How to compare website quotes for a UK small business

Give every developer the same brief

Start with the purpose of the website, the customers it serves and the action visitors should take. List the pages, required features and content you already have. Explain who will approve the work and whether there is a deadline tied to a real event.

For example, a hypothetical service business might need Home, Services, About, FAQs and Contact, plus an enquiry form. A quote for those pages is not directly comparable with a quote that also includes booking, copywriting and a photography session. Ask for additions to be shown separately.

• Send one page list and one functionality list to each supplier.
• Mark launch essentials separately from features that can wait.
• State whether text, images and brand assets are ready.
• Explain which pages your team needs to edit.

Compare deliverables rather than page counts

Five pages can mean five simple content layouts or five different interactive experiences. Ask how many unique templates are included, how reusable sections work and what happens when content changes during the build.

Check what design and development cover. A quote should make clear whether the developer adapts an existing design, creates a new design or works from files you supply. Ask how mobile layouts, keyboard navigation and form errors will be reviewed.

• Design: custom layouts, an adapted theme or supplied designs?
• Content: writing, editing and uploading, or development only?
• Functionality: form delivery, spam protection and integrations?
• Review: which stages require approval and how are changes estimated?
• Launch: who configures the domain, hosting and redirects?

Separate build costs from running costs

Ask for an itemised list of one-off work and recurring services. Hosting, domain renewal, paid plugins, email services and maintenance may be billed separately. Confirm whether each amount includes VAT where applicable, how often it renews and who pays the provider.

A maintenance arrangement also needs a clear definition. Software updates, backups and monitoring are different from new pages, design changes and content writing. Ask what happens if you choose to manage maintenance yourself or move to another supplier.

• One-off: design, development, content entry and migration.
• Recurring: hosting, domain, licences and third-party services.
• Support: what is covered, how requests are made and how extra work is quoted.
• Ownership: which accounts, licences and files transfer at handover.

Ask what SEO work is actually included

“SEO included” needs a specific list of tasks. Ask about page titles, descriptions, crawlable links, canonical URLs, sitemap submission and redirects if an existing site is being replaced. Content research and ongoing publishing are separate activities unless the quote explicitly includes them.

No supplier can guarantee a particular Google ranking. Google’s guidance focuses on helpful content and making it accessible to search engines. Ask for the work and the checks that will be delivered rather than a ranking promise.

Use a simple decision checklist

Write a short comparison with a column for each supplier and rows for scope, exclusions, recurring costs, approvals and handover. Record unanswered questions rather than assuming a missing item is included.

Before accepting a quote, ask: “Can you confirm the launch deliverables, the costs after launch, and how changes outside this scope will be handled?” Refspan can review your page list and requirements before preparing an agreed scope.

• Can I explain exactly what will be delivered?
• Do I know what my team must supply?
• Are approval stages and dependencies clear?
• Can another developer access and maintain the finished website?
• Are the recurring costs and exclusions written down?

Further reading

• Google: SEO Starter Guide