You asked two companies for a price on a website and got back two figures that are a long way apart.
The instinct is to conclude that one is expensive. Usually the real situation is that they are quoting for different work, and the figures cannot be compared until that is sorted out.
Here is how to put them on the same footing.
Write your own brief first
Before comparing anything, write down what you actually want: what the business does, who it is for, where you work, what you want the site to do, and what has to be true.
A page is enough. Without it, each quote is answering a slightly different question, and you have no basis for saying which answer is better.
If you gave both companies the same written brief, the quotes are already more comparable than most.
Ask both for the same list
Whatever they sent, ask each of them for the same seven things.
- What is being built. How many pages, which ones, and what is on them.
- Who writes the words and who supplies the photographs. This is the single largest hidden difference between quotes.
- What happens after it goes live. Is anything included, for how long.
- What is not included. In items.
- What will be billed by anybody else. Renewals, licences, line fees.
- Who owns what, and when. Domain, site, accounts, data.
- How long it takes, and what they need from you to hit that.
Once both have answered, the figures usually explain themselves.
The differences that account for most of the gap
Words and photographs. A quote that assumes you supply finished copy and images is quoting for a fraction of the job. If you do not have those, that work will happen, and it will be paid for by somebody.
Number of pages. Not always stated, and a large driver.
Template or built. A site assembled from a purchased template is a different amount of work from one designed around your business. Neither is wrong. They are not the same product.
What happens afterwards. A build with nothing after it and a build with ongoing work attached are not comparable as single numbers.
Who fixes it when something breaks. Ask specifically.
Look for what is missing rather than what is promised
Quotes compete on what they include. The useful reading is the opposite.
Read each one for what it does not mention. A quote that says nothing about who writes the content, nothing about ownership, and nothing about what happens after launch is not a cheaper quote. It is a less complete one.
Be careful with a promise of results
If either quote promises leads, rankings, traffic, or revenue, treat that as information about the supplier rather than about the offer.
Those are outcomes nobody controls. A promise about one is either a guess or a sales technique, and it tells you how the rest of the relationship will be conducted.
We do not make outcome promises of any kind. What we put in writing is what gets delivered and when, and that is what any quote should be judged on.
Check the ending, not just the beginning
Ask both suppliers what happens if you leave in a year: what you get, how fast, and whether anything of yours is ever held back.
A clear answer here is worth more than a difference in price, because it is the answer that determines whether a mistake is recoverable.
Then compare
Once both quotes cover the same scope, name the same exclusions, and answer the same ownership questions, the numbers mean something.
At that point a higher figure may be the better purchase, or it may not. What you will have is a decision rather than a guess.
One more thing worth doing
Ask each of them what they would do if the honest answer were that you do not need a new website.
The reply is informative.
If you want a neutral read on your current setup before you commit to anything, the free check covers your website, your Google profile, your search results, and your reviews. It is an outside look only, nothing is changed, the findings are yours to keep, and none of it depends on hiring anybody.