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Short answer: a good quote states seven things in writing: the total price, who writes the words, whose name the domain and hosting are in, what you can take with you if you leave, how long it takes, what costs extra, and what a revision means. Put the quotes side by side on those seven lines before you look at the design samples.
Want this handled instead of DIY'd? See the three fixed-price website sizes.
If you have collected two or three quotes, they probably do not line up. One is a single number. One is a range. One is a monthly fee with no end date. This guide gives you the seven lines to hold them against, a sheet you can fill in, and the questions that get missing answers by email instead of by memory. It names and rates no company, me included. Compare on what each quote says, and the company that sounds most sure of itself loses its advantage.
St. Catharines makes this worth doing carefully. It is the largest city in Niagara, so you have more companies to choose from and more differences to untangle. The St. Catharines page covers what a site here needs to say. This one is about the paper.
The seven lines
1. The total price, and what would change it. A number, in dollars, with the currency written beside it. If the quote says "starting at", ask for the ceiling. If it depends on something, the quote should say what: more pages, a store, a booking tool. A range is fine after one conversation. A refusal to give a number until the second meeting is worth noting on your sheet.
2. Who writes the words. The cheapest-looking quote may be design only, with you supplying the copy for every page. That can be fair, but it is a different job, and finishing the words is where small business sites stall. Ask: are the page texts included, and who is responsible for them?
3. Whose name the domain and the hosting account are in. The domain is your web address. Hosting is the computer your site lives on. The right answer is your business name on both, with the logins handed to you. If the company registers them in its own name "for convenience", you are renting your own address.
4. What you can take with you. Ask what happens if you leave in three years. Do you get every file? Is the site built on a system you can move, or on one that only runs on the company's platform? On the consumer builders this is a published fact: Wix says the site must run on Wix's servers, and Squarespace lists content that does not export, including store, calendar and portfolio pages (checked 2026-10-31). A designer's quote should be just as plain about its own setup.
5. How long it takes, and what the clock depends on. A date is only honest if it names what you owe: text, photos, logo, approvals. Ask for the timeline in two parts, the company's work and your inputs. On a small site the schedule can turn on how quickly text and photos arrive, and a quote that is silent about that leaves room for an argument later.
6. What costs extra. Yearly renewals for the domain and hosting. A monthly maintenance plan, if there is one, and what it covers in plain words. Paid advertising and ongoing search work. Changes after launch. None of these is wrong to charge for. Each should be a line in the quote, so none of them turns up on invoice three.
7. What a revision means. "Unlimited revisions" and "two rounds" are both used, and neither tells you much until the quote says what counts as one. Is a round all your comments in one email, or each separate change? Does swapping a photo count? Does a new page? Ask for the definition in a sentence.
A blank cell is an answer too.
The sheet
Copy this into a document, one column per quote, and fill it in from the quotes themselves rather than from your memory of the phone calls. A blank cell is an answer too.
| Line | Quote A | Quote B | Quote C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Total price, currency, ceiling | |||
| 2. Words included, or yours to write | |||
| 3. Domain and hosting registered to | |||
| 4. What you take if you leave | |||
| 5. Timeline, and what you owe | |||
| 6. Extras and yearly costs | |||
| 7. What one revision means |
Count the blanks per column. The quote with the fewest blanks is not automatically the best, but it is the only one you can compare, and the company that wrote it has told you how it behaves when something goes sideways.
Questions to send by email
Phone calls are pleasant and forgettable. Send these in one email to each company and compare the replies:
- What is the total price in Canadian dollars, and what would make it change?
- Are the page texts and photos included, and what do you need from me?
- Whose name will the domain and the hosting account be registered in?
- If I leave in three years, what do I take with me, and in what form?
- How many weeks is it from receiving my text and photos to launch?
- What do I pay every year after launch, and for what exactly?
- What counts as one round of revisions?
A company that will not put its answers in writing is giving you its answer to line 7 already.
Things the quote cannot tell you
Seven lines tell you what you are buying. They do not tell you whether the finished site will bring in calls, and no quote can promise that, so be wary of one that tries. For that, look at sites the company built, and then visit them on your phone. Do the phone number and hours show without scrolling? Does the page say which town the business is in? If you can, ask the owner whether the domain is in their name.
Two local groups are useful for a second opinion. The St. Catharines Downtown Association is the downtown Business Improvement Area, and its site says it has more than 500 member businesses. The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce is based on King Street in St. Catharines and describes itself as membership-driven. Other owners in either group will have been through this exact process, and a ten-minute conversation about who they hired and what the contract said is worth more than another search.
When you do not need three quotes
Three quotes make sense for a project of this size and a budget you care about. They do not if you are a one-person trade with a Facebook page that works, a phone that rings, and nothing to sell online. In that case a builder may be the honest answer, and a pile of quotes is just a pile.
What my own quote looks like
Mine is a fixed price in writing, from three sizes. Starter is $2,500 CAD, Grow is $6,000 and Complete is $9,000, each paid once. The words are written for you, the domain and hosting account are registered in your name from day one, and you take the whole thing with you if you leave. Yearly renewals for the domain and hosting go in writing before you pay anything. The pricing page has the detail, and the cost guide has the red flags to watch for in any quote, including mine.
Holding two or three quotes already? Send me what you sell and which street you are on, and I will send a fixed price you can put into your sheet beside them. Get a fixed-price quote
Common questions
- How do I choose a web design company in St. Catharines?
- Compare the quotes on the seven lines above before you compare the portfolios. Then check each company's sites on your own phone, and ask another local owner what the contract said. Price matters less than whether the quote could be compared at all.
- What should a website quote include?
- A total price with the currency, who writes the words, whose name the domain and hosting are in, what you take if you leave, a timeline, what costs extra, and what a revision means. If a line is missing, ask for it in an email.
- Is a monthly fee normal?
- Sometimes, for hosting or maintenance. It should have a list of what it buys and a way to stop. A monthly fee with no end date and no itemized list, on a small site, is a lease. Mine is a one-time fee, with an optional maintenance plan if you would rather not look after updates.
- Does a cheaper quote mean worse work?
- Not by itself. First check whether it includes the words, the hosting and the ownership terms, because those are where cheap quotes can differ. A low number with five blanks on the sheet is a different product.
- Do I need a company in St. Catharines specifically?
- Not for the build, which is mostly email and a phone call. What matters is that the site names your street and the area you serve. For anything that needs a face across a table, ask where the company will meet you.
Keep reading
- Website design for St. Catharines businesses
- What should a Niagara small business website actually cost?
- DIY website builder or hire a Niagara web designer?
- Pricing: three sizes, paid once
Checked against each source's own page on 2026-10-31: Wix Help Center, Exporting or embedding your Wix site elsewhere; Squarespace Help, Export your site content; St. Catharines Downtown Association; Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce. The seven lines are my own checklist.
Call [905.682.4642](tel:+19056824642) or email hello@niagarawebdesigner.com, and send the quote you trust least.