Small Business Owner’s Guide to Calling Bullsh*t on Web Design Quotes

Last week we had a client who showed us a quote from another agency for £8,500. For a FIVE PAGE website. For context, that’s 15-20 hours of work at most. Where’s the other £7,500 going? It got us thinking; what are the key questions to ask? What red flags can be spotted a mile off? How can you avoid paying over the odds for a website design?

First, let’s start off with some common buzz-phrases that we have come across countless times in the industry and what they actually mean;

1. “Premium, bespoke design”
   Translation: “We’ll use an off-the-shelf theme from Themeforest and bastardise it to match your content”
2. “Enterprise Grade Hosting”
   Translation: “£5/month hosting marked up 10x”
3. “Advanced SEO Integration”
   Translation: “We’ll install the free version of Yoast”
4. “Content Management Training”
   Translation: “A 30 minute walkthrough on how to use WordPress”

Do these sound familiar…?

Now you know what they’re actually trying to say when using fancy language, but even if an agency uses plain English, there are still a myriad of ways they can take advantage of your business.

Major red flags in website quotes

1. Quotes that don’t itemise anything

How do you know the quote you’ve been given isn’t just a random number plucked out of the air on a whim if the agency isn’t itemising the quote? What’s to stop them running an internal quote generator that spits out a number based on hours THEY input? What if they decide to charge you 2x what their own software spits out? Stay vigilant and ask for a full quote breakdown.

2. “Investment” instead of “cost”

When agencies call a £6,000 website build an “investment”, they’re deliberately trying to misdirect you, making you feel stupid for questioning the price. Real “investments” have measurable returns. Ask them to guarantee the ROI and watch them backtrack rapidly. You could argue that, although it is a cost, it’s also an investment if your conversion rate improves, but unless they can back it up with specific, measurable outcomes, it is first and foremost a cost.

3. Upfront payments over 50% of the project total

We do charge a 50% upfront fee and 50% before go-live. However, to charge more than this is not fair to you as a client. It shifts the risk onto you. Once they get £4,000 of your £6,000 budget, you’re essentially begging them to prioritise your project. They can drag it out, ignore your communications or deliver subpar work knowing you’ve already paid for the majority of it. Any agency demanding massive upfront payments is either running a dodgy operation or has some pretty poor cash flow problems. Neither of these is your responsibility to solve.

4. Maintenance and hosting you can’t escape

The common practise for most web design agencies is to charge hosting annually, and offer a “no backsies” style contract which states that you MUST host the website with them for a MINIMUM of 12 months before they’ll even consider letting you move the site elsewhere. Miss a payment? You’re liable for the full 12 month term. The reasonable approach: monthly hosting options with no minimum terms, tie-ins or obligations. You should own your domain, have access to your own website and be able to leave whenever you want. Any agency worth a dime will give you complete control over your digital assets.

Here are some questions to ask potential suppliers about their hosting, maintenance and how they manage their assets to give you a clearer picture of their practises:

1. What happens if I want to cancel after 6 months?
2. Do I get full admin access to my own website?
3. Who owns the domain name registration?
4. What is included and what costs extra?

Questions that will make dodgy agencies squirm:

1. Can I see examples of “bespoke work” you’ve done for other clients that isn’t just an off-the-shelf theme template?

Calls out the “custom design” bullsh*t directly.

2. If the project goes over the estimated timeline, who pays for the additional time?

Reveals project creep tactics.

3. What specific SEO work is included?

Forces them to be specific rather than spouting off vague promises of “we’ll do all your metas” and the like.

4. Can I speak to a recent client about their experience working with you?

Dodgy agencies won’t have satisfied clients willing to discuss their experiences.

5. Can you provide a breakdown of where my budget is allocated, hour by hour?

Forces them to justify pricing rather than hiding behind a fixed package price.

You shouldn’t have to be a web designer to understand a website quote.