A website proposal in seven sections, from what your client told you to one fixed price and the next steps. Written for web designers and studios redesigning a client's site, and easy to change for a new build. Read it here or get it as a Word file and a PDF.
A web design proposal should say what the client told you, the result you'll both measure, how the project runs and what they sign off, what's included and what isn't, what you need from them, who owns the site, one clear price and how to say yes. The template below has a section for each.
The web design proposal template, section by section
Copy one section or the whole thing. Under each section: what it's for, and one thing we've learned from the proposals sent with Nusii.
[Yellow] you write[Green] Nusii fills in when you send it
1. Introduction
The whole plan in two sentences, with the time and the price, and who you are. Partners and colleagues read it too, often without having been on the call. Working on your own? Write "I" instead of "we".
Hi [Client first name],
Thanks for the call on [date of your call]. You told us that [the problem in one sentence, in the client's words, such as "nobody books online, they all phone, and the front desk can't keep up"].
In short: we replace your [six-year-old] website with one built to do one job, [getting more new patients to book online]. It takes about [10] weeks and costs a fixed [$7,500].
[Your studio] is a [number]-person web design studio in [city]. We've built websites for [clinics and other local businesses] since [year].
[Your name] [Your role], [Your studio]
Web design proposals in Nusii got their first look in a median of 54 minutes (819 proposals, November 2025 to October 2026), and about a third of all first views are on a phone. That's why the time and the price are on the first screen.
2. What we heard
Shows you listened, goes one level deeper than what the client told you, and puts a number on what the new site is worth to them. Only you can write this one: replace the examples with your client's words.
Each goal below answers something you told us. If we got anything wrong, tell us before you accept and we'll fix it.
You said[most new patients phone, and the front desk spends two hours a day answering the same questions]. We'll add[online booking, and the answers on the pages where people look for them].
You said[the site is hard to use on a phone]. We'll design[every page for a phone first, and test it on real ones].
You said[you can't change anything without paying someone]. We'll set it up so [your team can edit the text and photos].
What we found:[what you saw when you looked further than the client did: the real cause, with a number, such as "seven in ten visitors are on a phone, and your contact page takes 11 seconds to load there"].
What stays:[what already works and won't be broken, such as "your treatment pages, which bring most of your visitors from Google"].
What success looks like:[a result you can both check, with a number and a date, such as "18 new patients a month from the website by June, up from 8 today"], measured in [your booking software]. We'll go through the numbers together 60 days after launch.
What it's worth: you told us a new patient is worth about [$400] to you. [Ten] more a month would be about [$4,000] a month, so the site pays for itself in about [two] months.
If nothing changes:[what the client said happens if this doesn't go ahead, such as "the new clinic down the road keeps getting everyone who wants to book at 10pm"].
"Our website is old and slow" is what our 2015 book on proposals calls "the end result of their problem". Before you write this, find out where people leave the site, what they phone about and what a new customer is worth. A goal with a number protects you too: without one, the project gets judged on whether the client likes the colors.
3. How we'll work
The plan in stages, what the client approves at each one, and honest timing. The first line says why the cheaper route won't do the job. If you didn't talk about one, delete it.
We talked about [a ready-made theme on Squarespace]. It would cost less, but [it can't connect to your practice software, which is why you called]. So here's the plan. You sign off each stage before the next one starts.
Weeks [1 and 2]: discovery. A [90-minute] workshop on who your [patients] are and what they come to the site to do. You get a list of the pages and a plan for what goes on each one.
Weeks [3 to 5]: design. We design [the home page and two inner pages], for a phone first. You get [two] rounds of changes, and you approve the design before we build it.
Weeks [6 to 8]: build. We build the site on [WordPress], so your team can edit it, and connect [your booking software].
Weeks [9 and 10]: testing and launch. We add your content and test on phones and the main browsers. We send every old address to its new page, so people and Google still find you. Then we go live and train your team in a recorded [45-minute] session.
When you'll see results: more people [booking online] should show within [the first month] after launch. Your Google rankings may move around for a few weeks, which is normal when a site's addresses change. Anything new that depends on Google usually takes [three to six months].
Google says to "Expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move" when a site's addresses change. Say so here, and it's part of the plan instead of a problem you have to explain after launch. Accepted proposals in Nusii had a median of 7 sections, the rest 9 (1,713 proposals, July to September 2026), so tools and page builders can stay out of it.
4. Results for businesses like yours
Short proof for the people who weren't on the call: what changed for businesses like this one. Use real numbers from a real client, or leave this section out.
[Past client], [kind of business]:[what changed, with a number and a timeframe, such as "online bookings went from 5 to 34 a month within six months of launch"]. [Link to the finished site]
[Past client], [kind of business]:[what changed, with a number and a timeframe]. [Link to the finished site]
"[A one-line quote from one of those clients.]" [Name, role, company]
Proposals to a client who had accepted one before were accepted 63% of the time in Nusii, against 46% for a first proposal from the same senders (July to September 2026). A new client hasn't seen your work yet. One result and a link to the finished site do that job without filling the proposal with screenshots.
5. What's included
Draws the line between what you'll do and what you won't, says what you need from the client, and what they keep. If you host your clients' sites yourself, change the first sentence of "What you keep".
Included
A new website of up to [8] pages: [home, about, four treatment pages, team and contact]
Design for phones, tablets and computers, with [two] rounds of changes
[WordPress] set up so your team can edit the text and photos
[Online booking, connected to your practice software]
Adding the text and photos you give us
Every old address sent to its new page, and [Google Analytics] set up
A recorded training session, and 30 days of fixes after launch
Not included
Writing the text and new photography (we'll quote them if you want them)
Hosting, your domain name and paid plugins or booking software, about [$40] a month, which you pay directly
Extra pages, features or rounds of changes, at [$125] an hour, quoted before we start
Care after the first 30 days. You can add a care plan at [$150] a month for updates, backups and small changes, and stop it whenever you like. You decide at launch, not now.
What we need from you:[the final text and photos] by [date], logins for [your domain, hosting and booking software], one person who can approve the work, and feedback within [five working days] at each stage. The launch date depends on these: for every day they slip, launch slips a day.
What you keep: your domain, hosting and logins stay in your name. Once the project is paid, the design, the content and the site are yours, and you can move it wherever you like. Fonts, plugins and stock photos stay under their own licenses. We may show the finished site in our portfolio; if you'd rather we didn't, tell us.
Put a date on the content and say what happens if it's late. As Philip Morgan and Jonathan Stark put it in our 2015 book on proposals: "If a project does require firm completion dates, call out your assumptions about what will be required to meet those dates."
6. Investment
One fixed price in four phases, and how it's paid. These are example prices; the table further down shows what others charge.
Discovery
$1,000
The workshop, the list of pages and the plan for what goes on each one.
Design
$2,500
Designs for [the home page and two inner pages], for phones and computers, with [two] rounds of changes.
Build
$3,000
The full site of up to [8] pages on [WordPress], with [online booking] connected.
Testing, launch and training
$1,000
Testing on phones and the main browsers, your old addresses redirected, going live, training for your team and 30 days of fixes. Paid in three parts: 50% ($3,750) when you accept, 25% ($1,875) when you approve the design and 25% ($1,875) at launch.
Total: $7,500
Accepted web design proposals in Nusii had a median one-time value of $3,246 (348 proposals, November 2025 to October 2026, monthly fees left out). If you quote more than that, "What it's worth" has to do its job. Proposals of $5,000 to $15,000 were accepted 48.9% of the time (July to September 2026).
7. Next steps
Tells the client exactly what to do to say yes, what happens after, and when you'll call.
If the plan works for you, accept and sign this proposal.
We'll send the first invoice for [$3,750], book the workshop for [a date within two weeks], and send you a short list of what we need: [logins, your logo and your current content].
I'll call you on [a day three to five days from now] to answer any questions. If you have any before then, call me on [phone number] or reply to the email this proposal came with.
Web design proposals in Nusii got their yes in a median of 4.8 days, and 59% of the yeses came within a week (819 proposals, November 2025 to October 2026). A call three to five days after you send it lands while most clients are still deciding.
A web design proposal example, filled in
Two sections of the template above with a client's words in the brackets, so you can see how it reads when it's done. Mossgate Physiotherapy is made up, and so are its numbers.
More booked appointments from your website for Mossgate Physiotherapy
What we heard
You said most new patients phone, and the front desk spends two hours a day answering the same questions. We'll add online booking, and the answers on the pages where people look for them.
You said the site is hard to use on a phone. We'll design every page for a phone first, and test it on real ones.
You said you can't change anything without paying someone. We'll set it up so your team can edit the text and photos.
What we found: seven in ten visitors are on a phone, and your contact page takes 11 seconds to load there.
What stays: your treatment pages, which bring most of your visitors from Google.
What success looks like: 18 new patients a month from the website by June, up from 8 today, measured in your booking software. We'll go through the numbers together 60 days after launch.
What it's worth: you told us a new patient is worth about $400 to you. Ten more a month would be about $4,000 a month, so the site pays for itself in about two months.
If nothing changes: the new clinic down the road keeps getting everyone who wants to book at 10pm.
Investment
Discovery
$1,000
Design
$2,500
Build
$3,000
Testing, launch and training
$1,000
Total: $7,500
See it as your client will
Every page of the PDF, printed by Nusii. Sent as a link, it's one scrolling page on any device: your client accepts with one button and signs with their name.
The template in Nusii, the way your client will see it. It opens in a new tab.
What to charge for a website
What a small business website costs, from the pages we could check. The template's example, $7,500 for up to eight pages, is above GoodFirms' survey range, inside WebFX's and below Dribbble's estimate for an agency. Whatever you charge, allow for the unknowns: Marie Poulin says in our 2015 book on proposals that "most designers should easily be adding at least 25% time/budget for unknowns and poor estimation".
What
Price
Source
Small business website, from an agency
$10,000 to $20,000one estimate, from design agency veteransDribbble
Sources: Dribbble, its own estimates, updated April 2026; Digital Applied, an agency's roundup of published figures, updated October 2026; FatLab, a website care company's guide, January 2026; Websults, a website care company's published plans, 2026. These all come from companies that sell design or website work, and directory rates are asking prices, so treat them as sellers' figures. We didn't find an independent measure of what web designers actually charge.
How often proposals got a yes, by price
Proposals over $15,000 got a yes about a third of the time. Accepted web design proposals had a median one-time value of $3,246 (348 proposals, November 2025 to October 2026). From 1,713 proposals first sent with Nusii, July to September 2026.
Under $1,000
67.1%
$1,000 to $5,000
50.7%
$5,000 to $15,000
48.9%
$15,000 to $50,000
36.1%
Over $50,000
33.3%
Share accepted, by the total the client saw. Bigger proposals are bigger decisions, so this shows what happened, not that a lower price would win. Method: The State of Proposals 2026.
What happens after you send it
From 819 web design proposals first sent with Nusii from November 2025 to October 2026 (web design or a website in the proposal's name or a section title).
46.0%
were accepted
54 minutes
median time to the client's first look
4.8 days
median time to a yes
58.9%
of the yeses came within a week
Clients rarely say no. Of all proposals sent with Nusii from July to September 2026, 6.5% were rejected and 45.2% got no answer either way. Silence is the usual no, so a follow-up is worth sending.
Follow up after a week. Most yeses come within seven days. In Nusii you see when the proposal was opened and get an email when it's accepted, so you can follow up when they've read it, not when you guess they have.
The same template as a Word file you can edit (it opens in Google Docs too) and a PDF printed by Nusii. We'll email you both, plus a few emails with proposal tips. Unsubscribe any time.
Or send it with Nusii
This template is in the gallery of every Nusii account. Send it as a link: you get an email when your client opens it, and they accept and sign online, on any device.
“I’ve been using Nusii for over 4 years in my business and honestly it was a complete game changer.”
Amanda Lucas
Web Designer, Itchy Fingers Design
“The best thing about Nusii is being alerted when a client has viewed the proposal. Highly recommend.”
A document that tells a prospective client what you’ll build for them, what it costs and how to start. It usually covers what they told you, the goals, how the project runs, what’s included and what isn’t, the price, and how to say yes.
What should a website proposal include?
What the client told you and the goals that follow from it, your plan in stages, short proof from similar clients, what’s included and what isn’t, what you need from them, who owns the site, one clear price, and the next steps. That’s seven sections, the same as the template on this page.
Is a website proposal the same as a web design proposal?
In practice, yes. People search for a website proposal, a web design proposal and a website or web development proposal and mean the same document: an offer to design or build a site for a client. This template covers design and build together. If you only do one of them, cut the other stage and its price line.
How much should I charge for a website?
It depends on the size of the site and who’s building it. Dribbble’s estimates put a small business site at $10,000 to $20,000 from an agency and $2,000 to $8,000 from a freelancer. GoodFirms’ 2024 survey, as reported by Digital Applied, is lower at $1,000 to $7,000. In Nusii, accepted web design proposals had a median one-time value of $3,246 (November 2025 to October 2026). This template uses $7,500 for up to eight pages as an example price.
How long should a web design proposal be?
As short as it can be while still answering your client’s questions. In Nusii, accepted proposals had a median of 7 sections and the rest 9 (July to September 2026). This template has seven.
Should I include wireframes or mockups in a proposal?
No, not as free work. Designs are what the client pays for in the design stage. Show finished sites instead: the template has a slot for a link to each one. In Nusii, proposals with images were accepted less often (42% against 54% for the same senders, July to September 2026).
How many rounds of changes should a web design proposal include?
Put a number in writing and say what happens after it. This template includes two rounds on the design and charges further rounds by the hour, quoted before you start. Without a number, the project is finished when the client stops asking.
What should clients provide for a website project?
The final text and photos, logins for their domain and hosting, one person who can approve the work, and feedback within an agreed time. The template lists all four, with a date for the content, and says launch slips a day for every day they slip.
Who owns the website after launch?
Your client should, once it’s paid for, and the proposal should say so. The template keeps the domain, hosting and logins in the client’s name. If you host your clients’ sites yourself, change that line. Fonts, plugins and stock photos stay under their own licenses.
Should website maintenance be in the proposal?
Name it, but don’t make it part of the decision. The template includes 30 days of fixes and mentions a care plan with its price, which the client decides on at launch. In Nusii, proposals with a recurring fee were accepted less often (40% against 55% for the same senders, July to September 2026). When the client is ready, send the care plan on its own with our website maintenance proposal template.
Will a website redesign hurt my client’s Google rankings?
It can, for a while. When a site’s addresses change, Google says to “Expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move”, and it recommends permanent redirects from each old address to its new one. The template includes those redirects and tells the client about the dip before it happens.
What is an RFP for a website?
A request for proposals: a document in which a company describes a project and invites several suppliers to bid on it, usually to strict rules. This template is for a proposal that follows a conversation with the client. An RFP response has to follow the RFP’s own format, so use only the parts that fit.
Can I use this template for a new website, an online store or WordPress?
Yes. For a new site, delete “What stays” and base the goals on what the client expects. The platform is one word in brackets, so WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace and Webflow all fit. For an online store, use our Shopify and ecommerce website proposal template: it adds the catalog, payments, shipping and the move from the old store.
Can I use this template as a freelance web designer?
Yes. Write “I” instead of “we”, describe yourself in the introduction, and set the number of pages and the schedule to what you can do on your own. Everything else works the same.
Should I offer several packages?
Offer them only if the client asked about choices. In Nusii, proposals where the client could choose between options were accepted less often (40% against 51% for the same senders, July to September 2026). This template has one clear price; add an optional section for an extra the client asked about.
Do I need a contract as well?
Attach your own agreement if you use one. This template covers the scope, the price, who owns what and how the project is paid in plain words, and it isn’t legal advice.
