Most website quotes are hard to compare because they are not quoting the same thing. One includes the domain, one does not. One includes copywriting, one expects you to supply it. One has three revision rounds, one has "unlimited" revisions that quietly mean three.
The number at the bottom is the least useful part of the page. The line items above it are the quote.
Start with what is fixed
A fixed price is not the same as a cheap price. It means the scope is defined enough for both sides to name a number and stand behind it. If a quote is hourly, you are buying time. If it is fixed, you are buying a result.
My websites start at $250 USD. That is the smallest useful version: a fast, responsive site, designed and built by me, with the domain and email set up, foundational SEO, and foundational branding. Larger scopes get a fixed-price quote with line items after a discovery call.
That starting price is not a trick. It is the floor of the offer, and the quote should tell you what sits above it.
What a useful quote lists
Ask for these as separate lines, even if the total is fixed:
- Page count. How many pages are designed and built. "Up to five" is a scope. "As many as you need" is not.
- Content. Who writes the copy. Who sources the images. Who is responsible for fact-checking.
- Domain and email. Who registers the domain, in whose name, and who pays the renewal. The same for Google Workspace or any other email host.
- SEO. What is actually included. Titles and descriptions are different from ongoing content and link building.
- Branding. A logo is not a brand system. Colour, type, voice and applications are separate decisions.
- Revisions. How many rounds, on what, and what counts as a round. A round is a consolidated set of feedback on a finished stage, not a running chat.
- Timeline. The delivery date, and what pauses it. Waiting on your content is the usual reason a date moves.
- Handover. What files you receive, and whether you own the accounts and the source.
- Support. What happens after launch, for how long, and what it costs after that.
If a quote will not list these, it is not necessarily bad. It is just not checkable yet.
The costs that get left out
The common omissions are boring and expensive:
- Domain renewal, usually $10 to $20 a year.
- Google Workspace, around $7 per user per month on the entry plan.
- Stock photography or illustration.
- Copywriting, if you cannot supply the words.
- A booking, payment or CRM tool with its own subscription.
- Ongoing updates after the included support window.
None of these should be a surprise on the invoice. Put them in the quote or put them in writing as your responsibility.
Red flags in a quote
A few phrases deserve a follow-up question:
- "Unlimited revisions." Ask what stops the project from never ending. The answer is usually a scope limit that is not written down.
- "The domain is handled for you." Ask for the registrar login. Your domain should be in your name.
- "SEO included" with no detail. Ask which pages, which titles, and whether Search Console is set up.
- "Launch in a week" on a full site. Ask what is being cut. Sometimes the answer is fine. Sometimes it is the testing.
- An hourly rate with no estimate. Ask for a capped range and a definition of done.
Questions worth asking
- What is the page count, and what happens if it changes?
- Who writes the content?
- Who owns the domain and email accounts?
- What exactly is in the SEO line?
- How many revision rounds, and what counts as one?
- What is the delivery date, and what pauses it?
- What do I get at handover?
- What does support cost after the included window?
You do not need a 20-page proposal to answer these. One page with line items is enough.
What I do
I publish the starting price, the timeline, the included work and the ownership rules before you ask. The Websites service lists what is in the $250 start, and the contact form is the discovery call. If your project does not fit, I say so and point you somewhere better.
A quote should make the decision easier, not more mysterious.