If you’ve read any of our other articles, you’ll know that one of our common answers to what seems like a straightforward question is “it depends.” And when we’re talking about the cost of rebuilding a website, this is probably the biggest “it depends” that we can think of.
Because of that (spoiler alert), we’re not going to give a firm cost for building a website. You won’t find an article that gives you a reliable cost. You’ll need to reach out to a few agencies to get different quotes, compare those quotes, and decide from there.
But one quote is not the same as the other. Don’t just look at the dollar cost of the quote. Consider what’s included and go from there.
This article aims to educate readers on what we think should be included. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, there are a lot of cowboys out there. And, even if you don’t use us for your website rebuild, we’d rather you not get ripped off.
All of this assumes you’re building a site that isn’t very basic. Your business may only need a single page or a few pages, and for that the advice below may be too much. But once you’re getting to a site of about 10 pages or more, you need some more planning and care.
What Should Be Included In A Website Rebuild Quote
This one is a little easier to answer because we can answer in general. This is what we include (at minimum) for our quotes.
Full Website Brief
This kind of goes without saying and, for us at least, both is and isn’t included as part of the quote. We’ll get the broad strokes of the brief before even quoting.
Why? Well how can we quote a website rebuild if we don’t know the scope of the project.
Site Map
While a site map is a site map, we also use it as a deeper brief before continuing with the rest of the build.
A site map names and describes every page that will be built.
In our initial briefing session (before the quote) we’ll get a pretty thorough idea of what pages and site sections need to be created, but the sitemap goes further. The site map describes and briefs each page individually.
Think something like “the homepage will have a rotating banner followed by brief text describing the company. It will also feature pictures of the company founders and testimonials from customers.”
Hopefully you can see why this is important. Before starting on the actual website building, clients need to look at and read the sitemap to ensure the project has everything they expect it to have.
Wireframes
A wireframe is like a sketch of each page of a website. These “sketches” show where key elements of each page will be so that clients can get a better understanding of how each page will look before an agency goes through the effort of actually making the pages.
Like the site map, wireframes allow us as an agency to show a client how the new site will look and manage everyone’s expectations before moving forward.
Both the site map stage and the wireframe stage are excellent times to give feedback. Of course you can give feedback further into the project (and your agency should accept the feedback and make changes), but at these early stages both you as a client and your agency can agree on each and every aspect of the site and avoid any misunderstanding about scope. An honest agency should provide these things and be clear about their understanding of the scope of the project, even if it is a small project.
Actual Site Rebuild
Kind of an obvious one if you’ve employed someone to build your website, but this is where there can be a misunderstanding! What does the rebuild actually include? Confirm with your agency if the rebuild includes:
- Copywriting of website landing pages and other key elements: you’ll likely need all your pages written, but maybe you won’t. Either way, make sure it’s clear.
- Images, whether stock imagery or graphic design: you can make a great website with just stock imagery, but establish what images you get and how many.
- Installation of common tracking tags such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel: it’s surprising how often website developers don’t do this. Installing these tags is easy but a client may not know how to do this. These tags are important for reporting and understanding site performance.
- Basic SEO site structure: another one that should be basic. It’s disappointing to see a brand new website built without SEO best practice in mind. Take a look through our marketing blog for some tips on SEO basics to get an idea of what to look out for.
Follow Up Care
This is potentially more important than the rest of the quote. How much follow up is included in the quote (if any at all)? Or will you new agency, after getting paid, refuse to give you any help without further payment. We provide:
- Go live checklist: this is something we kind of invented, but other agencies often have something similar. An agency should be accountable and run a number of tests to ensure basic functionality of a website.
- Login to website back end: you have the right to modify and update your site if you want to. This means you should receive a login to the backend to do these modifications or to be able to provide the login to another agency should you want to.
- Reasonable changes and fixes: there may be small errors or last minute changes needed; things like forgetting to link to your Facebook page or a typo. Your agency should correct these errors and reasonable oversites.
- Ongoing support: your quote should include hourly rates and/or rough quotes for additional work that is outside the scope of your rebuild. Hopefully you liked working with your new agency and want to add new things to your site.
- A brief tutorial: briefly show you around how to use your site’s software so you can do basic updates.
In our experience, it’s the follow up care where clients are let down. The items listed above aren’t required, but you should know whether they’re included or not. Maybe you’re happy for them to not be included if you can save some money. That’s fine. Just know before you start a relationship with an agency.
I Got a Quote Locally But Can Get a Website Built Much Cheaper Overseas
That’s fine, but why is it cheaper?
You may be able to get away with not doing a site map or wireframes if it’s a very basic site, but what’s included and what’s not included? And is it of quality?
This is especially true when it comes to copywriting. While there are some great affordable copywriter overseas, you’ll likely get better copy written by someone local to Australia.
It’s also true for follow up care, especially if you’re a small or medium sized business owner. You don’t have the time or the patience to try and work across time zones to get minor things fixed. Local is the way to go here.
OK, So Now What?
Sorry that we didn’t answer the question directly, but, after this rather long article, hopefully you understand there’s a lot that goes into rebuilding a website.
If you are serious about getting a website built, please get in touch. We’ll provide a thorough quote and help you understand the process.
