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How do you choose a web design agency? Compare quotes item by item, not by their totals. Check how many pages you get, who writes the copy, which features and languages are included, how your old site redirects, what you pay every year after launch, and whose name the domain, hosting and design are in. Then add three years of running costs to the build. A cheap quote that leaves out half the work is not cheap.
What drives the price of a site is explained in how much does a website cost. This guide helps you choose once the quotes are in, or better, before you ask for them. It also covers what changes when the agency sits in another country.
Why website quotes differ so much
One builder fills a template with your logo. Another designs every page, writes the copy on your search terms and redirects your old addresses. Both call it "a website". In Belgium, a professional business site costs 2,000 to 6,000 euros before VAT and a simple site 500 to 1,500 euros. A quote of 900 euros and one of 5,000 euros can both be honest, for very different things.
The gap comes from three things:
- Hours and ratesA freelance web designer in Belgium bills 30 to 80 euros an hour, an agency 50 to 150; a UK contract developer's median day rate was 475 pounds in October 2026. Per country in web developer hourly rate.
- What is includedCopy, photography, redirects and a second language are each days of work, or they are missing.
- What followsA low build price with an expensive subscription often costs more over three years than a higher one-off price.
What a good website quote contains
Quote
Website2,000 euros
A price without parts says nothing about what you get.
What a good website quote lists
- 1The number of pages, and which: home, services, about, contact, guides.
- 2Who writes the copy, and whether it is built on search terms.
- 3Where the images come from: stock, your own photos or a shoot.
- 4Which features are included: forms, calculators, bookings, a store.
- 5Which languages the site comes in.
- 6How your old site redirects to the new one, if you have one.
- 7The lead time and how you follow the build.
- 8What you pay after launch: hosting, plans, maintenance.
- 9Whose name your domain, hosting and accounts are in.
What a website quote must list
Hold every quote against this table. Whatever is missing, ask about before you compare.
| Item | What it should say | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | How many, and which: home, services, about, contact, blog | "Website" with no number |
| Copy | Who writes it, on which search terms, how many rounds of edits | "Copy supplied by client" without you knowing |
| Images | Stock, your own photos or a shoot, and who holds the rights | Stock images without a licence |
| Features | Forms, calculator, bookings, store, integrations | "On request" for what you need |
| Languages | Which ones, and whether each gets its own copy | Machine translation sold as "multilingual" |
| Old site | A redirect per old address to the new page | Nothing about your current site |
| SEO basics | Titles, descriptions, sitemap, Search Console | "SEO included" with no detail |
| Timeline | Lead time, milestones, when you must deliver input | No date |
| After launch | Hosting, plans, maintenance, the price of a change | A monthly fee with no end date |
| Ownership | Domain, hosting, accounts and design in your name | Domain registered to the builder |
| Payment and VAT | Deposit, instalments, VAT treatment across borders | 100 percent up front |
A tip that saves time: send every agency the same brief. Our website brief template is a start. When they all get the same input, the quotes become comparable by themselves.
A scoring table: three quotes side by side
Comparing prices is easy; the rest is not. Give each criterion a weight that reflects what matters to you, and score each quote from 1 to 5. An example for a company that wants to be found in two markets:
| Criterion | Weight | Quote A, 1,200 euros | Quote B, 3,400 euros | Quote C, 6,900 euros |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A page per service and market | 25% | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Copy written on search terms, per language | 20% | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Redirects from the old site | 10% | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Cost over three years | 20% | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Ownership and access | 15% | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Live sites you can open | 10% | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Weighted score out of 5 | 100% | 1.9 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
Quote A is the cheapest and scores lowest, because copy and redirects are missing. Quote C does everything, but does not win because the three-year cost weighs heavily. The weights are your call: a start-up without an old site puts redirects at zero. Multiply each score by its weight and add them up.
Cheapest at the start is not always cheapest over three years
- Low entry price, expensive monthly plan
- Higher one-off price, little upkeep
Add the build to three years of hosting, plans, plugins and maintenance. What starts cheapest is not always cheapest over three years.
Schematic, without amounts
Working out the three-year cost
Add the build to three years of hosting, plans, paid plugins and maintenance. An example with two common kinds of quote, before VAT:
| Item | Low entry price plus subscription | Higher one-off price |
|---|---|---|
| Build | 0 euros | 3,400 euros |
| Subscription or maintenance | 99 euros a month (example), 3,564 euros over three years | 0 euros, no plugins |
| Hosting | included | 180 euros over three years (example) |
| Domain | included, in the builder's name | 36.57 euros over three years for a .com at OVHcloud |
| Total after three years | 3,564 euros, and the site is not yours | 3,616.57 euros, and the site is yours |
After three years they cost almost the same. The difference is what you own: cancel the subscription and you often lose site and domain. Each yearly item is broken down in website maintenance cost per year.
Questions to ask every agency
Can I see sites that are live?
A portfolio of images says little. Open the real sites on your phone. Do they load fast? Can you find the contact route at once? Do they show up in Google for their own services? Measure speed with the website speed test.
Which search terms will you build my site on?
A good answer names concrete terms and where they come from: Google Autocomplete per country, Search Console, a keyword tool. "We also do SEO" is not an answer. What an SEO specialist actually does is in what does an SEO specialist do.
Who writes the copy in my language?
If the agency is abroad, ask who writes your English, German or Dutch, and whether each language gets its own search terms. A translated site rarely ranks; see our approach to a multilingual website.
What happens to my current site?
If your site already ranks, ask how each old address redirects to a new page. Without those redirects you lose your rankings. See moving a website to a new host.
Who owns the site when it is done?
In most of Europe, copyright in commissioned work stays with the creator unless it is transferred in writing. In the UK an assignment of copyright is only effective in writing, signed by the assignor; in Belgium the contract must spell out which uses are transferred. So put in the quote that design, code and copy are yours on payment, and that domain, hosting and accounts are in your company's name. For the contract itself, ask a lawyer.
Will the agency process personal data for me?
If form submissions or customer data land on the agency's server, the agency is a processor under the GDPR and you need a data processing agreement. A privacy notice is needed anyway once your site collects data.
How are VAT and payment handled across borders?
Between VAT-registered businesses in different EU countries, the agency invoices without VAT under the reverse charge and you account for it at home. Outside the EU there is no EU VAT on the invoice. Agree the currency, the deposit and what happens if the timeline slips.
Red flags
- A guaranteed number one spot in Google. Nobody decides about Google except Google.
- A price without parts. "Website: 2,000 euros" says nothing about what you get.
- Domain or accounts in the builder's name. Whoever owns your domain owns your site.
- No live examples, or only examples that no longer exist.
- Pressure. "This price is only valid this week" is a sales tactic, not a quote.
- A subscription with no end that hides the build, with no word on what happens if you stop.
Freelancer, template agency or custom build?
| Choose | When | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| A freelancer | The site is small, the budget tight and you supply the copy | Everything rests on one person; ask who takes over when they are ill |
| A template agency | You want to go live fast on a proven layout | Your site looks like others; ask what is possible outside the template |
| A custom build | You want to be found for many services, languages or markets, or need a calculator or portal | Higher up front; ask what upkeep costs |
More in freelancer or agency and build your website yourself or hire someone.
How to set the quotes side by side
- Fill in a brief and send it to two or three agencies, not more.
- Ask each to split the quote item by item, as in the first table.
- Put the quotes into the scoring table with your own weights.
- Work out each quote over three years, before VAT.
- Open three live sites of each agency on your phone and search for their services in Google.
Questions about choosing an agency
What should a website quote include?
The number of pages, who makes the copy and images, which features and languages are included, how your old site redirects, the lead time, what you pay after launch and whose name the domain, hosting and design are in. If any of these is missing, ask before you compare.
How many quotes should I get?
Two or three is enough to compare. More quotes mostly make it harder, especially when they describe different things. Send everyone the same brief so you compare like with like.
Is it risky to hire a web design agency in another country?
Not if you check the same things you would at home: live sites you can open, a fixed price per item, ownership in writing and a clear contact person. Within the EU the rules on consumer and data protection are shared, and VAT between businesses runs through the reverse charge.
Is the cheapest quote a bad idea?
Not always. A low price for a small site with your own copy can be fair. It becomes a bad idea when parts you need are missing, such as redirects or copy written for search, or when a subscription hides the real price.
Should I pay a deposit?
A deposit at the start is normal, often a third to half, with the rest on delivery. Never pay everything up front for a project that has not started, and agree what happens if the timeline slips.
What if the agency disappears?
Then you will be glad the domain, hosting and accounts are in your name and that you have the files. Put that in the quote. A site on a builder's own platform often cannot be taken along; ask before you sign.