of back-and-forth.

What should I prepare before asking for a website quote?

Prepare these points, in this order: what the company does, what the website must achieve, who it is for, which pages and features you need, what content exists, which languages you need, what you already own (domain, logo, site), where the site will run, who decides, your timing, your budget range if you have one, and how you will measure success. Each one is explained below.

1. What does your company do, and who do you sell to?

Write two or three sentences, as if for a person who has never heard of you. Include what you sell, who buys it and in which markets. This is the base for the structure of the site, and the agency cannot guess it.

2. What must the website achieve?

Pick one to three goals, and put them in order. For example: get quote requests, explain a product range, support existing customers, recruit, or replace an outdated site. A site that tries to do everything usually does nothing well. Say which goal wins when two of them conflict.

3. Who is it for?

Describe the two or three kinds of visitor you care about most: for instance an owner who buys, a technical person who checks details, or an existing customer who needs help. Say what each of them wants to know before they contact you.

4. Which pages and features do you need?

List the pages you expect, even roughly: home, about, services or products, contact, news. Then list the features: a contact form, a quote form, a product catalogue, online booking, a blog, an online shop, a client area. If you are not sure, say so, and ask the provider to propose a structure. A small page count with a clear purpose is a good start.

5. What content exists, and who writes the rest?

Content is the part of a website project that causes the most delay. Decide early:

Which texts, photos and documents you already have, and whether they are current.
Who will write the missing texts: you, the provider, or a copywriter. Ask whether copywriting is included in the quote or priced separately.
Who provides the photos, and whether you have the right to use them on the web.

6. Which languages does the site need?

Say which languages you need now and which you may add later. A multilingual site needs a plan for its structure and its addresses from the start, because adding a language later can be harder than planning for it. Say who will provide or check the translations.

7. What do you already own?

Gather the facts and put them in the brief:

Your domain name, who registered it, and who has the login.
Your logo and brand colours, in a usable file format.
Your current website, if any: its address, who built it, where it runs and who holds the access.
Your business email setup, because changes to domain settings can affect email delivery.

8. Where will the website run?

Decide whether the provider hosts the site, whether it runs on your own server, or whether you want a mix. If your company has an IT policy, share it. Our article on hosting your website on your own server or your agency's server explains the trade-offs, and our hosting and deployment page describes the options we offer.

9. Who decides, and who reviews?

Name one person who gives final approval and the people who must be consulted. Projects stall when feedback arrives from six people at six different times, in contradictory form. Agree how many rounds of design feedback the quote includes.

10. What is your timing?

Give a date if something depends on it, such as a trade fair, a product launch or the end of a contract with the current provider, and say whether the date is fixed or only a wish. Do not invent a deadline to sound urgent. A realistic date gets a more honest answer.

11. What is your budget range?

You do not have to state one, but if you have a limit, say it. A provider can then propose what fits, instead of quoting a scope that you cannot afford. If you want to compare options, ask each provider for the same scope, so that the prices can be compared.

12. How will you measure success?

Choose a few simple measures before the project starts, for example the number of quote requests, enquiries from a particular market, or fewer support questions. Ask what the provider sets up so that you can see them: analytics, Search Console, form tracking.

What should I ask the agency in return?

A quote is a two-way conversation. These questions show the difference between providers:

Ownership: who owns the domain, the content, the design and the files when the project is paid in full?
Scope: what is included, what is optional and what is priced separately, such as copywriting, extra pages, translations, photography?
Search and AI visibility: what is set up for titles, structure, structured data, the sitemap and redirects from your old addresses? Be wary of promises of a ranking or of AI citations.
Hosting and backups: where does the site run, how often is it saved, and for how long are the copies kept?
After launch: who does updates and fixes, what does it cost, and what happens if you stop?
Moving the site: can you take it to another provider, and what would you receive to do so?

Which fields does our quote form ask for?

If you ask us, the quote form asks for your name, company, email, what your company does and who you sell to, and optionally your phone number, your current website, your goals, languages, the number of pages, the features you need, a hosting preference, your budget range, your timing and notes. Most of this checklist fits in those fields. We aim to reply within two working days, with questions or a written quotation. We quote a fixed price per project, after discovery, and we do not publish prices.

Is a website agency the right choice for you?

Not always. A website builder or a freelancer can be the better choice for a small, simple site. Our page on the ways to get a website compares the four common options fairly, including when each one fits. If you want to see how a project runs from first call to launch, read how we build.

Checklist Before You Ask an Agency for a Quote