Website redesign checklist: what to settle before you ask for a quote

The quality of a quote depends on the quality of the brief. If three agencies each guess at what you want, you get three numbers that cannot be compared. Settle these nine things first and every quote you receive will be faster, more accurate and easier to judge.

1. What the site has to do

Pick one primary action: call, request a quote, book, buy, sign up. Everything else on the site should support it. “Look more modern” is a fair wish, but it is not a goal you can measure.

2. Who it is for

Name your two or three most important kinds of visitor and the questions each one arrives with. A site organized around those questions will beat one organized around your org chart.

3. What is working now

Before anything is thrown away, check your analytics and Google Search Console for the pages that bring in the most visitors and enquiries. Those pages, and their addresses, need protecting. Losing them is the most common way a redesign hurts a business.

4. The page list

Write down every page the new site needs. A simple list is enough: home, each service, each location, about, contact, and any articles worth keeping. This list drives most of the cost.

5. Who supplies the content

Decide who writes the text and where the photos come from. Content is what delays most projects. If you need copywriting or photography, say so, so it is in the quote.

6. The state of your brand

Gather your logo files, colours and fonts. If the logo only exists as a small image, or the brand no longer fits the business, it is cheaper to refresh it before the website than after. Our guide to logo file types explains what to look for.

7. Features

List anything beyond pages and a contact form: online booking, a store, customer logins, a quote calculator, a chat assistant, connections to your CRM or accounting software. Each of these is a line in the quote.

8. Search and tracking

Note the services and places you want to be found for, and make sure the quote covers redirects from old addresses, page titles and descriptions, structured data, analytics and Search Console. If you serve more than one country, read our Canada–US website checklist as well.

9. Budget, deadline and decision-maker

Share a budget range, even a rough one. It lets an agency propose the best site for that number instead of guessing. Give any real deadline, and name the person who signs off, so feedback does not circle.

What a good quote includes

• The scope: pages, features and what is not included.
• A timeline, and what is needed from you at each stage.
• What happens after launch: fixes, updates and support.
• Who owns the domain, hosting and accounts. They should be in your name.

Bring this list to a free 30-minute consultation and we can usually tell you on the call what is realistic. See how we approach web design and development.