The short answer
Compare quotes for the same job. Copy, product data, integrations, launch work and ongoing support can change the total as much as the visible design. This guide helps you check those costs with real project examples; it doesn’t publish a rate card or client budgets.
A clearer next step
Fix, redesign or rebuild?
Answer seven questions about your WordPress website. Get a suggested direction, the reasons behind it and practical next steps. No email required to see your result.
What sits behind the website price?
Start with what people need to do on your site. Are they finding a product, asking for a quote, booking a service or choosing a store? Each needs different information and connections behind the page, whether you already use WordPress or are moving to it.
Page count is only part of the price. Fifty product pages using the same layout and editing tools may be simpler to build than ten pages that each work differently.
A launch and a migration can both be called a “WordPress website” while involving different work. Saddle Peak Ventures started with service information, contact paths and measurement. Bedford Grow involved moving from static HTML, organizing two brands and restoring a packaging link after launch. These are delivered scope examples, not price comparisons.
Define the job
- Customer tasks and business priorities
- Content to keep, improve or create
- Connected tools, account access and approvals
Build the system
- Page types and reusable layouts
- Editing tools for your team
- Forms, commerce and integrations
Make it usable
- Check the site on phones and test key tasks
- Redirect old links and plan for launch problems
- Train your team and agree who looks after the site
Ask what “done” means for each part. A form that sends an email and a quote workflow that assigns a sales owner are different deliverables.
Three scope details worth settling early
- Content: who writes the copy, cleans product data and supplies approved images? “Migration” may only mean moving what already exists.
- Growth: can staff add a location or product family through a repeatable editing system? WordPress supports custom content types, but the right setup depends on your workflow.
- Decisions: who approves the work, how many review rounds are included, and how are later scope changes priced?
One screen. Several responsibilities.
Pink Balloon needed a connected dispensary website before opening. AV Social Strategies’ work combined the website and ecommerce with branding, design and loyalty signup. This menu view makes those overlapping responsibilities visible.
A consistent brand
The logo, colors, typography and image treatment need someone to create, approve and apply them.
A loyalty invitation
The signup promise, destination and connection to the loyalty program belong in the scope alongside the banner.
Product discovery
Categories and imagery help customers browse. Catalog organization, menu setup and mobile checks are work behind this screen.
Two proposals. Two different jobs.
Imagine a B2B distributor with 60 product pages, eight service pages and a quote form that needs to reach sales. These two example proposals both promise a custom WordPress website. Look at what each asks the client to do.
Refresh the existing site
- Website and content
- Design and build three page types; transfer the existing copy. The client supplies clean product data.
- Quote workflow
- Build the website form. The client configures the sales-system connection and owner assignment.
- What your team still handles
- Product-data cleanup, CRM setup and coordination of the complete handoff to sales.
Rebuild the inquiry journey
- Website and content
- Design and build the page types; restructure product information around how buyers select products.
- Quote workflow
- Include product context, connect the sales system, set routing rules and test the handoff with sales.
- What your team still handles
- Provide product expertise and system access; approve content and verify that sales receives usable inquiries.
Which scope addresses the actual problem?
If the content and sales process already work, A may be sufficient. If product context disappears or inquiries go unassigned, B addresses work that A leaves with your team. Ask both agencies to price the agreed core scope before deciding which offers better value.
Ask both agencies to price the missing work
- Content: are you paying to move the 60 existing product pages, or to rewrite and organize them too? Who cleans up the data?
- Sales: does the price include getting the right details to the right salesperson? Ask how failed connections will be handled.
- Launch: who checks old links, tests the site, trains your team and gets things working again if launch goes wrong? Which provider fees are extra?
- Add up the same work before comparing prices. A missing price doesn’t mean the task is free, and work left to your team still takes time.
The work a screenshot cannot show
Maribis’s transition included a rebuilt content website, a Carrot-to-Dutchie menu migration, hosting changes, access recovery and new apps. A quote for the visible pages alone would not describe that project.
The phone view shows the customer experience those systems support. Dutchie powers the shopping interface; AV Social Strategies supported its rollout and the website connections around it.
The right store
Location selection and menu destinations must agree. Include the website-to-menu journey in launch checks.
Rewards continuity
Loyalty and SMS connections require coordination with the providers and owners of those systems.
A connected catalog
Menu setup and product categories are only part of the move. Existing product and category links also need appropriate destinations.
Include the transition, not just the new pages
- Access and accounts: establish who controls hosting, platforms and app accounts before work depends on them.
- Old links: assign URL mapping, redirects and post-launch checks. Google’s migration guidance explains the process; redirects do not guarantee unchanged rankings.
- Provider responsibilities: distinguish the agency’s work from vendor setup, subscriptions and approvals.
What will you pay—and what’s still missing?
Two quotes can look different because one leaves work out. Before you compare them, check who’s handling the copy, integrations, launch and ongoing upkeep.
Pick the same start and end dates for both quotes. Add the charges due in that period, flag work that still needs a price and list what your team will need to do.
- Already included
- Does the agency fee include hosting? Count it once. Ask what’s covered and what happens at renewal.
- Still unpriced
- Need a connection to your sales system that isn’t in the quote? Ask for a price. Keep it marked as unknown until you have one.
- Paid later
- Add the hosting, software, usage and support charges due during your chosen period, including any renewals that fall within it.
- Your team’s work
- Who will approve copy, clean up data and test inquiries with sales? Set aside their time. If you put a cost against it, use your own staffing costs and show it separately from outside fees.
Keeping a site running and improving it are different jobs. Ask what each monthly fee covers, how much work is included and what costs extra.
Who looks after the site once it’s live?
- Who owns hosting and license accounts, receives renewal notices and can change providers?
- Who performs updates, checks important customer journeys and handles a failed change? WordPress recommends a backup before updating.
- If you’re paying for ongoing improvements, how do you choose the next priority? How much work is included, and what needs another quote?
Before you agree to the budget
Bring your website and one thing customers need to do better. Include someone who knows your content and connected tools. Ask the agency to separate confirmed prices from assumptions, extras and unanswered questions.
Not sure how much work you need? Try the WordPress website assessment before asking for quotes. It gives you a starting point from your answers, without inspecting the site or estimating a price. We can work out a detailed scope through an agreed paid audit or ongoing engagement.
Five things to leave the conversation knowing
- What customer problem will this solve, and what can stay as it is?
- What’s included, what’s extra and how will we check the work?
- What do we need to supply, and what will the agency and other providers handle?
- What determines the launch date? Ask which work can start now, which inputs are missing and whose approval each milestone needs. Compare those dependencies alongside the fee.
- What will we pay upfront and later, and which prices are still unknown?
- Who owns the site and accounts, and who handles improvements after launch?
Sources and further reading
The client examples show documented AV Social Strategies work, not project-price benchmarks. The proposal comparison is illustrative. WordPress and Google documentation support the platform and migration guidance.
