# Agenturbewertung

> A guide for clients: assess digital agencies, compare proposals, judge day rates, read contracts and spot warning signs before a project starts.

- [How to Choose an Agency: A Shortlist Method That Works](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/choosing-an-agency/how-to-choose-an-agency/): To choose an agency, write down your goal, budget range and decision-maker before you contact anyone, then score every candidate against the same weighted criteria. Ask each finalist for two past clients and phone them. Shortlist two or three agencies for a proposal and judge them on the team that will do the work, not the pitch team.
- [Agency Brief Template: Nine Sections, With Examples](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/choosing-an-agency/agency-brief-template/): An agency brief should fit on two to four pages and cover nine things: background, a measurable goal, audience, scope, what is out of scope, technical constraints, deadlines, a budget range and how the decision will be made. The two parts clients skip most often, a measurable goal and a budget range, cause the biggest gaps between proposals.
- [Agency Pitch Process: Steps, Pitch Fees and Idea Ownership](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/choosing-an-agency/agency-pitch-process/): A fair agency pitch process invites three, at most four, agencies after a short chemistry meeting, gives them all the same written brief, fixes the judging criteria in advance and pays a pitch fee when concept work is requested. State in writing that work submitted by agencies you do not hire remains theirs.
- [Agency Red Flags: 11 Warning Signs Before You Sign](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/choosing-an-agency/agency-red-flags/): The clearest agency red flags are guaranteed Google rankings, domains or ad accounts registered in the agency's name, long minimum terms without a defined service, demands for full payment upfront, lump-sum quotes with no assumptions and no reference clients you can call. Before signing, check the company register and recent filed accounts.
- [Agency Hourly Rates: What Drives the Price in 2026](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/proposals-and-pricing/agency-hourly-rates/): Agency hourly rates depend mostly on where the team sits and how senior it is. Clutch lists $25 to $49 as the most common band for design agencies worldwide, while a US agency paying a developer the national median wage needs well over $200 an hour to cover salary, benefits, overheads and unbilled time. Compare total hours, not just rates.
- [How Much Does a Website Cost? A Line-by-Line Estimate](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/proposals-and-pricing/how-much-does-a-website-cost/): An agency-built website costs whatever the hours add up to. At an assumed $150 an hour, a small site on a customised theme comes to about $9,000, a 15-page business site with its own design about $25,000, and an online shop with an inventory integration about $52,500. Hosting, licences and maintenance add a yearly cost on top.
- [Fixed Price vs Time and Materials: Which Model When](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/proposals-and-pricing/fixed-price-vs-time-and-materials/): Choose a fixed price when the scope can be specified precisely up front, because the agency then carries the overrun risk and prices it in as a buffer. Choose time and materials when requirements are still moving, accepting that the risk shifts to you. For most projects, time and materials with a written cap is the best compromise.
- [How to Compare Agency Proposals Like for Like](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/proposals-and-pricing/compare-agency-proposals/): To compare agency proposals, break every proposal into the same building blocks, put an estimated price on anything an agency left out and ask all agencies the same written questions about their assumptions. Only the adjusted totals are comparable. Then check IP ownership, revision rounds, payment schedule and post-launch costs, where the biggest hidden differences sit.
- [Software Acceptance Testing in Contracts: What to Agree](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/working-together/software-acceptance-testing/): A software acceptance testing clause in a contract should define test cases before development starts, a fixed testing window, severity levels for defects and the thresholds that allow you to reject delivery. Watch for deemed acceptance, where silence or going live counts as sign-off, and tie the final payment and the start of any warranty period to written acceptance.
- [Who Owns the Source Code When an Agency Builds Your App?](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/working-together/who-owns-the-source-code/): Paying for software does not make you its owner. In the US and UK, copyright in code written by an agency's staff belongs to the agency unless the contract assigns it to you in a signed written document. In Germany you receive usage rights, never the copyright itself. Put ownership and code handover in the contract.
- [Switching Agencies: Handover Checklist and Right Order](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/working-together/switching-agencies/): When switching agencies, secure every login, domain, account and the source code before you give notice. Then check the notice period in the contract, move domains using the registrar's auth code, and plan two to four weeks in which both agencies have access. Finish by removing the old agency's access and asking for written confirmation that your data was deleted.
- [Website Maintenance Contract: What to Include and Check](https://agenturbewertung.de/en/working-together/website-maintenance-contract/): A website maintenance contract should spell out updates for the CMS, plugins and PHP, off-site backups with a documented restore test, uptime and security monitoring, separate response and fix times by severity, a set number of hours for small changes and a monthly report. You should also keep your own access to the code, server and backups at all times.

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