At a glance
- Two quotes for “the same website” usually don’t include the same things.
- Separate what you pay once from what you pay every year.
- The real cost is the total over three years, not the first price.
- Whatever you don’t understand, ask before you sign.
From one line to ten
Years ago, a quote for a website fitted on a slip of paper: “Website build” and a price. A website was something like an online brochure. You made it and that was that.
Today the same quote has ten lines, and half of them are technical terms: domain, hosting, SSL, CMS, SEO. You ask for two quotes for “the same website” and one is three times the other. Usually nobody is cheating you. They just don’t include the same things.
First, get three highlighters
Print the quotes or open them side by side, and mark every line:
- green for what you pay once,
- yellow for what you pay every month or every year,
- red for what you don’t understand.
Red isn’t a bad sign. It’s your list of questions. Below we explain the most common ones.
What you pay every year
Domain. Your website’s address, like “your-business.gr”. It is renewed every year, or for several years at a time. Ask whose name it will be registered in. It should be yours.
Hosting. The space where the website “lives”. Ask whether it includes backups and email, and how much it costs from the second year on.
Maintenance. Often monthly. Ask for it to say what it covers: security updates, backups, small changes. If it only says “support”, you don’t know what you’re buying.
Tip
Add up all the yellow lines for three years. That is the real cost, not the first price.
What you pay once
Design and build. Ask for numbers: how many pages, how many languages, a ready-made theme or a design from scratch.
Texts and photos. The line that goes missing most often. If it doesn’t say who makes them, you usually do, and that’s where most websites get delayed.
Content management (CMS). It means you can change texts and prices yourself. Ask whether a short training session is included.
The words to watch
SEO. “Basic SEO” can mean anything from five minutes to days of work. Ask for it to say exactly what: page titles, listing on the maps, speed. And if someone guarantees you first place on Google, Google itself writes that no one can guarantee it.
SSL. The little padlock next to the address. Today you can even get it for free, so if it’s charged at a high price on a separate line, ask why.
VAT. Check whether the prices include VAT or not. VAT is 24% in Greece and 19% in Cyprus, and it changes the comparison a lot.
What it should say, even if you don’t ask
- When the website will be delivered.
- How many rounds of changes are included.
- That the website, the domain and the files are yours once you have paid in full.
- How it is paid: deposit, stages, delivery.
Three signs to think again
- “Everything is included”, with no list of what “everything” is.
- Pressure: “this price is only valid until tomorrow”.
- The whole amount up front, before you have seen anything.
None of these means it’s a scam. But it does mean you should ask more.
Is it hard?
No. With three highlighters and twenty minutes you can see what you’re really comparing. Whatever stays red, ask before you sign. A good team will answer you in plain words.
For your own business
Want to go through it together?
Send us the quote you received, even if it isn’t ours. We explain in plain words what each line means and what is missing.
And next time a quote looks very cheap to you, do the sums for three years.
Questions people ask
Is a very cheap quote suspicious?
Not necessarily. It usually just includes less: a ready-made theme, few pages, no texts or maintenance. Put it next to the others, line by line, and you’ll see what is missing.
Do I have to pay the whole amount up front?
That’s something you agree. Often there is a deposit and the rest in stages or on delivery. Whatever you agree should be written in the quote.
The quote says nothing about maintenance. What do I do?
Ask who updates the website after delivery and at what cost. If the answer is “nobody”, the website will age quickly, and a website without updates is an easy target.
Sources
- Do you need an SEO?, Google Search Central
- About Let’s Encrypt, Let’s Encrypt (ISRG)
- VAT rules and rates, Your Europe, European Union
Sources checked on 28 October 2026.
