Making Sense of Your Website Design Quote

A website design quote should be straightforward and easy to understand but that’s not always the case. Sometimes it’s what is left unsaid that is important. Other times it’s like the small print that you never read when you tick the “yes I’ve read the terms and conditions, honest” box. Here are some things to watch out for when you check a website design quote. website design quote

What’s included?

This may sound really basic but what is and what isn’t included for website design can vary a lot.

Even the basic look and feel of the design can vary. A lot of times, your website designer will send you a mock-up image of your proposed website. That’s because it’s generally easier to move things around in a graphics program than to recode reams of HTML and CSS to get a particular look and feel, only to be asked to move something a few pixels to the left. Easy on a graphics program, not always as easy on a web page.

If the website design quote you’ve had sounds cheap, check that it’s not just for an image. Your website will need to be coded in real life and once you’ve agreed the final look and feel then it should be delivered in a format that your website designer can use without having to convert it from a graphic into the code that goes behind the actual website.

You also need to check that the image you’ve agreed translates into a web page. A good graphic designer will help you with this and talk you through all the elements.

How many design concepts do you get?

Website design is a very personal thing. It falls into the “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” camp.

If you’re only offered one design concept then that will be on a “take it or leave it” basis.

Ideally, even though this will cost a bit more initially, you should be looking for three different design concepts. Preferably from three separate designers!

If your budget is tight then it is probably best to go down the WordPress route where there are a lot of designs available either free or cheap. You can then use these as a base to tweak to your needs — definitely a logo, maybe a header image, that kind of thing.

Your website design quote should make it clear how many designs you get, how many revisions you are allowed within the cost and the likely timescale between each revision.

What happens next?

Some design quotes will take you through the complete process of designing your brand new website through to publishing it on the web.

You need to know whether this is included or excluded in the quote you are given.

You also need to know who is responsible for purchasing the domain name — if you haven’t already bought one — as well as who will be hosting the new site.

Some designers will include hosting for up to about a year with the initial purchase which can save you costs in the short term but could lead to unexpected payments further down the line if their hosting charges after the end of the free period are higher than expected.