How website pricing actually works
Nobody in this industry likes talking about money, so most agencies hide behind “it depends” and most buyers walk into their first quote blind. This guide is our attempt to fix that, so when quotes arrive you can read them like someone who has bought websites before.
Why we quote fixed, and why we scope first
Every Clickingmad quote is a fixed figure, agreed in writing before any work starts, and it does not move unless the scope does. The price of that promise is that we scope properly first, which is why we will always ask questions before we name a number. Be suspicious of anyone who quotes without asking. They are either guessing, or planning to make the difference up later.
To set expectations honestly: our website projects generally start from around £4,000. Below that level we will happily tell you that a carefully built template solution is the better answer, and point you towards one.
Price follows uncertainty as much as size
Page count matters, but uncertainty matters more. A fifty-page site with clear content and no integrations can cost less than a ten-page site that must talk to a stock system, migrate years of search value and satisfy four departments. The biggest cost drivers are unclear content, custom functionality, integrations, migration risk and the number of people who must agree before anything ships. When an agency asks awkward questions at the scoping stage, it is driving your price down, not up, because uncertainty they remove is contingency you do not pay for.
Know what is inside the quote
Two quotes for “a website” can describe completely different amounts of work. Before comparing totals, check whether each includes:
- Strategy, sitemap planning and wireframes, or design straight onto a guess
- Copywriting and content entry, or an empty site you must fill
- Photography and imagery, licensed properly
- Migration of existing content, redirects, and protection of your search rankings
- Analytics set up to measure enquiries, not just visits
- Testing across devices, accessibility checks, training and launch support
The Clickingmad Test
If an item matters to you and is not written in the quote, price it as not included, because it is not.
What cheap buys you
A bargain website is not a smaller version of a properly built one. It is a different product. It usually means a template nobody adapted, stock content that ranks for nothing, hosting you share with a thousand strangers, and nobody answering the phone in month six. We regularly quote to rebuild sites that were cheap eighteen months earlier. Paying twice is the most expensive way to buy a website.
The costs that continue after launch
A website is not a one-off purchase. Budget for hosting, for support and maintenance, and for whatever marketing the site needs to earn its keep. A reasonable rule of thumb is an annual running budget of fifteen to twenty-five percent of the build cost, and any proposal that never mentions running costs is incomplete, because those costs arrive whether or not anyone warned you.
How to hold any agency to a number
Ask for a fixed quote in writing before work starts, with the scope described in words you understand. Ask what happens to the price if the scope changes, and expect a conversation rather than an invoice. Turn every proposal into the same checklist before comparing totals, because the cheapest quote is often simply the one with the shortest list of responsibilities. Our own answer is simple: a fixed number up front, and if the scope changes, we tell you, you decide, and we agree the new number.