Web Design in Mei Foo

A proper quote itemizes: number of pages, responsive/mobile behavior, number of revision rounds (2-3 is standard), CMS setup, basic on-page SEO (titles, metas, sitemap), browser testing, and what happens to hosting and domain after handover. If a quote is one line with one number, ask for the breakdown.

Five that separate pros from dabblers: Can I see 3 live sites you built and still maintain? Who actually does the work — you or subcontractors? Will I own the domain, hosting and code? What's included in the price and what costs extra? What happens if I want changes after launch?

Use a builder if your budget is minimal and your needs are a brochure plus contact form. Hire a freelancer for a custom site with some business logic. Pay agency rates when you need strategy, copywriting, SEO and design under one contract with accountability. Many small businesses outgrow a builder in year one — budget for that path.

If you take fewer than a handful of orders a week, a brochure site with a contact/order form or a payment link costs half as much and launches faster. Move to full e-commerce (cart, inventory, shipping rules) when order volume makes manual handling the bottleneck.

Freelancers charge roughly HKD 300-900/hr; 5-page corporate sites commonly run HKD 12,000-50,000 and e-commerce from HKD 30,000. Quotes assuming English-only can jump 30-50% once Traditional Chinese content is added.

For consumer-facing businesses, bilingual English/Traditional Chinese is the market expectation; B2B and professional services often run English-first. Decide before quoting — retrofitting a second language costs more than scoping it up front.