How to Choose a Web Agency in Bulgaria

How to determine what kind of web agency you need

Before comparing agencies, describe what needs to change in your company. Do you want more enquiries for a service, online sales, a B2B catalogue or a system that connects the website to your warehouse and CRM? These are different tasks and require different teams.

For a company website, the service structure, enquiry form, mobile version, SEO foundations and admin panel are important. For an online store, the catalogue, filters, card or cash-on-delivery payments, courier integrations and stock levels are critical.

If employees copy enquiries from email into Excel, then into ERP and finally into an invoice, an ordinary website will not solve the problem. In that case, look for experience with API integrations, CRM, ERP and business process automation.

Also determine who will use the system. The customer, salesperson, warehouse employee and manager have different tasks. A good agency asks about these roles at the very beginning instead of jumping straight into colours and the homepage.

How Much Does Website Development Cost in Bulgaria?

The price depends on the scope, content, number of templates, languages, integrations and the choice between a ready-made platform and custom development. For initial planning, you can use the following guidelines. They are not a universal price list. Within each range, the price varies according to the specific requirements.

With a fixed price, ask for a list of what is included: design, copy, images, migration, hosting, SEO setup, training, testing and publishing. Also check how new requirements are billed. A language version, external integration or additional template can change the proposal if it is not described in the scope.

A fixed budget is suitable when the requirements are well documented. Hourly billing is practical for maintenance and evolving projects, but there should be a record of the hours and a warning before the budget is used up. A monthly retainer makes sense for SEO, advertising, maintenance and ongoing development.

What should you check in the agency’s portfolio?

Open the actual websites in the portfolio, not just the images in the presentation. Test them on a phone. Submit a form, search for a product, check the next step and see whether the pages load properly.

Look for similarities to your problem, not necessarily to your industry. An online store with many B2B products has different logic from a clothing store. In the Labimex project, you can see an example of a laboratory supplies catalogue and a quotation system.

Ask the agency exactly what its role was. Did it only create the design, or did it also build the system, integrations and tracking? Does the client have access to the admin panel? Can they edit the content? Who owns the domain, hosting, code, data and advertising accounts?

Good design matters, but it does not prove that the website will work for the business. A stronger signal is whether the agency can explain why it chose a particular structure, how an enquiry is processed and what happens after the contact button is clicked.

What are the red flags when choosing an agency?

• A guaranteed first place on Google or a promise of immediate sales. No one controls every factor in the search engine and advertising markets.
• A one-page quote with no scope, stages, deadlines, number of revisions or terms for changes.
• An agency that does not ask about your customers, sales, warehouse, team and way of working.
• A portfolio made up only of mock-ups, with no live URLs and no explanation of exactly what was built.
• It is unclear who your contact will be and who will actually develop the project.
• A request for the agency to retain control of the domain, advertising account or data without clear access and ownership rules.
• No plan for backups, security, updates and responding to problems after launch.

What questions should you ask before signing?

1. 01
   What did you learn about my business?

   Expect a specific discussion about target customers, services, the sales process and constraints. Success should be linked to qualified enquiries, completed orders, booked appointments or shorter processing times, not just visits.

2. 02
   What are the stages, and what do I need to provide?

   A good plan includes analysis, structure, a prototype or design, development, content entry, integrations, testing and launch. Clarify who approves the materials and how quickly you need to provide feedback.

3. 03
   Who will work on the project and who is responsible?

   Ask for the name and role of the main contact, designer and developer whenever possible. Clarify where tasks are tracked, how changes are reported and how often you will receive updates.

4. 04
   What exactly does the quote include?

   Check the number of pages, languages, templates, products, integrations and revisions. Ask about licences, hosting, the domain, content, migration and third-party costs.

5. 05
   What happens after publication?

   Clarify who handles updates, backups, security checks and minor changes. If the website was built by another team, review the terms for maintenance of an existing website before making a decision.

What does a good development process look like?

The first stage is a brief analysis of the business and the available materials. The agency should understand how an enquiry arrives, who handles it, how a quote is prepared and where information gets lost. For an online store, it should review the products, prices, suppliers, stock levels, payments and couriers.

Next comes the structure. This is where you decide which pages are needed, how services are grouped and how people reach a contact form or place an order. SEO is not something you add at the end as a list of keywords. It starts with URLs, headings, internal links, copy and the technical foundation.

For a more complex project, ask for prototypes of the key screens. This lets you see the logic before time is spent on details. For a custom system, define the roles and scenarios: what the salesperson does, what the manager sees and how an invoice is created.

Testing should cover phones, tablets and computers, the main browsers, forms, emails, payments, access permissions, speed and backups. For an API integration, also check what happens in the event of an error, a duplicate order or a courier server outage.

After launch, measure actual behaviour. See which forms are completed, which calls come from advertising and where customers drop off. This lets you prioritise the next changes based on the business, rather than on a personal impression of which colour looks better.

When do you need a website, and when do you need a custom system?

If the main goal is to present services and collect enquiries, a company website or landing page is usually enough. If you sell products, look for online store development with clear logic for payments, delivery and stock levels.

When employees copy enquiries between email, Excel, ERP and invoices, the problem is already a process issue. In that case, a CRM, ERP or automation can reduce duplicate data entry and give the manager consistent data on sales, stock and tasks.

This solution is more complex than a standard website, but it is suitable when you have roles, approvals, stock management, invoicing, mobile teams or connections to other systems. A good agency should also tell you when such development is not worthwhile.

How do you choose between two agencies?

Give the candidates the same brief. Describe the business, goal, main features, deadline constraints and how you will approve the project. This lets you compare approaches rather than different assumptions.

Evaluate the proposals based on their understanding of the problem, complete scope, proven relevant experience, communication and total cost for the first year. Include not only development, but also hosting, maintenance, licences, content, advertising and future changes.

Ask to speak with a former client if the agency can provide a contact. Find out whether deadlines were met, how problems were handled and what post-launch support included. This often tells you more than the presentation.

Check ownership as well. The domain, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta Business Manager and customer data should be under your control, or you should have administrator access. The agency may manage them, but you should never depend on it to access your own data.