What changes a website quote?

Two quotes are often very different because they describe different amounts of work, not different prices for the same work. Check whether both include the same page types, features, content work and integrations. Then compare the design reviews, device and accessibility checks, launch work and handover each one includes. The same page count can hide a different project. Several service pages sharing one layout is a smaller job than different layouts and interactions for each service. Approved words and images ready to enter is a smaller job than writing, sourcing images and review rounds. An enquiry form sent to an inbox is a smaller job than booking rules or customer accounts. Ask each supplier for unclear assumptions and exclusions to be written down. Once both quotes describe the same scope, the difference in price starts to mean something.

Hosting, domain renewals, software licences and any ongoing support agreement continue after launch. Ask about each of them before you accept a quote, and check who pays for each service. Hosting keeps the site online, the domain renews on a fixed cycle, and licences apply to any paid plugins, platforms or services the site depends on. Then check what maintenance includes. Some suppliers bundle updates and fixes into an ongoing agreement, others charge for each request, and some offer nothing after handover. Ask how those costs are billed and whether they are optional. Our website support service can be scoped separately from the build, so you can compare it on its own terms rather than as part of the build price. Ask for the ongoing costs to be written down alongside the build price, so you can compare the quotes on the same basis.

If the requirements change, ask how the changes are assessed and approved before the work continues. A good supplier will tell you the effect on cost and timing before proceeding, so you can decide whether the change is worth it. At Felix, we discuss the effect on cost and timing before proceeding, and the decision stays with you. If further discovery is needed to understand the project, we agree the scope of that work before starting, rather than folding an unknown amount of research into the build. Changes are easier to handle when the original quote lists its assumptions and exclusions, because it is then clear whether a request is inside the scope or outside it. Separating what you need for launch from ideas that can wait also reduces the number of changes that arrive while the site is being built.

A delivery date does not always mean the site is ready to launch. Check which milestone the date describes. An early build for feedback still needs review and launch preparation before it can go live. Ask for content deadlines, approval points, testing, redirects and handover to be included in the schedule, so the date you are given accounts for them. Allow time for content, because writing, sourcing images and review rounds take longer than entering approved words. Your own review time matters too, so tell the supplier when your team can look at the work. If you have a fixed launch date, say so in the brief along with any access restrictions, and ask the supplier to confirm which parts of the work must be finished before that date and which can follow it.

A quote for replacing an existing website should cover moving what you already have, not just building the new site. Identify the content and URLs that must be carried across. Existing content, URLs and metadata need mapping, migration and checks, which is work a new site with no content to move does not involve. Ask who handles content mapping, redirects, metadata and the checks after launch, and whether those tasks are in the price or listed as exclusions. Ask for the redirect work to be placed in the schedule rather than left as an afterthought, so old links keep working after the switch. See our CMS migration service for the work involved. If the quote does not mention any of this, ask for it to be added in writing before you compare it with the others.