How to ask for a website quotation

People search for “website design quotation” and “website development estimate” and then message five providers with one line: “Please send your rates.” The five replies cannot be compared, because each answered a different question. A better request gets a better quotation, and it takes about ten minutes to write.

What to send

Put these in one message. They are the facts a provider needs to price your project honestly:

What the business does, in two sentences, and who buys from you.
What the website must do: get calls, collect enquiries, show products, take bookings. Pick the main one.
Pages you expect, as a list: home, about, each service or product group, contact, anything else.
What you already have: text, photographs, a logo, brand colours, an existing site with its address.
What you need that is not a page: a form, WhatsApp button, booking, online payment, another language.
Search work: whether you want it now, later or not at all.
Your budget range and your date, if you have them. Saying the budget helps a provider tell you what fits, and not to waste your time.
Who will give feedback and approve, so one person decides.

The note on what to send a developer has a fuller template, and what to prepare before a project lists the material that most often delays work.

What a complete quotation lists

When the answer arrives, check that it states:

The price, and whether it includes tax. Ask for the total you will pay.
The pages, counted and named, and how a page is counted.
What the design is: made for your business or a template.
Rounds of changes included, and what an extra one costs.
What you must supply, and what happens if it arrives late.
Search and tracking work: included, not included, or optional, in plain words.
Domain, hosting and other costs that are not in the price.
Ownership: of the files, the domain, the hosting account and the design.
After launch: support period, what it covers, and what comes next.
What is not included.
How long the quotation is valid, and the timeline with its conditions.

If a quotation has no “not included” section, ask for one. Missing items are where most disagreements start.

Quotation, estimate or proposal?

The words are used loosely. In practice: an estimate is a rough number, a quotation is a price for a stated scope, and a proposal also explains the approach and the schedule. What matters is that the document says what it covers. My own process ends with a written proposal after a short discovery call, with the package, scope, price and timeline; the packages and their prices are on the pricing page.

Comparing quotations fairly

Put the quotations side by side in a table and fill the same rows for each. Rows that are blank for one provider are the useful finding. How to read a website quote goes through the lines, and comparing website packages shows what to check when one of them claims “SEO included”. Be wary of comparing on price alone: the cheapest quotation is often the one that leaves the most out.

What to do next

Write the message above and send it to two or three providers. You will learn as much from how they answer as from the price. If you would like to send it to me, message or call Harman; I will reply with questions where your brief is unclear, and then a written proposal.