How to Write a Website Design RFP
We’ve seen our fair share of RFPs (Request For Proposal) and it seems as if all of them miss one or more important elements. Elements that we, the web design service provider, need to know in order to respond. So I have included our recommendations for writing a website design (or redesign) RFP. We hope this will help you when preparing your next web design RFP.
Company Information and Background
This should be a brief overview of the company, its history, services or products, business focus, marketing objectives and market demographics. These are just a few elements you could include here. Give as much information here as possible to create a complete business profile, but also keep it neat and short. Also include how decisions about the RFP will be made in this section. Is there a committee review process? Include the members of the committee here with their title and role in the committee.
Project Background and Objectives
This is where you can outline the project objectives, but not the scope or requirements, that will come later. Give the history of the website and how it currently used, both internally and by the general public or your customer base. Address how you see this use changing with the new website. Outline search engine visibility requirements, search engine marketing objectives and/or social media marketing goals. What are the goals for the website and how will you measure success?
Requirements and Scope of Project
This is probably the one area where businesses do not include enough information about their website design project. Start by addressing elements of the current website that should stay. These include any interactive applications, shopping carts or web forms to be transitioned to the new site. Include information on any other systems that interface with the website, or should interface with the website. These include things like an intranet, CRM (customer relationship management) system or email marketing system.
Provide an outline of how you want the content to be managed, by whom and what access they should be given. Specify where content will come from- whether imported from the current site, newly developed or a mix of both. Who will be responsible for generating content prior to the launch date and after.
Outline new applications and functionality as well as design requirements. Be sure to include relevant items from your brand standards guidelines if you have them.
Website Hosting Requirements
This is, by far, the most overlooked piece of information when compiling an RFP. We have lost more than one bid because we provided a solution for a Linux host and the prospect wanted the website hosted internally on their Windows server. If it truly does not matter to you then at least include a statement that hosting is up to the vendor.
Web Design and Development Experience of the Vendor and Key Staff
Ask for testimonials and/or references of other websites the vendor has designed or developed. Ask them to outline their responsibilities for the project. Request identification and resumes for key personnel who will be working on this project. Request information on their web design and development approach including items like revisions, design iterations, scope changes, standards and technologies utilized.
Project Timeline
This is the second most overlooked element of web design RFPs. Make sure to include your anticipated schedule. Even though these will often change as the project progresses, without one your project may never finish.
Project Pricing
This should include a detailed outline of all costs, both one-time and recurring, for the website redesign and development project.
Submission Information
How and when should the vendor respond to your RFP? Be sure to include the deadline and the format for submission, as well as who it should be sent to and at what address.
This is a perfect time to post this article especially since we are seeing so many businesses now looking for competitive pricing for their website redesigns or online marketing needs. Great Job!
Just had to share that this is our 100th post! :)
this is a nice post
Thnaks for the post. I will use it my RFP process.
This is a pretty good starting point and is in line with an article I recently wrote, “6 steps to writing a better RFP”: http://blog.confluentforms.com/2009/06/6-steps-…
But beyond the RFP, organizations need to know how to evaluate the responses they receive and have criteria for selecting the right vendor for their own project: http://blog.confluentforms.com/2008/08/how-to-s…
And don't forget, once they've written the RFP, they should consider distributing it on the RFP Database found here: http://www.rfpdb.com
Best,
-David
Thanks for this! Just started writing an RFP and I'm finding it helpful. Also thanks to commentor David for the additional suggestions!
One of those crucial aspects to be kept in mind while designing a website is its design. This is one aspect which is overlooked by many companies. In the latest advancements of the search engine spiders, search engine optimization has not left by mere re occurring your desired keywords, It is highly required that your website design and content should serve as an enticement to the web spiders.
It is one of the most common mistake made by the companies, that they don’t care about the design, way of design and content placement. A good website design can surely enhance the progress of your website popularity approaching you to shine on the first page of the most prominent search engines like google, yahoo, and windows live. The latest advancements in the scanning algorithms of search engines hinder your effort of getting a high page rank if website coding doesn’t comply with the standards.
These are the things which are ignored while selecting an designing company. And hence people end up getting their website designed by cheaper and less – efficient web designer. This not only waste your money, but may deteriorate the reputation of the company. I was in the same misconception and ended up selecting a cheaper designing company. And to all worse thing happening in my life, my website was not able to come up on the search list because of many problems including website design which was made by changing a template here and there. Afterwards, I hired a web designing and marketing company named http://www.medicalwebexperts.com who reconstructed my website thoroughly. They met all the standards for my web design and made it google friendly. And after a period of 4 to 5 months of web marketing, I was able to distinguishly see the difference in the genuine traffic, which is more important than getting fake traffic. The progress seems to show results positively in my income. This is how I was able to grab the internet market in my field.
Web designers
If you have decided that you need a good website for your business,the next step is to decide who should create it.This decision is one that needs a lot of attention because if on the one hand, a well-organized and attractive web design can help you tremendously in making more money; on the other hand,a poorly designed website can cost you money, drive away customers, and can hurt your company reputation.
Good read. You ok if i add this info to my blog ?
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