By Mehdi HassanWhat should a website migration proposal include?
A website migration proposal should describe the full scope of the move, not just the rebuild. That means the content inventory, the URL and redirect plan, the SEO carry-over, every form and integration, a QA process, training for your editors and what happens in the weeks after launch.
Most proposals we review are strong on the visible part, the pages, and thin on everything else. The invisible items are where migrations lose traffic and leads. If you're still working out a budget, start with our breakdown of website migration cost by platform, then come back here to check what a given quote actually covers.
Use the checklist below line by line. Each item should appear in the proposal as a named deliverable, with an owner and, where relevant, an acceptance test.
Which scope items do buyers most often forget in a migration quote?
Buyers most often forget redirects, form and integration rebuilds, analytics and consent, editor training and post-launch support. These items rarely show up in a sales demo, so they slip out of the migration quote and reappear later as change requests.
- Content inventory. A list of every page, blog post, CMS collection and asset that moves, plus anything that's being retired.
- URL and redirect map. Old URL, new URL and status code for each page, including blog, category, tag and locale paths.
- Metadata carry-over. Titles, meta descriptions, canonical tags, Open Graph images and structured data, page by page.
- Image and file re-hosting. Assets served from the old platform's CDN must move, or they break when the old plan is cancelled.
- Forms and integrations. Every form, its destination (CRM, email tool, Slack), hidden fields, spam protection and thank-you behavior.
- Analytics, tags and consent. Analytics, ad pixels, tag manager containers and the cookie banner, tested on the new site.
- QA pass. Browsers, breakpoints, links, forms and page speed, checked against a written list.
- Editor training. A recorded walkthrough of the new CMS for the people who will publish.
- Post-launch support. A fixed window, a response time and what counts as a bug versus new work.
How should a quote handle redirects and SEO?
A good quote treats redirects and SEO as a deliverable with its own sign-off, not a side task. The core asset is a redirect sheet: one row per old URL, the new URL it maps to and a 301 status. You should see it and approve it before launch.
URL patterns are where most of the risk sits. WordPress date and category paths, Wix's /post/ blog paths and locale changes from subdomains to subfolders all generate long lists of changed URLs. Platforms differ, but traffic losses after a move usually trace back to unmapped URLs, not to the platform itself.
Also ask how the agency will handle metadata and schema. Titles and descriptions often live in CMS settings rather than page markup, so a visual rebuild can drop them. Google's own guidance on site moves with URL changes is a good reference to hold any proposal against.
What a redirect sheet should look like
Keep it simple: four columns. Old URL, new URL, status code (almost always 301) and a notes column for anything merged, retired or rewritten. Retired pages should redirect to the closest relevant page, not the home page.
Ask for the sheet in a shared spreadsheet, not a PDF, so your team can check it against your analytics. Sort it by traffic so the pages that matter most get reviewed first.
What should a proposal say about forms, integrations and analytics?
A proposal should list every form and integration by name and state how each one will be rebuilt and tested. Forms are where migrations quietly cost leads: a field mapping changes, a hidden UTM field disappears, or submissions route to an inbox nobody checks.
- Form inventory. Each form, its fields, its destination and who receives notifications.
- CRM and email tools. How submissions reach HubSpot, Salesforce or your email platform, and how attribution fields carry over.
- Embeds and scripts. Chat widgets, schedulers, review widgets and any custom code on the old site.
- Analytics and conversions. Which events and goals exist today, and a test that each one still fires after launch.
- Consent. The cookie banner and which scripts it blocks, retested on the new platform.
Ask for a test log at launch: one row per form and event, marked as passing. It's quick to produce, and it's the clearest sign the team checked.
How should QA, training and post-launch support be scoped?
QA, training and support should each have a clear definition, a date and an end point in the proposal. Vague promises such as "ongoing support" turn into disputes because nobody agreed what was included.
Item | Vague version | What to ask for instead |
|---|---|---|
QA | Fully tested | A written checklist covering browsers, breakpoints, links, forms and speed |
Content check | Content migrated | A sample-based check of CMS items, images and rich text formatting |
Editor training | Handover included | A recorded session plus a short written guide for your CMS |
Launch | We'll go live | A launch-day plan: DNS, redirects live, crawl and form tests |
Support | Ongoing support | A fixed support window, a response time and a bug versus change rule |
If you want a fuller picture of how these phases sit on a calendar, our website migration project plan template lays them out week by week, and how long a website migration takes explains what stretches each phase.
What questions should you ask a migration agency before signing?
Ask questions that reveal how the agency handles risk, not how it handles design. A strong team answers these quickly and specifically, because they've already been burned by each one.
Who owns the redirect map?
You want a named person, a review date and a promise that the map is live before DNS changes.
What happens to images and files?
Ask whether assets will be re-hosted. On a Webflow move, CSV exports keep pointing image URLs at the Webflow CDN, and rich-text images can come through as placeholders.
How will you test forms and tracking?
Look for a written test log, not a verbal reassurance.
Are you redesigning or copying?
A redesign during a move changes risk and price. Our take on migration plus redesign at the same time covers when it's worth it.
What counts as a change request?
Ask for examples. Clear rules up front prevent arguments halfway through the project.
What does support look like after launch?
Ask how long it lasts, who responds and how fast.
If you're comparing several shops, our guide to choosing a Webflow or Framer migration agency covers portfolio checks and red flags in more detail.
How do you compare two migration quotes fairly?
Compare migration quotes by scope line, not by total price. Put both proposals into one table with every item from the checklist above as a row, and mark each one as included, excluded or unclear. The cheaper quote often turns out to exclude the work that protects your traffic.
Price ranges vary widely. Agency migration quotes we see typically run from $1,500 to $25,000, driven mostly by page count, CMS complexity and how many integrations need rebuilding. Some platform moves, such as Wix to Framer, start around $4,000 in the quotes we've seen. These numbers move by region and team, so treat them as a sense check, not a benchmark.
Finally, check what you'll pay after launch. Hosting, editor seats and maintenance can change the real cost of the move, which we break down in ongoing costs after a migration. If you're tempted to skip the quote altogether, read DIY vs freelancer vs agency for a migration first.
