Write a one-page brief before asking for prices, covering purpose, pages, content, features, hosting and support. Then ask each company the same questions, so the quotes describe the same job and the differences become visible.

Three prices for three different jobs

A business asks three companies what a new website would cost and gets three numbers, the highest several times the lowest.

The natural reading is cheap, fair and expensive. Usually the three describe different projects.

One assumed five pages with the owner writing everything. One included a writer and a photographer. One added hosting, a year of support and online booking.

None of them is wrong. Each answered the question it thought it was asked, and the question was vague.

The fix costs an evening: a short brief, written before anyone quotes, so all three answer the same question.

Where quotes part company

The second is where the widest gaps hide. Writing and photography often take as long as the design and build, and a quote that leaves them to you is a quote for a smaller job.

What goes in the brief

One or two pages is enough. Start with what the site is for: the main thing a visitor should do, whether that is call, book, order or visit.

Then say who the customers are and how they find you now, and list the pages you expect, with a line on what each must say.

Say who will provide the words and photographs, and whether you want help with either. Separate the features you need now from the ones that can wait.

Finish with what already exists: the current site, the domain, the email and any accounts, and who controls each.

Include a budget range

Many owners hold back a budget, expecting it to set the price. In practice, a range tells each company what kind of site to propose, so the quotes come back describing comparable projects.

Without one, one company proposes the simplest site that would work and another the best it can imagine. Both are reasonable answers, and they cannot be compared.

Ask what it will be built on

Quotes also differ in what the site is built with: WordPress or another common system, a ready-made theme adjusted to fit, or a design made for you.

None of these is wrong for every business, but each changes the price, who else could maintain the site later, and what editing it yourself will be like. Ask each company to say which, and why.

Questions that show what is included

Ask every company the same questions, in writing, and keep the answers with the quotes.

Who writes the text, and is editing mine included? Is hosting included, for how long, and what does it cost after that?

In whose name will the domain be registered? Will I be able to edit pages myself, and is training included?

What happens to the addresses of my current pages, so links and search rankings carry over? What does support cost after launch, and does it cover updates, backups and security?

And who owns the design and the files if we part ways?

A worked example

A family egg farm sells from a cooler at its farm gate and supplies a few local grocers and restaurants. Its old website was a single page with a phone number and a photograph of the barn.

The family asked three web companies to quote for a proper website, and the quotes differed several times over.

The lowest covered five pages using the farm's own words and photographs. The middle one added a writer and a day of photography. The highest added online ordering for weekly deliveries, hosting and a year of support.

They nearly chose the lowest, then noticed it assumed they would write everything, in spring, when nobody on a farm has an evening free.

So they wrote a two-page brief: farm gate hours, the stores that carry their eggs, enquiries from restaurants, the eight pages they wanted, help with words and photographs, and online ordering marked later, not now.

The three new quotes could be read side by side. The differences left were real ones, how much writing help each offered and what support after launch covered, and the family chose on those.

Compare line by line, not by total

When the quotes come back, set them out in rows: pages, writing, photographs, features, hosting, support, revisions. Totals come last.

Gaps show at once. A quote silent on hosting either includes it or leaves it to you, and it is worth asking which.

A higher price with more included is not more expensive if you would have to buy the missing parts anyway.

What the replies tell you

How each company responds to the brief says something too. Questions back about your customers, your busy season or what has not worked before are a good sign.

Watch for the work that is easy to leave out of a quote and hard to do without: redirects from old page addresses, forms that send to the right inbox, analytics set up properly, and care after launch.

The counter-case

For a very small site, a short email covering the purpose, the pages and who supplies the content can do the work of a brief.

Some companies prefer to define the scope with you, sometimes as a paid first step, rather than quote from a brief. That is a sound way to buy a website if it ends in a written scope.

Either way, the principle holds: one description of the job, the same questions to everyone, and quotes compared line by line.

Before asking for prices

  1. Write down what the site is for.
  2. List the pages and what each must say.
  3. Say who supplies the words and photographs.
  4. Separate needs from later wishes.
  5. Give a budget range and any fixed date.
  6. Send the same brief to every company.
  7. Compare the quotes line by line.

Step three closes the widest gap. Content is the largest piece of work a quote can include or leave out, and naming who does it makes the three numbers comparable.

The leaks worth fixing before paying for anything new are covered in the enquiries your business lost last year.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my website quotes so different?

Because each company quoted a different project: different page counts, different responsibility for words and photographs, and different hosting, features and support. The question they were asked was vague.

What should a website brief include?

What the site is for, who the customers are, the pages and what each says, who supplies content, the features needed, what exists now, and a budget range.

Should I tell companies my budget?

A range helps. It tells each company what kind of site to propose, so the quotes describe comparable projects instead of the simplest and the grandest possible sites.

Which questions reveal what is included?

Who writes the text, what hosting costs after the first period, whose name the domain is in, what happens to old page addresses, and what support covers.

How should I compare the quotes?

Line by line, not by total: pages, writing, photographs, features, hosting, support and revisions. A gap means something is either included or left to you, so ask which.

Is a brief needed for a small site?

For a very small site, a short email covering the purpose, the pages and who supplies content does the same job. The point is that everyone quotes the same thing.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Three website quotes that do not match?

Send them to us with your brief. We will show what each one includes and what it leaves out.

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