What drives the fee?
Scope matters more than a headline price: custom design, content, integrations, accessibility, migration and ongoing ownership all change the work involved. Ask for an itemised scope before comparing proposals.
Different projects, different teams
A straightforward brochure site is not the same purchase as a conversion-focused CMS rebuild or a complex commerce platform. Ask what the proposed team will actually deliver.
Budget beyond launch
Include discovery, UX, design, development, copy, SEO migration, testing, hosting, licences, maintenance and future iterations. Separate one-off project fees from recurring costs.
Compare like with like
Give shortlisted agencies the same brief. Check deliverables, revision rounds, content ownership, integrations, project management, acceptance testing and handover. Request assumptions and exclusions in writing.
Warning signs
Unclear IP ownership, missing redirect plans, unsupported performance promises and fixed fees without defined boundaries warrant a closer look.
Questions worth asking
Who will do the work? How are change requests priced? What counts as acceptance? Who owns the accounts and source files? What support follows launch?
Next step
Find an agency that fits your project · Explore the agency directory
Example: two proposals, different real costs
Agency A quotes design and build but expects your team to deliver publication-ready content and handle redirects. Agency B includes content migration, redirect planning and training. The lower quote may require more internal work and introduce more risk. Compare deliverables, responsibilities and a 12–24 month total cost, not just the launch invoice.
Be careful with pricing benchmarks
Public supplier price guides in Sweden show wide differences between straightforward websites and complex builds. A single provider’s starting price is not a market average. Ask for a scoped range with explicit assumptions rather than a price-per-page headline.
Before kicking off
Split requirements into launch-critical, nice-to-have and later phases. Budget internal time for approvals and content. Decide who owns analytics, consent, accessibility, performance and security updates.
Related resource
Use the agency RFP template to collect genuinely comparable proposals.
