Maybe you’ve never written a website RFP before, or maybe you don’t think they’re really necessary (sometimes they’re not). Writing an RFP shouldn’t be overwhelming or intimidating. This useful exercise will help you clarify your internal goals and lead you to identify the best website company for your project.
In this post, we’ll discuss what you need to include in your website RFP to help you clearly communicate your expectations and quickly find the right fit for your project.
Writing a website RFP is a fantastic way to find a web design company. This detailed proposal provides prospective vendors with an accurate description of who you are, what you hope to accomplish, and the requirements needed to create a winning website.
In a way, website RFPs are similar to job postings except that, rather than hiring an employee, you’re posting an opportunity to contract with a vendor on a specific project—in this case building or redesigning a website. And just like a traditional interview process, an RFP allows both sides to evaluate each others’ respective capabilities, services, and styles and determine if this project will be a good fit.
RFPs are typically similar in function and form. Most web design companies will expect you to provide information such as:
Taking the time to craft a thoughtful website design RFP saves you time and money in the long run and helps to ensure that you find the right match for your web design project.
There are many benefits to writing an RFP, but the biggest benefit is taking the time to think through the specifics of your project to ensure that every detail is addressed. This sets the stage for a smooth production process and helps avoid costly scope creep. Here are a few additional benefits of crafting a website RFP:
Clarifying Expectations
Website companies prefer to know as many details as possible so that they can determine whether they have the capacity and capabilities to meet your expectations. Describing your company is also extremely important because some website companies may have extensive experience designing websites within your niche. Also, since website creation is part science and part art, you need to make sure you’re comfortable with the company’s creative approach and style.
Identifying Expertise
Web design companies employ developers with varying skills, styles, and proficiencies that may or may not pertain to your project. For example, you may need a web design company that specializes in e-commerce or online learning. Those are specific areas that don’t apply to all businesses so you want a company with expertise in those areas.
Obtaining an Accurate Quote
We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to provide an accurate scope of work in your website RFP. These details are crucial to obtaining an accurate quote. If you aren’t thorough with this step, you risk getting halfway through a website project and stumbling across an oversight that costs you a big chunk of money and time.
Finding the Right Fit
Fit is so important to a company’s brand identity and it’s the same with hiring contractors. You need to partner with a vendor that complements your company’s culture—especially since you’re entrusting them with an aspect of your brand. Website design and development is not a cookie-cutter industry. Make sure you select a team that can integrate seamlessly within your own corporate culture.
As we’ve already discussed, web design RFPs should provide specific information that will help both parties identify the best partnership. Here are the sections that you should include in your website RFP and questions you should answer to help guide the vendor selection process.
Company Description
Provide a general idea of who you are and what you do. What’s your brand style? How do you operate internally? Let the website vendors you’re pursuing get a sense of what it would be like to work with you. How many people will be involved in the approval process? Who will manage the project on your end? Which stakeholders need to be satisfied before moving forward? This is useful information to give a prospective company an idea of your current realities.
Timeline
In this section, please include all the important dates surrounding the selection, kick-off, and completion of this web design project, such as:
Sometimes your timeline will determine whether or not a company will submit a proposal. It’s always better to offer plenty of lead time. Rushed jobs are difficult and stressful, and many companies will avoid RFPs with unrealistic timelines.
New Website Goals
This is the fun part, where you cast the vision and share your goals for your new website. Helpful points to make are the purpose of the website, the target audience, and persona information, as well as any restructuring of content or site navigation that will improve the user experience. If there are metrics, sales goals, or other KPIs you should add those here as well.
Current Website Description and Pain points
Why are you revamping your website? Describe any pain points or frustrations with your current site. Include historical information such as when your website was built or last updated, your hosting service, code used, any legacy integrations that need to be adjusted, integrated, or abandoned. Be as specific as possible with the pain points so that your prospective vendor can have the opportunity to propose solutions to resolve these problems.
Scope of Website Design or Redesign
In this section, list out every requirement you hope to address in this website design or redesign. Here are some questions to help you define the scope of your project:
Budget
This is necessary to help you get proposals from companies that can serve you within your budgetary considerations.
Proposal Requirements
What should interested companies include in their proposals to you? Some things you may want to see on the proposal are:
It doesn’t have to be fancy, but an RFP is helpful in formalizing the process of finding the right website vendor and clearly communicating what you’re looking for with the website companies you’d like to work with. There are many different RFP templates available online, many of which are general and don’t apply specifically to website development and design.
When you feel that your RFP is ready, send it to the website vendors of your choice. You can ask around in your professional network for recommendations or you can look at the footer of websites you love—the designer’s name or logo will usually be there.
If you need more help finding vendors to contact with your RFP, check out https://clutch.co/web-designers or simply contact us, we would love to review your RFP and help you discover if Cross & Crown would be a good fit for your next website project!