The more an agency understands before quoting, the closer the quote will be to the final cost. You do not need to write a technical specification. You need clear answers to a handful of questions, and that preparation also makes it much easier to compare proposals from different agencies.
1. The goal
Write one sentence that describes what success looks like, ideally something you can measure: "more enquiries from companies in the north of Portugal", "fewer support emails about order status", "sell online in Spain". Every later decision gets easier when the goal is clear.
2. Who it is for
Describe your main types of visitor and what each one needs to do: understand your services, see examples of your work, book a call, buy a product. A few bullet points are enough.
3. Content
Content is the most common reason projects run late. Decide early who writes the text, whether you have good photos or need new ones, and where your logo and brand files are. If you have an existing site, note which pages to keep, rewrite or remove.
4. Must-haves and nice-to-haves
Split your list in two. Must-haves are what the first version cannot launch without. Nice-to-haves can come later. Do not forget connections to tools you already use, such as payments, bookings, your CRM or invoicing software.
5. Access and accounts
Gather the logins the agency will need, or find out who has them:
- Domain registrar and DNS
- Current hosting, or your Shopify admin
- Google Analytics and Google Search Console
- Email provider and any tools to connect
6. Budget and timeline
Share a budget range. It is not about getting a higher quote; it lets the agency suggest what fits rather than guess. Mention any real deadlines too, such as a trade fair, a season or a product launch, and the reason for them.
7. Who decides
Name one contact person on your side and agree who approves designs and content. Projects with a single, available decision-maker move much faster than projects where feedback comes from many people at once.
What to ask the agency
- Who will actually design and build the project?
- How will we update content ourselves after launch?
- What happens after launch: support, maintenance and how much it costs?
- Who owns the design, the code and the accounts at the end?
- Can we see similar work and talk to a past client?
With these answers ready, the first meeting becomes a conversation about your business instead of a list of questions, and the quotes you receive will be much easier to compare.
Bluppit
The Bluppit team builds Shopify themes and apps, websites and web apps from Paredes, Porto.