Website Design: 8 Questions to Ask Before You Get a Quote

You described the same project to three agencies. One gave a reasonable price, one asked for three times that, and the third said "we price per project". Which quote is right? If you only look at the number, you are probably about to make the wrong call, because the three quotes are most likely pricing three different jobs. To compare proposals properly, get clear answers to these 8 questions first.

1. What problem will the site solve?

This is where most projects go wrong: you say "company website" and the agency hears a one-page landing page; you say "online sales" and they sketch a simple catalogue. Don't describe what you want, describe the problem you want to solve:

• Will you sell, or just present your business?
• Will visitors sign up, place orders or fill in forms?
• Does the site need to connect to an existing system (CRM, inventory, payments)?
• One language or several?

These answers directly shape the technical setup and the budget. If a proposal doesn't account for them, they come back later as extra costs.

2. What steps does the design process include?

"Design" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. A solid process usually covers discovery (audience, competitors, content map), wireframes (page structure and flow), visual design (colour, typography, imagery) and a clickable prototype. Some agencies skip the first two and jump straight to visuals, which means lots of changes later and a budget that runs away. Put the number of revision rounds per stage, and what a "revision" covers, in the contract.

3. Who is responsible for content?

This is the most common cause of delay: the design is ready, but the copy and photos aren't. Ask whether the agency handles copywriting, SEO-friendly content, photography or image editing, and whether that's included in the price. If content is on you, find out up front in what format and by when you need to deliver it.

4. Ready-made theme or custom build?

The answer shapes both the price and the site's future. Customising a ready-made theme is fast and economical, but deeper changes get harder. A custom build gives full control but takes more time. There are options in between. Whichever you choose, these answers should be clear:

• Who will own the source code and design files?
• Could you continue with a different team later if you wanted to?
• Are domain, hosting, SSL, email and backups included, and what do they cost per year?

5. How will mobile and speed be tested?

"Responsive" written in a proposal isn't enough. Does the design just shrink on mobile, or is there a layout made for small screens? Will page speed be measured with tools like PageSpeed? Are image compression, lazy loading and caching part of the job? A large share of visitors arrive on their phones; a site that loads slowly on mobile doesn't do its job, however good it looks on desktop. Don't sign off without seeing the test results.

6. What happens after launch?

The site is live and the agency has closed the project. A month later a form breaks, or you need a new page. Who do you contact, and how?

• Is there a free bug-fix period (warranty), and how long is it?
• Where is the line between a "bug" and a "new request"?
• How quickly do they respond to urgent issues?
• Who is responsible for security and software updates?

If post-launch costs aren't in the budget from the start, you'll face surprises later. We explain what drives the total cost in our post "How much does a website cost?".

7. Are SEO and analytics set up?

However good the site looks, if it doesn't show up on Google, visitors won't come. Many design proposals leave SEO out of scope. At minimum, ask whether the technical basics (page titles and descriptions, clean URLs, a sitemap), Google Search Console and analytics setup are included. If these aren't set up correctly from day one, becoming visible takes far more effort later.

8. What was the agency's role in its references?

"Take a look at our portfolio" is easy to say. Did the agency only do the visual design on those projects, or everything from strategy to code? When asking for references, ask about scope, how long the project took, the biggest challenge, and whether the client still works with them. A good team has learned from past projects and can tell you what.

Decision time: Price or process?

The cheapest proposal may hide missing scope or extra costs; the most expensive may offer more than you need. When you put proposals side by side, check:

• Is the scope really the same? (design steps, revisions, content, technical features)
• Is the timeline realistic? A very short one can signal skipped steps
• How will communication work? Regular calls, or email only?
• Is payment tied to milestones?

A website isn't a one-off purchase; it's a product that evolves. So look beyond today's price and ask whether this is a team you could still work with six months from now. In a free assessment for your website project, we can pin down the scope together and give you written answers to these 8 questions up front.