Website design proposal
Website design proposal example with an optional SEO add on
A website design proposal has to show the client what is wrong with the site they have, what the new one will do about it, and what each part costs. This example from a design studio to a three clinic physiotherapy practice opens with the practice's own analytics, prices the redesign at $19,850 plus GST, and leaves local search setup and a monthly care plan as options the client can tick.
The proposal, page by page
Every page as the client sees it and as it prints, pricing table included.
The pricing, line by line
- Discovery and sitemap
- 1 × $2,400.00
- Design, eight page templates
- 1 × $6,800.00
- Build on a managed CMS
- 1 × $7,200.00
- Online booking integration
- 1 × $1,200.00
- Content migration
- 30 × $45.00
- Launch and training
- 1 × $900.00
- Local search setup (optional)
- 1 × $1,850.00
- Care plan (optional)
- 12 × $180.00
- Tax
- $1,985.00
- Total
- $21,835.00
- Deposit due on acceptance
- $10,917.50
Section by section
- Cover
- A masthead cover with the title, the three clinics, the February launch and the eight templates.
- About us
- Two sentences on what the studio builds and for whom.
- Understanding your needs
- Three figures from the client's analytics and three specific failures of the booking flow.
- Our approach
- Discover, design and build, with the WCAG 2.2 AA target and the 30 migrated pages named.
- Deliverables
- The four things the practice ends up with, from booking buttons on every page to editor training.
- Timeline
- Four months, from discovery in November 2026 to launch in February 2027.
- Investment
- Six required lines, local search setup and a care plan as options, GST added on the subtotal and a 50% deposit.
- Terms
- Seven clauses: payment, change requests, client inputs, cancellation, intellectual property, the care plan and validity.
- Next steps and acceptance
- Click to accept with a drawn signature, then the deposit invoice and a card pay link.
Why the proposal starts with the problem
Clients rarely buy a website because they want a website. They buy one because the current site is costing them something, and the proposal that names that cost wins the comparison with a cheaper studio. Here the cost is bookings: most visitors are on phones, more than half leave the booking page, and the pages Google sends people to have no booking button. Each of the three outcomes on the next page answers one of those failures directly. If you write a proposal like this, get the numbers from the client before you write it. Ask for read access to their analytics, or ask three questions on the discovery call: where do visitors come from, what do you want them to do, and where do they stop. A proposal built from the client's data is also harder to argue with when the scope is discussed, because the scope follows from facts the client gave you.
How the optional SEO add on and the care plan are priced
Studios often sell search optimisation and maintenance after launch, in a second conversation the client was not expecting. Putting both in the first proposal as optional lines does two things. The client sees the full cost of owning the site, not just building it, and the studio does not have to reopen the price later. In the online version each option has a tick box. The care plan line has an editable quantity limited to 6 to 12 months, so the client can choose the shorter commitment and the total updates on the spot. Nothing optional is counted until it is ticked: the default total is the $19,850 build plus GST, $21,835 in all. If the client ticks both options with 12 months of care, the subtotal becomes $23,860 and the 50% deposit moves with it, because the deposit is calculated from whatever the client accepts.
How to adapt this proposal for your studio
Swap the three analytics figures for whatever your client's current site gets wrong, and keep them to three. Keep the outcomes in plain words: what a visitor can now do, not which technology does it. Price discovery separately from design, because it is the stage clients most often want to cut and the one that saves the most rework. If you build on a specific platform, say so in the build line, and say what the client can edit themselves. Content migration is priced per page here so the client can see what 30 pages costs and decide whether to rewrite some instead. Keep the accessibility note if you test against WCAG; leave it out if you do not, because a claim like that is the first thing a careful client checks.
What makes this proposal work
It opens with the client's numbers
Page two quotes the practice's own analytics: 71% of visits on a phone, 58% leaving the booking page, 19 of 30 pages naming no clinic. The redesign is then a fix for problems the client already recognises, not a list of features.
Add ons are priced, not pitched
Local search setup at $1,850 and a care plan at $180 a month sit in the same table as optional lines. The care plan quantity can be set to 6 or 12 months, so the client builds the total from $19,850 without a second document.
It says what the client must supply
Clause 3 asks for a decision maker at both design reviews, photos and bios by 15 December, and booking system access. Missed inputs are the usual cause of late websites, and the proposal names them before the start date is agreed.
Questions people ask
What goes in a website design proposal?
The problem with the current site, what the new site will do, the scope by stage, a timeline, what you need from the client, what is not included, an itemised price, payment terms, ownership and how to accept. This example fits that into five pages after a cover, with the price on page four once the client has read the reasons for it.
How should I price a website design proposal?
Price by stage rather than one lump sum, so the client sees what discovery, design, build, migration and launch each cost. This example uses fixed prices for each stage and a per page rate for migration. Stage pricing also makes change requests easier, because a new template or an extra design round has an obvious place and price.
Should SEO be part of a website design proposal?
Basic technical search work belongs in the build: clean page titles, redirects from old addresses and a fast site. Ongoing local search work is a separate service, so offer it as an optional line with its own price, as this example does at $1,850. The client can then choose it without the build price looking inflated to anyone comparing quotes.
How much deposit should a web designer ask for?
Many studios ask for 30 to 50 percent on acceptance, with the balance at launch. This example asks for 50% because the first two months are design work the client sees but has not yet paid for. With click acceptance the deposit invoice is issued at once, due the same day, and a pay link lets the client pay it by card.
Who owns the website after the project?
Say it in the proposal. Here the client owns the design, content and domain once the balance is paid, and the studio keeps the right to show the work in its portfolio. Without a clause like this, ownership of design files and code can be argued later, especially if the client moves to another studio for maintenance.
What is a website care plan?
A monthly fee for keeping the site updated, backed up and monitored, often with a small allowance for content changes. This example offers one at $180 a month with one hour of small changes, for 6 or 12 months, and either side can end it with 30 days notice after the first six months.
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