Ask five agencies for a quote and you will get five different numbers. That is not always because someone is overcharging. A website is a collection of decisions, and each decision carries time. Once you can see the decisions, a quote stops looking random and starts looking like a list you can discuss.
The things that move the price
The biggest driver is scope: how many pages, how many page types, and whether you need an online shop, bookings, a members area or a connection to another system. A ten page brochure site and a shop with hundreds of products are different jobs, even if they look alike from the outside.
Design is the second driver. A custom design made around your brand takes longer than a themed starting point, and it usually earns more trust. Content comes third: who writes the words, who sources the photos, and how many rounds of edits are included. Content is the part most clients underestimate, and the part that most often delays a launch.
What a typical project looks like
Most good projects follow the same path. First comes a short discovery stage where we agree what the site must achieve and who it is for. Then the structure and design are drawn up and approved, the site is built, and the content is added. Before launch it is tested on phones, tablets and computers, and the forms, links and speed are checked. After launch there is a handover, so you know how to make changes yourself. A quote that skips any of these stages is either hiding the cost somewhere else or leaving the work to you.
The costs people forget
Hosting, a domain name, email, security updates and backups are ongoing. A good quote names them. If it does not, ask. These are small compared with the build, but they are the difference between a site that stays fast and safe and one that slowly breaks.
One-off or ongoing
Think in two parts. The build is a one-off cost: design, development, content and launch. Looking after the site is ongoing: hosting, updates, backups, small changes and support. Some providers charge very little for the build and make it back on the monthly fee, and others do the opposite. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you are buying.
How to compare quotes
Compare what is included, not only the total. Ask who owns the finished site, how many revisions you get, how long the build takes, and what happens after launch. The cheapest quote often leaves the most work for you, and a very low price usually means a shortcut somewhere: a reused template, no testing, or nobody answering the phone when something breaks.
Questions to ask before you say yes
Will I own the domain and the website? Who writes and sources the content? How many rounds of changes are included? What is the monthly cost after launch, and what does it cover? Can you show me a similar site you built? The answers tell you more about the provider than the price does.
If you want a quote you can read line by line, tell us what you are trying to achieve and we will show you where every shilling goes.
