QUAKE MEDIA / THE PRACTICAL GUIDE
Web design costs in Vancouver: scope the website before the price
Compare website quotes by content, design, functionality, migration, accessibility, and ongoing costs. Prepare a clearer brief for your Vancouver web project.
Explore the guideBy Quake Media · 2 minute read
Price the work. Not the page count.
A framework for the decisions in this guide.
Discovery & design / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
The starting point
A website price depends on the work needed to get from your current situation to a reliable finished site. Page count is only one part of that work. Two proposals for a ten-page website can include very different amounts of research, copywriting, design, development, integration, testing, and launch support.
Build & integrations / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Start with what the website must do
Describe the action visitors should take: enquire, book, purchase, apply, or find information. List the audiences and the pages they need to make that decision. Identify which existing content and assets can be reused and which need work. A useful brief is a description of the problem and required outcomes, rather than a list of visual effects.
Launch & ownership / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
The main cost components
- Discovery and structure: requirements, content inventory, navigation, and user journeys.
- Design: the number of distinct layouts, brand assets, mobile behaviour, and review rounds.
- Content: copywriting, editing, product data, photography, and migration from the old site.
- Development: CMS requirements, custom functionality, forms, integrations, and commerce.
- Quality checks: accessibility, responsive layouts, performance, redirects, analytics, and completed enquiry or purchase flows.
- Launch and support: deployment, training, monitoring, backups, and maintenance responsibilities.
Discovery & design / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Why functionality changes the estimate
A standard enquiry form is different from a booking system with availability, deposits, cancellations, and customer notifications. A product catalogue differs from a store with tax rules, stock synchronization, multiple shipping regions, and subscriptions. Describe the edge cases before comparing development estimates.
Specify which service owns each record. For example, determine whether orders originate in the website or an existing business system, how updates are exchanged, and who handles an integration failure. These decisions affect both the build and ongoing support.
Build & integrations / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Budget for the move
A redesign must account for existing URLs, useful content, search traffic, forms, downloadable files, and connected services. Ask for a migration inventory and an explicit redirect plan. If the proposal only discusses the new appearance, the work needed to replace the current site may be missing.
Launch & ownership / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
Compare total ownership costs
List hosting, domain renewal, paid extensions, third-party services, maintenance, and support separately from the build fee. Confirm ownership of the domain, hosting account, source files, content, and analytics. Ask how the site can be moved or maintained by another provider if circumstances change.
Discovery & design / EXPLORE THE DETAILS
What to send with an enquiry
Include your current URL, the site’s main purpose, required functionality, rough content volume, available brand assets, and desired launch timing. Name the person responsible for approvals and content. If budget is fixed, say so: scope can then be prioritized around the most important customer journey.
See our web development service, redesign checklist, and real client work before starting a conversation.
FROM READING TO DOING
Make your next
move a clear one.
Bring us your goals and the questions this guide raised. We’ll help you work out what belongs in your plan.
Talk it through with Quake