Website planning
Website redesign quotes vary: build a brief you can compare
Two proposals can describe a website redesign and still cover very different work. One may include content migration and tested enquiry routing; another may price only the visible pages. Before comparing the totals, give each supplier the same brief. Describe the tasks customers need to complete, the content that must survive and the checks your team will use to accept the result.
Describe the task, then the pages
Name the main action the website should support: a qualified enquiry, a booking request, a product purchase or access to an existing customer service. List the pages and steps that make that action possible. A page count alone does not explain the work behind search, filtering, payment or account access.
For an illustrative service business, the journey might be a service page, an enquiry form, a confirmation and a record for the sales team. Write down what information moves between those steps and who uses it next. A supplier can then estimate the actual journey.
Assign the content work
Inventory the existing copy, images, downloads and translations. Mark what will be reused, updated or created. State who supplies the material, who checks its accuracy and who gives final approval. Include image rights and access to original files in the preparation list.
Agree how review rounds work. One consolidated set of comments from a named decision-maker is easier to act on than conflicting notes from several people. Connect milestone dates to the material and decisions required to reach them, rather than assuming all content is ready.
Make integrations and migration visible
List the systems the new website must connect to, including forms, CRM, payments and booking tools. Describe the expected result and the response to a failure. Give the supplier a way to assess available documentation and access before treating an integration as a fixed, simple task.
If URLs change, Google's migration guidance calls for mapping old addresses to appropriate new destinations. Ask for an inventory of important pages and files, a redirect plan and post-launch checks. Decide what happens to outdated content instead of forwarding every missing page to a generic destination.
Agree what acceptance and handover mean
Choose checks a business reviewer can witness: an enquiry reaches its intended record, an editor can change approved content, relevant redirects work and the core journey is usable on a phone. Include payment or account tests where those features are in scope.
Specify ownership, setup instructions and ongoing support responsibilities. Ask each proposal to identify what is excluded and how additional work will be estimated. When a price differs substantially, compare the included journeys, content work, testing and support before drawing conclusions from the total alone. A useful proposal should make those differences understandable.
Your next step
A practical checklist
- The primary customer task is written down.
- Page types and important user actions are listed.
- Content supply and approval have named owners.
- Integrations and access assumptions are explicit.
- Important existing URLs and files have a migration plan.
- Acceptance checks are observable by the buyer.
- Handover, exclusions and support responsibilities are included.