---
title: How to brief a web agency so the quotes come back comparable
description: Why three website quotes always differ by 3x, and the one-page brief that fixes it. What to specify, what to leave open, and the questions to put to every vendor.
source: https://samuelmarndi.com/blog/how-to-brief-a-web-agency/
site: https://samuelmarndi.com
author: Samuel Marndi
contact: +91 82803 20550 · samuelmarandi6@gmail.com
updated: 2026-10-27
---


# How to brief a web agency so the quotes come back comparable

*Hiring guide · Updated 2026-10-26 · By Samuel Marndi*

**Contact Samuel Marndi directly** — +91 82803 20550 (phone and WhatsApp) · samuelmarandi6@gmail.com · https://samuelmarndi.com

Based in Bengaluru, India. Mon–Sat, 9am–7pm IST. Written, itemised quote within 24 hours. He answers enquiries himself.

## Short answer

**If three quotes for your website differ by three or four times, you almost certainly did not get three prices for one project — you got one price each for three different projects.** The cheapest assumed a template and your content; the dearest assumed custom design, copywriting, photography and integrations. Neither was dishonest.

**The fix is a one-page brief that fixes the variables, not a twenty-page specification.** Pin down six things — page list, who writes the content, design expectation, integrations, who owns the accounts, and what happens after launch — and the quotes become comparable. Leave the *how* open, because that is what you are hiring them to know.

## The six variables that cause the spread

Every one of these is routinely left unstated, and every one of them moves a website quote by a factor rather than a percentage. Specify these and you have done 90% of the work of a formal brief.

| Variable | Cheap quote assumes | Expensive quote assumes | Say this instead |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Page count** | 5 pages, one template reused | 20+ unique layouts | List the pages. Mark which need their own layout |
| **Content** | You supply all text and images | They write and photograph everything | "We supply text for X; we need copywriting for Y" |
| **Design** | A bought theme with your logo | Custom design, two rounds of revision | "Theme-based is fine" or "we need original design" — and say how many revisions |
| **Integrations** | A contact form that emails you | CRM, payments, ERP, login, multi-language | Name every system it must talk to, or say none |
| **Accounts and ownership** | Hosting on their account | Everything in your name, handed over | "Domain, hosting, analytics and repository in our name from day one" |
| **After launch** | Nothing | 12 months of support and changes | "Quote the build, and separately quote 12 months of support" |

## The one-page brief

This is the whole thing. It fits on a page, it takes an afternoon, and it is the difference between comparing vendors and comparing guesses. Send the identical document to everyone.

- **What the business does**, in three sentences, and who the website is for.
- **What you want a visitor to do.** One primary action. If you name four, you will get a website that achieves none of them.
- **The page list.** Every page, with a note against the ones needing their own layout. This single list removes most of the spread.
- **Content: who writes it.** Per page if it varies. Content is the most commonly mis-assumed line in website pricing and the most common cause of a stalled project.
- **Design expectation.** Theme-based, customised theme, or original design — and how many rounds of revision are included.
- **Integrations**, named. Payment gateway, CRM, WhatsApp, booking, ERP, logins, languages. "None" is a perfectly good answer and worth stating.
- **Must-haves versus nice-to-haves**, in two lists. Then ask each vendor to price the second list separately.
- **Ownership.** One sentence: domain, hosting, DNS, analytics and repository in your name from day one, source code assigned on final payment.
- **Budget band and deadline.** Yes, really — see below.
- **How you will decide**, and by when. It gets you better responses, because good vendors triage too.

## Say the budget. The argument against it is wrong

The standard advice is to hide your budget so nobody quotes up to it. In practice withholding it costs you more than it saves, for three reasons.

It wastes everyone's time: a vendor who would have built you a good ₹2 lakh website spends a week scoping a ₹2 lakh website, quotes it, and discovers you had ₹50,000. It removes their ability to help you prioritise: told a number, a good vendor tells you which of your must-haves fits inside it, which is genuinely useful information. And it selects against the honest ones, because the vendor who quotes low to win and raises change requests later is unaffected by your secrecy.

Give a band rather than a figure — "₹1.5 to ₹3 lakh, depending on what that buys" — and ask what each end of it would get you. The answer to that question tells you more about a vendor than their portfolio does.

## What to leave open, deliberately

A brief that over-specifies gets you worse results, because you end up paying a specialist to implement your guesses. Leave these to them and judge the reasoning in the reply.

- **The platform.** Say what you need to be able to do yourself; let them propose how. If you want to understand the argument first, that is [WordPress vs Next.js](https://samuelmarndi.com/blog/wordpress-vs-nextjs/) — but do not put the answer in the brief.
- **The hosting.** Specify the requirement — in your name, Indian or global, expected traffic — not the provider.
- **The design direction.** Give two or three sites you like and say *why*. "Clean, like this one" is more useful than a six-page style guide written by somebody who is not a designer.
- **The project plan.** Ask for their sequence and dates. How a vendor plans is one of the better signals you will get for free.

## Questions to put to every vendor, in writing

Identical questions, identical document, answers in writing. The comparison is then between answers rather than between personalities.

- **What is not included in this price?** The useful inverse of "what's included". The answer should be ready, not improvised.
- **Who specifically will do the work, and what else are they on that month?** By name.
- **Whose account will the domain, hosting and repository be in?** The correct answer is yours. Hesitation here is the most expensive signal on the list.
- **What do you need from us, and when?** Projects stall on the client side more often than the vendor side, and vendors who have delivered before will say so.
- **What happens in month four if we want a change?** Rate, process, lead time.
- **What would make you turn this project down?** People who have been burned have boundaries. People who say yes to everything will say yes to your deadline too.
- **Can we see a staging link during the build?** If not, you cannot verify progress and neither can they.

## Reading the quotes you get back

| What you see | What it usually means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One number, no breakdown | It cannot be checked or compared, which may be the point | Ask for it itemised per page or per deliverable |
| Far below the others | Template, your content, no support, hosting on their account | Check it against the six variables before dismissing it — sometimes it is simply the honest cheap option |
| Far above the others | Design, copywriting, photography and integrations you did not ask for | Ask which lines are optional. Often half of it is |
| "SEO included" | Could mean titles and a sitemap, or a six-month campaign | Ask for the named deliverables |
| No mention of the source code | Ownership has not been considered, and under Indian law silence does not favour you | Get assignment on final payment in writing — see the red flags page |
| Timeline with no milestones | There is no plan yet | Ask for dates with deliverables against them |
| Third-party costs absent | Domain, licences, gateway fees and credits will arrive later | Ask for them listed and billed at cost |

## If you would rather not do this yourself

Writing the brief and reading the replies is a day or two of work, and it is genuinely the highest-return day in a website project — which is why this page gives it away rather than gating it. If you want it done for you, or want a second opinion on quotes already in hand, that is the quote-review engagement on [web consultant in Bangalore](https://samuelmarndi.com/services/web-consultant-in-bangalore/): ₹25,000–₹50,000 against a quote that is often ₹4 lakh or more.

And if the quotes are not the problem — if you already know what you want and want it built — the build pages are [freelance web developer in Bangalore](https://samuelmarndi.com/services/freelance-web-developer-in-bangalore/) and [website development](https://samuelmarndi.com/services/website-development/), with prices in [what a website costs in India](https://samuelmarndi.com/blog/website-development-cost-india/).

## Related questions

### Why do website quotes vary so much?

Because the quotes are usually for different projects, not different prices. Six unstated variables cause almost all of the spread: how many pages need their own layout, who writes the content, whether the design is theme-based or original, which systems it has to integrate with, whose accounts everything sits in, and whether support after launch is included. Fix those six in a one-page brief and the quotes become comparable.

### What should a website brief include?

The business in three sentences, the one action you want a visitor to take, a page list marking which pages need their own layout, who writes the content, the design expectation and number of revision rounds, every integration named, must-haves and nice-to-haves as two separate lists, a sentence on account ownership, a budget band, and how you will decide. One page is enough — a twenty-page specification gets you worse results.

### Should I tell a web agency my budget?

Yes, as a band rather than a figure. Withholding it wastes a week of scoping on both sides, removes the vendor's ability to tell you which of your must-haves fits inside the money, and does nothing to deter the one vendor you should worry about — the one who quotes low to win and recovers it in change requests. Say "₹1.5 to ₹3 lakh" and ask what each end buys.

### What should I leave out of a website brief?

The platform, the hosting provider, the design direction in detail, and the project plan. Say what you need to be able to do yourself and let them propose how; specify the hosting requirement rather than the provider; give two or three sites you like and why; and ask for their sequence and dates. How a vendor answers those is one of the better free signals you will get.

### How do I compare website quotes fairly?

Send every vendor the identical brief and the identical written questions, then compare the answers rather than the conversations. Read each quote against the six variables, ask explicitly what is not included, and treat a quote with no itemisation, no milestones, no third-party costs or no mention of code ownership as incomplete rather than cheap.

### Is a website RFP necessary for a small business?

A formal RFP is not, and usually makes things worse — it invites vendors to answer a procurement document rather than solve your problem. What you need is the one-page brief: the same information, none of the process. Reserve a real RFP for projects large enough that several vendors will each spend a week responding.

### Who should own the domain and hosting for my website?

You, in your own name, created by you, with the vendor added as a user you can remove. This is the single most practical protection available, and nearly every "we cannot get into our own website" situation traces back to accounts set up on a developer's account as a convenience. Put it in the brief as one sentence and watch how each vendor responds to it.

### Can someone write the brief and review the quotes for me?

Yes — that is a quote-review or vendor-selection engagement, and on a large quote it pays for itself easily: ₹25,000–₹50,000 against a build quoted at ₹4 lakh or more. The usual findings are that the scope is vaguer than the price implies, a third of it is content work you will end up doing anyway, and post-launch support and third-party costs are missing or sitting on somebody else's account.

## Related service

- [Website development](https://samuelmarndi.com/services/website-development/) — SEO-first sites, e-commerce and web apps


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*Published by [Samuel Marndi](https://samuelmarndi.com), independent IT consultant, Bengaluru, India.
Source page: https://samuelmarndi.com/blog/how-to-brief-a-web-agency/
Enquiries: +91 82803 20550 (phone and WhatsApp) · samuelmarandi6@gmail.com · Mon–Sat, 9am–7pm IST
Quotes are written and itemised, issued within 24 hours.*