Request For Proposal For Website Design and Development

You’ve come to the determination that you need a website or your current website needs to be overhauled. You now need to find a website development company to do this. This is the easy part in the process. The question then becomes where do I go from here? This is one of the most critical steps in your decision making process. It will set the tone for the entire development process and the look and functionality of the final product. There are many factors that you need to decide before you determine which website design company is the best fit with your company and goals.

A company usually write a Request for Proposal (RFP) to get potential developers for their website. With a complex project, the company usually request to talk with the web designer for a accurate and clear communication.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) usually serves as a baseline of project requirements on which developers may price their services. The RFD process allows the developers to get an idea of your goals, existing challenges and possible limitations without lengthy phone discussion or in-person meetings that can severely impact the amount of tie it takes for you to get started with your project.

An ideal RFP would clearly specify all the requirements pertaining to your website. It would allow the developer to present you with a proposal based your particular needs and, needless to say, the more details your RFP contains, the more accurate a proposal the developer is able to present. Below are sample of a typical Request for Proposal.

Basic Question

•  Do you need to create a new website? Or redesign an existing website?
• What’s the nature of your business?
• What are your goals and objectives for the site?
• What do you want the site to do for your company?
• About how many pages and sections will your site have?

Project Background Information

• Brief overview of your organization, including some history and your primary business objectives.
• Detailed description of the project you would like to receive the proposal for.

Marketing Requirements and Data

• Who is your target audience?
• User comfort level with technology -  how technically savvy is your audience? Will they know how to deal with plug-ins, for example?
• Will users have high-speed connections, or will many be on modems?
• Audience base -  how large do you expect your user base to be?

Design and Corporate Branding Requirements

•  Do you have any particular colours in mind for your site?
• Are there any colours you do not want?
• Do you have a logo? If so, do you have it available in digital format, or is it currently available for print only? Do you need or want one?
• Do you have any particular fonts in mind for your site?
• How many images/graphics are you planning to use on your site?
• Do you have the images you’d like to use already in digital format? Or do they need to be scanned? Do you need the graphics/photos to be developed?
• What look and feel to you envision for the Web site? Include some adjectives to describe what your site should communicate.
• Provide examples of Web sites that relate to the RFP either because they have a similar feel to the one your are looking for, or even examples of what you do NOT want.
• What (if any) special features do plan to integrate onto your site? (ex. Forms, Rotating ads or banners, flash, site registration, site search engine, quiz, surveys, voting, music, message/discussion board, chat room, animation, movies)

Technical and Infrastructure Requirements

• Do you have any URL’s of websites that you really like?
• Do you have any URL’s of websites that you really dislike?
• Web hosting considerations. Do you currently have a Web host or are you looking for a new one to handle this project?
• Browser/platform considerations. Generally speaking, a Web site for consumers or the general public should work similarly across all modern browsers and Operating Systems. If you are targeting a very specific audience it is possible your needs are different.
• Development platform requirements. Do you require an Open Source solution, are you open to a proprietary solution that is more tailored to your exact needs, etc.
• Are there third party applications you'd like to incorporate?

Functionality/programming Requirements

• Will there be forms on the site? If so, how many? How should they be handled? (e.g. e-mailed to recipients, stored in a database, etc.)
• Will the site require tools to manage content/information (e.g. ability for staff to add content such as press releases or quarterly reports)?
• Will you be making sales on the site?
• How many products will you be selling?
• Will you be accepting credit cards?
• Do you want shopping cart? Order form? Or e-mail to process orders?
• Are there any other interactive features the site should have? What are they, and how do you envision them to work?

Search Engine Optimization

• Do you want to perform search engine optimization on your website?

Ongoing Site Maintenance Plans

• How often will the site be updated? Are you looking for a retainer situation, or 'on-demand' hourly work?
• Will you be self-maintaining or will you be outsourcing maintenance services?

Project Management

• Who will be the main point of contact on your staff? Keep in mind that in most cases it is easiest to have a single point of contact at both your organization and the company designing and developing your Web site.
• How will the tasks be divided between you and the developer in order to complete the project?
• Are there any third parties (subcontractors, etc.) that will also be involved in the project?

Some Additional Thoughts Before You Begin:

• What is your budget for your site?
• When did you want to launch your site?
• Are there any other upcoming plans for your site?
• Who will be the point person that will deal with the website development company?

Writing an RFP is a good exercise for anyone thinking about a site design or redesign as it takes thoughtful planning to specify and construct a website. A well thought out, quality RFP is essential to a successful endeavor because it helps you to focus on your goals and exactly how to achieve them.

Best of luck with your Web site Design and Development Project.