Web design proposal template

See a web design proposal as a live page

Soneva is a full example of the format: a digital resort experience and interactive development project, sent as a web page the client can read, compare and accept. Thirteen sections, two offers, one recommended.

• Opportunity and strategy: why the site needs to change, and four moves in the order they happen.
• Scope of work: five workstreams over ten weeks, each with its timing, and a Not included line.
• Process, collaboration and tools: five stages, who does what on each side, and whose account each tool sits on.
• Key numbers and In / Out: 50 working days, eight page families, and what the fee covers.
• Investment and next steps: two offers compared, one recommended, and acceptance on the same page.

To send a web design proposal like this to your own client, create it in Pegasy with the same sections.

What a web design proposal should include

A website proposal is read by someone deciding between studios. Each section answers one question they are already asking.

1. Opportunity: why the current site falls short and what the new one should do, in the client's terms.
2. Goals: three outcomes at most, each tied to how visitors will use the site.
3. Scope of work: workstreams with their weeks, from strategy and UX to design, build, QA and launch.
4. Process: the stages, and the decision the client makes at the end of each one.
5. Collaboration: what your team owns, and what you need from theirs, such as content, photography, access and approvals.
6. Tools: the stack, and who pays for each tool after launch.
7. Selected work: two or three relevant sites, not your whole portfolio.
8. Key numbers: working days, page families and workstreams. Facts about the project, not promises about results.
9. In and out: what the fee covers and what is quoted separately.
10. Investment: two offers side by side, with one recommended.
11. FAQ: the questions that otherwise arrive by email after you send.
12. Next steps: what happens when they accept, and when work starts.

Writing a website redesign proposal

A redesign is not a new build with an old URL. The proposal should show you understand what already exists and what must survive the change.

• Start from the current site: what works, what does not, and what the analytics or the client's team say about it.
• Plan the content: which pages are rewritten, which are migrated as they are, and who writes what.
• Protect search visibility: include redirects from old URLs, page titles and descriptions in the build, so traffic is not lost at launch.
• Keep what the client is attached to: a redesign that ignores the brand's existing assets meets resistance in review.
• Say what is not redesigned: the booking engine, the shop backend or third-party tools often stay as they are.

Scoping a website project

Count page families, not pages. A resort site might have eight: home, properties, stays, experiences, dining, wellness, destinations and enquiry. Each family is one template designed once and filled many times, which is how the work is actually priced.

• The CMS collections the client will edit.
• The integrations to connect, such as booking, forms or newsletter, and which ones you build versus connect.
• The review rounds per stage.
• The devices and browsers you test.

For the scope section itself, with deliverables, exclusions, acceptance and change requests, use the  scope of work template.

Pricing a web design project with two offers

Two complete offers make the decision easier than one price or a menu of add-ons. Keep the first offer complete on its own. Make the second one deeper, not just bigger: more interaction and motion, more editorial layouts, a wider component system, launch support. Mark the one you recommend and say why in one sentence.

In the live example, the two offers are $28,000 and $38,000, with a fixed fee, 50% on acceptance and 50% before launch. Your figures will differ. The structure is the point: the client compares what changes between the two, not a list of line items.

Who pays for what after launch

Most disputes after a website launch are about recurring costs nobody mentioned. List each tool, what it is for, and whose account it sits on.

• The site plan and hosting.
• The domain.
• The booking or e-commerce platform.
• Font and image licences.
• The tools you include in your fee.

The client should know before signing which invoices will arrive in their name.

Common mistakes in web design proposals

• Pricing pages instead of templates: a 40-page site looks four times the work of a 10-page one.
• Hiding exclusions: copywriting, photography and content entry are the usual surprises.
• No decision points: without approval stages, feedback arrives all at once at the end.
• Promising results: commit to the work and the timeline, not to traffic or conversion numbers.
• Sending a long PDF: the client has to find the price, compare options by email and print a page to sign.

Before you send it: a 6-point check

1. Does the opportunity read in the client's words, not yours?
2. Are page families counted, with the CMS and integrations named?
3. Does each stage end with something the client approves?
4. Is every recurring tool cost assigned to an account?
5. Do the two offers differ in depth, with one recommended?
6. Is it clear what happens the day they accept?

FAQ