What a web design proposal should include
The page count and what each page does. Mobile first and speed as commitments, not adjectives. Who writes the content and where it comes from; a one-hour interview is a scope, "you send us copy" is a stall. Local search setup as its own line so the client sees it as work, not magic.
A timeline in weeks with a clear statement that content delays pause it. Two revision rounds included, further rounds at an hourly rate in the terms. Ownership of deliverables on final payment. Say who owns the domain and the hosting account, because the client should, and say what happens to the site if the care plan ends.
How to price a small business website
Fixed scope, priced by the page and the work around it. In 2026 a freelance five-page marketing site for a local business runs $3,000 to $8,000, and the same brief from a small agency runs $8,000 to $25,000; the sample prices design and build at $4,800, or just under $1,000 a page, which is the middle of the freelance range. Per-page pricing of $500 to $1,200 is the easiest number for a client to check, and a site with a booking system, a store, or a members area is a different quote at $2,000 to $10,000 more.
Content writing from an interview runs $150 to $300 per page and the sample uses $900 for five, because a site without copy does not launch and the client will not write it. Local search setup, meaning the Google Business Profile, schema, and analytics, is $300 to $800 as its own line so it reads as work. A logo refresh is $500 to $2,500 for freelance work and the sample uses $1,200. The care plan is $50 to $200 a month depending on what an hour of edits and a monitored backup are worth to you; the sample uses $99 with twelve months as the quantity. Extra revision rounds at $75 to $150 an hour belong in the terms, not the table.
With the care plan on, the sample totals $7,338 and the client sees the year of care as part of owning the site. Rates run higher in large metros and for regulated industries, so check yours against the studios your clients are also talking to.
How to price the optional items
A logo refresh is the classic optional line, off by default so it does not inflate the headline number. The care plan is the one that matters: a monthly line with the quantity set to twelve, on by default, so the client sees a year of updates and backups as part of owning the site. Most leave it on, and it is the difference between a project and a client.
Mistakes that lose design clients
Hourly estimates. Clients cannot budget an estimate and pick the fixed price next door. Unlimited revisions. It is not generosity, it is an open loop. No deposit. Half up front is normal in this trade and filters out clients who are not serious.
Leaving content out of the scope. The site is done in four weeks and launches in four months because nobody wrote the About page. A quote with no launch definition. Say what launch means, usually the site live on the client's domain, so the second payment has a trigger both of you can see.
Deposit and payment
Fifty percent at signing, fifty at launch, both by card through the proposal, and the balance request goes out from the same page when the site is live. A 30-day expiry gives a small business time to decide without letting the quote go stale. When the client asks for a sixth page in week three, a change order adds it with its own signature.
Sending it and following up
Send the proposal within a day of the discovery call, with two or three sites you have built in an image block, and keep the pricing table short enough to read on a phone. A reminder goes out on day three and day seven, and you can see whether the owner opened it and lingered on the care plan or the timeline. That tells you what the follow-up call should be about.
Questions
- How much deposit should a freelancer ask for?
- Fifty percent at signing is standard for fixed-scope design work and the template defaults to it, with the balance at launch. Half up front funds the first weeks of work and, more usefully, it is the point where a client who was never going to commit drops out.
- How do I handle scope creep?
- Two revision rounds in the scope, an hourly rate for more in the terms, and a line saying content delays pause the timeline. All three are in this template. For a real addition, such as a new page, send a change order so the extra work is priced and signed before it starts.
- Should I offer a maintenance plan?
- Yes, as an optional recurring line on the proposal with twelve months as the quantity and on by default. It is the difference between a project and an income, and a client who sees updates, backups, and an hour of edits a month next to the build price rarely turns it off.
- Should I charge per page or per project?
- Quote a fixed project price and show the page count in the description, so the client can do the per-page math themselves. A per-page rate alone invites a request to cut a page to save money; a project price with the scope written out invites a yes.
- Who should own the domain and hosting?
- The client, always, with you as a manager on the accounts. Put it in the terms. It protects the client if you retire, protects you from being the bottleneck for a DNS change at midnight, and makes the care plan a service rather than a hostage situation.
- What if the client never sends the content?
- Price the content writing as a line and take it out of their hands, as the sample does. Where they insist on writing it, the terms say content delays pause the timeline and the balance is due at launch or ninety days after design approval, whichever comes first.
