You ask three web designers in Sevenoaks for a quote. One comes back at £400, one at £1,800, one at £4,500. Same brief. Wildly different numbers. The problem is not that one of them is lying - it is that they are quoting three completely different things, and the quote document does not tell you which parts are missing.

The real cost is not the number on the quote

A website is not a one-off purchase. It is a relationship with whoever built it, for as long as you run it. The quote price is the entry fee. What matters more is what you are locked into, what you own, and what every small change will cost you for the next five years.

Work through this before you compare any numbers. Take your rough monthly revenue and divide it by your average order or job value. That tells you roughly how many jobs you need each month. Now ask yourself: if your website goes down for a week, or looks broken on a phone, how many of those jobs do you lose? That number - jobs lost times job value - is what a bad web decision actually costs you. Keep it in your head while you read the rest of this.

Five questions to ask every bidder

Send these to every designer you are considering. The answers will tell you more than the price will.

  • Who writes the words? Some quotes include copywriting - someone who interviews you, understands your customers, and writes the actual page text. Most dont. If copywriting is not in the quote, you are writing it yourself, or paying extra later. Ask directly: “Is copy included, or do I supply text?” A good answer names who writes it and how many rounds of changes are included. A bad answer is vague or surprised by the question.
  • Who owns the domain and the code when it is done? Your domain name - the address people type to find you - should be registered in your name, in an account you control. Same with the website files. Some designers register both in their own account and hold them there. If you ever want to leave, you are negotiating for your own property. Ask: “Will the domain and all files be in my own accounts from day one?” The right answer is yes. Any hesitation is a flag.
  • What does a small change cost after launch? You will want to update your opening hours, swap a photo, add a new service. Ask what that costs. Some designers include a support retainer, a fixed monthly fee covering small updates. Some charge by the hour. Some charge a minimum call-out that makes a one-line text change feel expensive. Get a real number or a real process, not “we will sort you out.”
  • What happens if you stop trading or go quiet? Freelancers move on. Small agencies close. If the person who built your site disappears, can you keep it running? Can someone else pick it up? The answer depends on where it is hosted and whether you have access. Ask: “If I needed to move this to a different developer tomorrow, what would they need and do I have it?” A good answer is a short list: hosting login, domain login, CMS login, a copy of the files. A bad answer is “don’t worry, we look after all of that.”
  • Is this a template or built for you? Neither is automatically wrong. A well-chosen template, set up properly, can do everything a small business needs. A custom build costs more and takes longer but gives you exactly what your customers need. The problem is when a designer charges custom-build prices for a template they bought for £59 and spent a day on. Ask: “What is the starting point for this build - a theme or framework, or built from scratch?” Then ask what the theme costs to buy, so you know what you are actually paying for.

Three ways to get a website built - a fair comparison

There are broadly three paths. Each has a real cost and a real catch.

Do it yourself with a builder (Wix, Squarespace, similar). Squarespace runs around £13-£23 a month depending on plan. You own the account, no one disappears on you, and you can make changes at midnight. The catch: the result looks like a Squarespace site, because it is one. If your market is competitive - and parts of Sevenoaks are - a generic site may not do enough work for you. You also spend your own hours building and maintaining it, and those hours have a value.

Hire a local freelancer or small agency. This is the middle ground most owners land on. The range is wide because the scope varies enormously. Use the five questions above to understand exactly what you are getting. The risk is the disappearing-designer problem - mitigate it by making sure you own everything from day one.

A studio that treats the site as a sales tool, not a brochure. The difference here is whether the designer is thinking about your enquiry rate - how many visitors turn into a phone call or a form submission - or just whether it looks good. Walk On The Wild Side Reptiles and Aquatics in Ashford had their first site built this way: 1,500 visits in month one, 39 enquiries, around 20 sales and 8 reservations, with 75% of traffic arriving through Google. Thats not a design outcome, thats a sales outcome. Not every business needs this level of intent - but if yours does, make sure the quote reflects it.

The checklist, in one place

  • Is copy included, or do I supply text?
  • Will the domain and files be in my accounts from day one?
  • What does a change cost after launch - hourly, retainer, or minimum fee?
  • If you disappeared tomorrow, what would I need to keep the site running?
  • Is this a template or a custom build, and what is the starting point?
  • How is success measured - traffic, enquiries, or just “it looks good”?

Print that out. Send it to every quote you are considering. The answers will sort them faster than the price will.

One honest next step

If you have got quotes in front of you and you are not sure what you are actually comparing, we will look at them with you - no charge, no obligation. We will tell you what is in each one, what is missing, and what questions to go back with. If one of the quotes is already the right answer for you, we will say so. Tell us what you have got and we will take a look.