Websites
What a good website proposal includes (and a template to compare quotes)
A section-by-section guide to a good website or redesign proposal, what each part should say, the warning signs, and a simple template to compare quotes.
A good website proposal tells you, in plain language, what problem the site will solve, exactly what will be built and written, who does what, what happens to your old site, what it costs in total (including after launch), when it will be done, and what you own at the end. If a proposal can't answer those questions on paper, the answers will arrive later as change orders. This guide walks through each section a solid proposal should contain, what to look for in it, and ends with a template you can use to line up several quotes.
Why proposals look so different
Two agencies can quote the same project at very different prices and both be reasonable. One is pricing a template with your logo; the other is pricing custom design, copywriting and a careful migration. The proposal is where that difference should be visible. A vague proposal hides it, which is why the cheapest quote often isn't.
The sections of a good proposal
Your goals, in their words
The first page should show the agency understood your business: who your customers are, what you want visitors to do (call, book, request a quote, buy), and what isn't working today. If this section could be pasted into any other client's proposal, the agency didn't listen.
Look for: a primary goal and how it will be measured, such as quote requests per month or booked calls.
Scope: the sitemap
A list of pages, by name. "Up to 10 pages" is a ceiling, not a scope. You want to see Home, Services (and which ones get their own page), About, Contact, and any landing pages or location pages, plus the price of an additional page later.
Look for: what's in, what's out, and what an extra page costs.
Content: who writes, who supplies
Missing content is the most common reason website projects run late. The proposal should say who writes the page copy, who supplies photos, whether there's a photo shoot, and whether a second language is translated, adapted by a writer, or not included at all. It should also say when content is due.
Look for: a named owner and a deadline for every piece of content.
Design process and revisions
How many design concepts, how many revision rounds, and at what stage you approve. Custom design and template-based design are both legitimate choices for different budgets; the proposal should say which one you're buying.
Look for: the number of revision rounds and what happens (and costs) if you need more.
Technology and editing
Which platform or content management system the site is built on, whether you'll be able to edit text, images and pages yourself, and whether anything is proprietary to the agency. If you can't move the site to another provider later, you should know that now.
Look for: the platform name, your editing rights, and whether the site can be moved.
SEO and migration from your old site
If you already have a website, this section matters more than the design. Google's guidance for site moves is to map every old URL to its new address, set up server-side permanent (301) redirects, and keep them "for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year." Google also notes you should expect temporary ranking fluctuation during a move. A proposal that doesn't mention redirects is a proposal that may cost you search traffic you've spent years building.
Look for: a URL map, 301 redirects, on-page basics (titles, descriptions, sitemap, structured data) and Search Console setup.
Performance and mobile
Google indexes and ranks sites based on their mobile version, so the phone experience is the real site. Ask whether the agency targets Google's "good" Core Web Vitals thresholds: Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less, Interaction to Next Paint of 200 milliseconds or less, and Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads.
Look for: stated performance targets and how they'll be tested before launch.
Accessibility
The W3C currently recommends WCAG 2.2, and content that meets 2.2 also meets the earlier versions. Some businesses have a legal requirement: in Ontario, private businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees have had to make public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA since January 1, 2021 (with exceptions for live captions and pre-recorded audio description). Even without a requirement, accessible sites are easier for everyone to use.
Look for: the WCAG level targeted and how it's checked.
Tracking and forms
Forms that work, notifications that reach the right inbox, Google Analytics 4 installed, and the key actions (form submissions, calls, bookings) tracked as conversions. Without this, you'll never know whether the new site performs better than the old one.
Look for: the list of conversions that will be tracked, and who owns the analytics account.
Privacy and consent
Tracking tools and forms collect personal information. Depending on where you and your customers are, you may need a privacy policy and a cookie consent banner; Quebec's private-sector privacy law, for example, requires a privacy policy published on the website in clear and simple terms. The proposal should say who handles this.
Look for: consent banner and privacy policy, included or explicitly excluded.
Timeline and milestones
Discovery, design approval, development, content loading, testing and launch, with dates or durations. Good proposals also state what the timeline depends on, usually your feedback and your content.
Look for: milestones tied to your approvals, not just a launch date.
Launch and testing
Cross-browser and device testing, form testing, redirect testing, a speed check and a final SEO check before going live.
Look for: a pre-launch checklist, not just "QA."
Price, payment terms and change requests
The total price, what's included, and how payments are split (deposit, milestones, final payment). The proposal should also explain how changes outside the scope are quoted and approved, so you never get a surprise invoice.
Look for: a fixed price for the defined scope and a written change-request process.
After launch: hosting, maintenance, support
Who hosts the site, at what yearly cost, in whose name. What maintenance includes (security updates, backups, monitoring) and what it costs. How many days of free fixes follow launch.
Look for: the full cost of the first year, not just the build.
Ownership
Your domain should be registered in your name. After final payment, you should own the design, the code you paid for and all content, and have admin access to hosting, the content management system, analytics and Search Console.
Look for: an ownership clause and the list of accounts transferred to you.
Red flags in a proposal
- A price with no sitemap.
- "SEO included" with no mention of redirects when you already have a site.
- Hosting or the domain registered to the agency.
- No mention of who writes the content.
- Full payment before you see a design.
- No post-launch support period at all.
A template to compare quotes
Copy these rows into a spreadsheet, one column per agency. For each row, write "included," "optional ($)" or "not included."
- Primary goal stated and measurable
- Page list (and price per extra page)
- Custom design or template
- Revision rounds
- Copywriting
- Second language (translated, adapted, or none)
- Photography
- Platform named; you can edit content; site can be moved
- URL map and 301 redirects from the old site
- On-page SEO and Search Console
- Core Web Vitals targets
- Accessibility level (WCAG)
- GA4 and conversion tracking
- Privacy policy and cookie consent
- Timeline with milestones
- Pre-launch testing checklist
- Total build price and payment schedule
- Change-request process
- Hosting and maintenance cost for year one
- Post-launch support days
- Domain and accounts in your name; ownership clause
Then add one line at the bottom: adjusted price, which is the quoted price plus your estimate of what it would cost to fill every "not included" row you actually need. Compare that number, not the first one.
Where PNE fits
When PNE writes a website design proposal, it follows this structure: custom design, a defined page list (up to eight pages in the standard scope), lead capture forms, GA4 setup, on-page SEO with sitemap and schema, a content management system you can edit, SSL and hosting setup, Search Console submission and 30 days of post-launch support. After the final payment, the design and content are yours, and we transfer hosting, the domain and platform access. Put it in the template next to the others.
Sources
- Site Moves and Migrations — Google Search Central
- Mobile site and mobile-first indexing best practices — Google Search Central
- Web Vitals — web.dev (Google)
- WCAG 2 Overview — W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
- How to make websites accessible — Government of Ontario
- Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector — LégisQuébec