Business websites: a guide to getting quotes
Plan your business website before requesting quotes: define scope, cost drivers, SEO needs and handover terms, with a checklist for comparing proposals.
The first decision in a business website project is what the site should do for your company. Explaining a service, generating qualified enquiries and supporting existing customers require different pages and functions. Send agencies the same brief so you can compare price, scope and delivery responsibilities together.
Start with the visitor’s task
For example, a visitor to an industrial equipment supplier may need technical specifications and service coverage before requesting a quote. That scenario calls for a product page, downloadable specifications and an enquiry form that identifies the product. A consultancy may instead need to explain who its service is for, how the engagement works and how to arrange an initial conversation. These are illustrative planning scenarios.
Write the main goal in one sentence, then list what visitors need to know before they can decide. Use those information needs to determine the pages, rather than taking a page count from a design you happen to like.
What changes the cost of a website?
Page count alone does not determine website cost. Original design, copywriting, photography and video preparation, languages, product migration, content management and connections to other systems all affect scope. A brochure site built with supplied copy is a different deliverable from a site that sends enquiries into a sales system.
Request the one-off project fee separately from domain, hosting, licensing, maintenance and content update costs. Record the assumptions behind the quote and how scope changes will be priced. With a fixed budget, complete the essential visitor journey first and schedule additional functions for a later phase.
Make SEO a set of specific deliverables
The phrase “SEO friendly” leaves too much undefined. Clarify responsibility for a useful page per service, distinct titles and descriptions, crawlable links, mobile usability checks and the sitemap. For a redesign, include redirects from old addresses to their new equivalents.
Content should answer real customer questions about service scope, suitability, process and the information needed for a quote. Google’s starter guide recommends helpful content and an understandable site structure. Technical preparation and content work support discoverability; they do not guarantee a ranking or an indexing date.
Compare proposals with one checklist
Take these questions into the proposal meeting. Record exclusions as well as inclusions so the handover can be checked against a shared document.
- Are pages, languages and form journeys listed? Who supplies the copy and imagery?
- Are design approval, revision scope and the cost of additional requests defined?
- How will mobile layout, keyboard use, links and actual enquiry delivery be checked?
- Who will control the domain, hosting, source files and administrator accounts?
- Are post-launch fixes, updates, backups and support responsibilities documented?
Prepare a short brief for the first meeting
Begin with: “Our business provides this service; we want these customers to visit and complete this action.” Add your current URL, service list, target languages, content readiness, systems to connect and any firm deadline. Sharing a budget range helps establish a feasible first scope.
After launch, look beyond visitor counts. Review whether enquiries match the service and which questions customers keep asking. That feedback can reveal which page needs a clearer explanation.
A useful proposal explains what will work at handover.SHIBAGENCY
Source and further reading
Define the scope for your business
Explore the service scope, then share your current situation, the outcome you need and any target date to begin.
