You've received a web development proposal. It has a list of items, domain, hosting, SSL certificate, DNS configuration, CMS setup, CDN, maybe a maintenance retainer, and a price attached to each one. You don't want to ask what half of them mean, so you scan the total, it seems reasonable, and you sign. That works out fine most of the time. And occasionally it doesn't, when you realize the domain is registered in someone else's name, or you're paying $80 a month for hosting that should cost $20, or the site disappears the moment you stop paying a retainer. Here's what each common line item actually means, what it typically costs, and what to check before you agree to it.

Domain Name

What it is: Your web address, yourbusiness.com. It's the name you buy the rights to use from a domain registrar, typically renewed annually. What it should cost: $10–20 per year for a .com. Specialty extensions (.io, .co, .miami) vary but rarely exceed $40–50/year for a standard registration. What to check: The domain should be registered in your name, under an account you own and control. Some developers register domains in their agency account for convenience. This creates a dependency, if you part ways, you need them to transfer it to you. Get the domain in your name from the start, or ensure there's an explicit transfer process if the developer registers it. Where to register: Cloudflare Registrar, Namecheap, and Google Domains (now Squarespace Domains) are all reputable and straightforward. GoDaddy works but aggressively upsells.

Web Hosting

What it is: The server, the computer somewhere that stores your website's files and serves them to visitors when someone types your address into a browser. Without hosting, the domain is just a name pointing at nothing. What it should cost: For most small business websites, $0–30 per month. Modern platforms like Cloudflare Pages and Vercel offer high-performance hosting for static and Next.js sites at low or no cost. Managed WordPress hosting runs $15–50/month. There's rarely a good reason for a small business site to cost more than that to host. What to check: The hosting account should be yours, or clearly documented as something you can migrate away from. If your site lives in a developer's personal hosting account and they disappear, you have a problem. Ask explicitly: "Is the hosting account registered to me, and can I access it independently?" What the type matters: Shared hosting (one server, many sites) is cheap and often slow. VPS and dedicated servers are more powerful and more expensive. Cloud and edge hosting (Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify) is what modern performant sites are typically built on, fast globally, reliable, and well-priced.

SSL Certificate

What it is: The padlock that appears in your browser's address bar. It encrypts the connection between your visitor's browser and your server, which protects form submissions, login credentials, and any data that passes through the site. Google also uses HTTPS as a ranking signal, sites without it rank lower. What it should cost: Free. SSL certificates from Let's Encrypt are free and are automatically provisioned by almost every reputable hosting provider. A proposal that charges $50–100/year for an SSL certificate is charging for something that should be included. What to check: Confirm SSL is included in the hosting setup. It should be.

DNS Configuration

What it is: The Domain Name System is what connects your domain name to your hosting server. When you type yourbusiness.com, DNS tells the internet which server to look at. Configuring DNS means updating records in your domain registrar to point at your hosting provider. What it should cost: Nothing, DNS configuration is labor included in any web project setup, not a separate product. If it appears as a charged line item, it should be bundled into setup/launch fees, not recurring. What to check: DNS changes can affect your email, so confirm your developer knows which DNS records to preserve. A DNS misconfiguration can briefly take down email while only intending to affect the website.

Email / Google Workspace

What it is: A professional email address at your domain, name@yourbusiness.com. This is separate from your website hosting. Many proposals include setup for Google Workspace (Gmail with your domain) because it's the most common business email solution. What it should cost: Google Workspace starts at around $6/user/month, billed annually. Your developer may charge a one-time setup fee to configure the DNS records required to route email through Google. What to check: Email and website hosting are completely separate services. Your email will keep working if you change hosting providers, and vice versa, as long as your DNS records are correct.

CMS (Content Management System)

What it is: The tool that lets you (or your team) update the website without a developer. Adding a blog post, changing a service description, swapping out a photo, a CMS makes these possible without touching code. What it should cost: Depends on the platform. WordPress is free software (you pay for hosting and often plugins). Headless CMS platforms like Sanity have free tiers for small sites and paid plans starting around $15–99/month for advanced features. Page builders like Webflow charge $14–39/month. Some proposals include a one-time CMS setup fee as part of the build. What to check: Whether you actually need one. If nobody at your business is going to update the site regularly, a CMS adds cost and complexity you may not use. A static site with a developer making occasional updates on request is often simpler and cheaper.

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

What it is: A network of servers distributed around the world that serve your site from whichever location is closest to your visitor. Without a CDN, every visitor loads from one server in one location. With one, a visitor in Miami loads from a Miami-area server, a visitor in Los Angeles loads from a West Coast server, and so on. The result is faster load times for everyone. What it should cost: Often included in modern hosting platforms (Cloudflare's edge network, for example). If it appears as a separate line item, it should be modest, $0–20/month depending on traffic. What to check: Whether it's included in the hosting you're already paying for. Most quality hosting providers bundle CDN functionality. You shouldn't be paying for it twice.

Backups

What it is: Copies of your website, files and database, saved at regular intervals so the site can be restored if something goes wrong. This matters most for dynamic sites with databases (like WordPress) where content is added over time. What it should cost: Most managed hosting includes automated backups. As a separate line item in a proposal, it typically appears as part of a maintenance package or a WordPress-specific setup. What to check: Whether backups are included in your hosting and how frequently they're taken. Daily backups that can be restored from a control panel is a reasonable baseline. "We back up monthly" is not.

Maintenance Retainer

What it is: An ongoing fee for someone to keep the site updated, monitored, and functional after launch. This typically covers dependency and plugin updates, security patches, uptime monitoring, and minor fixes. What it should cost: Varies widely, $50–300/month depending on the scope and the developer. For a simple small business site, $50–100/month for basic maintenance is reasonable. Higher fees should include defined deliverables. What to check: This should be optional, not required. Your site should keep running whether or not you pay a maintenance retainer. If a proposal implies the site goes down or becomes unsupported without an ongoing fee, that's a dependency worth questioning. A maintenance retainer is insurance and convenience, not a hostage situation.

The Three Questions for Every Line Item

Before signing any proposal, run each line through these:

1. Who owns this? Domains, hosting accounts, and CMS licenses should be in your name, under accounts you control. If a developer holds them on your behalf, document the transfer process explicitly.
2. Is this recurring or one-time? Understand which costs continue after launch. Domain: annual. Hosting: monthly or annual. CMS licenses: varies. SSL: free. Development work: one-time. Add up the recurring costs, that's your ongoing web spend.
3. What happens if I stop paying? The site should keep working. The only things that should go down if you stop paying a specific vendor are the services that vendor provides: domain expires if you stop paying the registrar, hosting goes down if you stop paying the host. The code, the design, and the content should be yours regardless.

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If you're reviewing a proposal and something doesn't add up, or you want a second opinion on whether what you're being quoted is reasonable, message me on WhatsApp. No obligation, I'll just give you a straight read.