Web Design Quotation Template
Web design quotation template with a filled sample: discovery, design, development, content, SEO setup, milestones, revisions, hosting and maintenance.
"How much for a website?" is impossible to answer without a scope, and that is exactly what a web design quotation template gives you. By breaking the project into discovery, design, development, content and launch, with a page count, revision limit and payment milestones, you give the client a price they can trust and give yourself a clear boundary when new requests appear. Below is a section-by-section guide and a filled sample for an eight-page small business site.
Why web design quotes go wrong
Most problems on web projects come from assumptions. The client assumed you would write the copy; you assumed they would. The client assumed a booking system was included; you quoted a contact form. The client assumed unlimited changes; you priced two rounds. A good quotation turns each assumption into a line item or an exclusion. If you are still working out your rates, our web design pricing guide covers typical project ranges and pricing models.
Sections in a web design quotation template
- Project summary: what the site is for and who it serves, in two or three sentences.
- Sitemap and page list: each page or template, such as Home, About, Services (3), Blog, Contact.
- Design: number of concepts, templates designed, revision rounds.
- Development: platform or CMS, responsive build, integrations, forms, e-commerce.
- Content: who supplies copy and images, migration of existing posts, stock imagery.
- SEO and analytics set-up: titles, meta descriptions, sitemap, analytics, redirects from old URLs.
- Accessibility and testing: browsers, devices and accessibility target.
- Launch: deployment, DNS, SSL, training.
- Timeline and milestones.
- Pricing and payment schedule.
- Optional extras and maintenance.
- Exclusions, change requests and ownership.
Web design quotation sample
| Quotation no. | WQ-2026-014 |
|---|---|
| Date / valid until | 12 November 2026 / 12 December 2026 |
| Client | Greenleaf Physiotherapy |
| Project | New 8-page website on a CMS, replacing the current site, with online booking link |
| Phase / item | Detail | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and sitemap | Kick-off workshop, competitor review, sitemap, content plan | 800.00 |
| Design | Homepage plus 2 inner templates, 2 revision rounds each | 2,400.00 |
| Development | 8 pages x 450.00, responsive, CMS editing | 3,600.00 |
| Integrations | Contact form, newsletter sign-up, link to existing booking system | 350.00 |
| SEO set-up | Titles, meta descriptions, XML sitemap, analytics, 301 redirects | 400.00 |
| Content migration | 15 existing blog posts x 20.00 | 300.00 |
| Testing and launch | Browser and device testing, accessibility checks, go-live, 1-hour training | 450.00 |
| Project total (excluding tax) | 8,300.00 | |
Payment schedule: 40% on acceptance (3,320.00), 40% on design approval (3,320.00), 20% at launch (1,660.00). Check: 3,320 + 3,320 + 1,660 = 8,300.00.
Optional: care plan at 120.00 per month covering CMS and plugin updates, daily backups, uptime monitoring and up to 1 hour of small edits.
Timeline: 8 weeks from deposit, assuming feedback within 5 working days at each stage.
Exclusions: copywriting, photography, paid plugins and themes (passed through at cost), domain and hosting fees, e-commerce, ongoing SEO or advertising.
How the numbers were built
Each phase price comes from estimated hours. Suppose your rate is 75.00 per hour. Development of 8 pages at 6 hours each is 48 hours, or 3,600.00, which is where the 450.00 per page figure comes from. Design at 32 hours is 2,400.00. Presenting phases rather than raw hours keeps the client focused on outcomes, while you keep the hour estimate in your own notes to check profitability at the end. Our guide on fixed price vs time and materials explains when each approach suits a project.
Quoting a maintenance or care plan
A website needs updates after launch, and a monthly plan turns a one-off project into recurring income. Quote it as a separate option so the client can say yes to the build without committing to the plan. A tiered layout works well:
| Plan | Monthly fee | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | 60.00 | CMS and plugin updates, weekly backups, uptime monitoring |
| Standard | 120.00 | Essential plus daily backups and up to 1 hour of edits per month |
| Growth | 280.00 | Standard plus 3 hours of edits or new content, monthly analytics report |
State whether unused hours roll over (usually not), the response time for urgent fixes and the notice period to cancel. Over a year, the Standard plan is 12 x 120.00 = 1,440.00, which is worth showing because it helps the client compare it against paying hourly for ad-hoc fixes.
How to write a web design quotation, step by step
- Hold a discovery call. Ask about goals, audience, must-have features, examples they like, content readiness, deadline and budget.
- Draft a sitemap. The page list drives most of the price, so agree it before quoting.
- Estimate hours per phase and add a buffer of 10% to 20% for communication and feedback.
- List third-party costs such as themes, plugins, fonts and stock images.
- Set milestones and payment stages linked to deliverables the client can see.
- Write exclusions and change-request rules.
- Send the quote with an expiry date, then follow up within a week.
Revisions and change requests
Define a revision round as one consolidated list of feedback from the client. Then add a change-request rule such as: "Requests outside the agreed sitemap or functionality will be quoted separately before work starts, at 75.00 per hour." When the client asks for a new members area halfway through, you send a short change order rather than absorbing the work. Our article on scope creep and change orders shows the wording.
Accessibility and testing
State the accessibility standard you build to, so expectations are clear. Many designers reference the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and aim for level AA on templates they build, while noting that content the client adds later must also follow the guidelines. List the browsers and devices you will test on, such as current versions of the major desktop and mobile browsers.
Variations of the template
| Project type | Extra lines to add |
|---|---|
| E-commerce store | Product set-up per product, payment gateway, shipping rules, tax set-up |
| Landing page | Single design, A/B variant, form integration, tracking pixels |
| Redesign | Content audit, URL mapping, redirects, migration |
| Custom web app | Requirements, database, user roles, API work; see our software development quotation template |
| Ongoing marketing | Monthly SEO, content or ads retainer; see our digital marketing quotation format |
Presenting options: good, better, best
Clients often have a budget but do not say it. Offering three versions of the project in one web design quotation lets them choose without awkward negotiation:
| Option | What changes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 5 pages on a premium theme, 1 design round, no blog migration | 4,200.00 |
| Recommended | The 8-page custom design quoted above | 8,300.00 |
| Extended | Recommended plus booking system integration, 3 landing pages and a copywriting allowance | 12,600.00 |
Each option should be a complete, deliverable project in its own right, not a deliberately weak decoy. The Starter option above still launches a working site; it simply uses a ready-made theme, fewer pages and less custom design time, which is why it costs roughly half as much. If a client chooses it, note in the quote that upgrading later (for example, adding the blog migration) will be priced at the rates shown, so there are no surprises when they come back in six months asking for more.
Describe each option by outcome, not just by features, and make the recommended option the one you would choose for them. Clients rarely pick the cheapest when the differences are explained, and when they do, you have still won a project that fits their budget.
Common mistakes on web design quotes
- No page list. "A 5 to 10 page website" invites a 15-page site.
- Content responsibility not stated. Missing copy is the most common reason sites launch late.
- Unlimited revisions. Cap them and price extras.
- No feedback deadline. Say what happens if the client goes silent for a month; for example, the project is paused and the next milestone invoice is issued.
- Hosting bundled invisibly. Renewals become arguments a year later.
- Ownership left vague. State when the site transfers and what stays yours.
After the client accepts
Send the deposit invoice the same day and schedule the kick-off. Bill each milestone with a reference to the quote number so the client's accounts team can match it. Our web development invoice template shows milestone and hourly invoice layouts, and our freelance contract template covers the clauses that should sit behind the quote.
You can put this quotation together in our free invoice generator: list each phase as a line item, add your payment schedule and exclusions in the notes, and download a PDF to send. It is free and works without registration.
Frequently asked questions
What should a web design quotation include?
Include the project goal, a list of pages or templates, design rounds and revisions, the platform or CMS, functionality such as forms, booking or e-commerce, content responsibility, basic SEO set-up, browser and device testing, hosting and domain notes, a timeline, payment milestones, what is excluded and how extra requests will be priced. Ongoing maintenance should be quoted as a separate monthly option.
How do I price a web design project?
Estimate the hours for each phase, such as discovery, design, development, content entry, testing and launch, then multiply by your hourly rate and add a buffer for feedback rounds. Many designers present the result as a fixed price per phase rather than hours. Third-party costs like premium themes, plugins, stock images and hosting should be listed separately or passed to the client.
How many revisions should a web design quote include?
Two rounds of revisions per design stage is common, such as two rounds on the homepage design and two on inner page templates. Define a round as one consolidated set of feedback, and state the hourly rate for additional rounds. Without a limit, design approval can drag on for weeks and eat your margin on a fixed-price project.
What payment terms are common for web design?
A typical structure is 30% to 50% upfront, a further payment when designs are approved or development is complete, and the balance at launch. Larger projects may bill by monthly milestones. Make launch or transfer of site ownership conditional on final payment, and state what happens if the client delays feedback for several weeks.
Should hosting and domain be in the web design quote?
List them, but keep them separate from the design fee. Ideally the client registers the domain and hosting in their own name so they keep control. If you resell hosting or manage it, quote it as a recurring annual or monthly charge with what is included, such as backups, updates and SSL. This prevents confusion when renewals come up a year later.
Who owns the website after the project?
That depends on your contract. Commonly, the client owns the finished site and content once paid in full, while the designer keeps rights to reusable code, frameworks and design tools, and third-party themes and plugins remain under their own licences. State ownership and when it transfers on the quote, and address it fully in your contract.
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Guides on invoicing, cash flow and small-business finance from Invoice Creator, operated by Next Software Development Company. Content is reviewed for accuracy against the fields our own invoice generator produces.
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