"How much for a website?" is a fair question, but nobody can answer it honestly on its own. A simple business site and a store with hundreds of products are both "a website", and they cost very different amounts.
You don't need technical words to get an accurate quote. You only need to explain your business and what the site has to do. Here's what to send.
Why a vague brief costs you money
When a brief is vague, a developer has two choices: guess low and charge you for extras later, or guess high to stay safe. Either way, you pay for the missing details.
A clear brief also makes quotes easier to compare. When every developer is pricing the same work, you can see the real difference between them.
The 8 things to include
1. What your business does
Two or three lines are enough. Say what you sell, who buys it and where your customers are.
2. The main job of the website
Pick the one thing that matters most: getting calls, selling products, taking bookings or showing your work. This shapes the whole project.
3. The features you need
Write them in plain words, as a list:
- Online payments or bookings
- Customer accounts
- More than one language
- Multiple sellers, like a marketplace
- A connection to another system, such as your accounting software
Mark each one as must have or nice to have. It's the easiest way to control the price.
4. How big it is
Give a rough count of pages. For a store, add the number of products and how many options they have, such as sizes and colours. A rough number is fine.
5. What you already have
Do you have a domain, hosting, a logo, photos or written content? If there's a current website, share the address and say what you like and dislike about it.
6. Sites you like
Share two or three links and say what you like about each one. "The clean product page" is more useful than "something modern".
7. Your timeline
Share the date you want to launch and whether anything fixed depends on it, like an event or a season. A rushed project is possible, but the team should know from the start.
8. Your budget
Many people keep this secret, hoping for a better price. A rough range helps more. It lets a developer suggest what fits, instead of quoting for something you were never going to buy.
If you're not sure what's realistic, read what a website really costs first.
A simple brief you can copy
- Business: What we do, and who our customers are
- Main goal: The one thing the site must do
- Must have: Features we can't launch without
- Nice to have: Features that can wait
- Size: About how many pages or products
- We already have: Domain, hosting, logo, photos, text
- Sites we like: Links, and what we like about each
- Launch date: When, and whether the date is fixed
- Budget: A rough range
It should take about 15 minutes. It doesn't need to be perfect, and "not sure yet" is a perfectly good answer.
What to check in the quote you get back
A good quote is more than one number. Look for:
- What's included, listed clearly, and what isn't
- Payment stages tied to finished work
- How changes are handled if you add something later
- Support after launch: how long it lasts and what it covers
- Who owns the site and code once it's paid for
If a quote is one line with one price, ask for the details before you agree.
How we do it
Send us your brief, even if half of it says "not sure". We usually reply within 5-10 minutes and ask about anything that's missing. You get a written quote within 48 hours, with payments split 40/40/20 across milestones and 3 months of free support after launch.
Prefer talking to typing? A WhatsApp voice note works too. Send us your brief and we'll take it from there.