Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Website Design RFP (w/Free RFP Template + Examples)

The time has come for a new website (or a website redesign). For some organizations, that means that you need to write a website request for proposal, or web RFP. If that’s you, where do you begin?

A quick web search might yield a few examples and basic templates, but they vary wildly and don’t seem to really speak to your goals for developing or redesigning your website. You need to write a website RFP that will clearly articulate your needs and generate responses from the best website designers and developers out there.

In this article, we’ll:

• Walk you through a step-by-step process for writing a website design RFP.
• Tell you the information you absolutely must include.
• Mention a few common pitfalls to avoid.
• Share tips for using the right voice in your RFP.

We’ve even included a website RFP template that you can download and customize to fit your organization’s new website needs.

 

What Is a Website RFP?

A website request for proposal (RFP) is a document that communicates important information about what you’re looking for in a new website, including goals you want to achieve, challenges you want to overcome, and any brand or creative guidelines your website should adhere to. The RFP is also your chance to ask questions about potential agency partners’ experience, capabilities, process, and approach or philosophy.

Download the Website RFP Template Now >

Benefits of Writing a Website RFP

Writing a good RFP will allow you to compare agencies you may want to partner with and make an informed decision about who is best suited to build a site that will meet your goals. By standardizing the information you collect from potential partners, you will uncover strengths and weaknesses you might miss in less formalized sales conversations.

The RFP process will:

• Give you a taste of what different agencies are like to work with.
• Help you make more objective, data-driven decisions.
• Allow you to evaluate partners on more than just price.

In addition, a well-written RFP can help ensure the success of your website build or redesign by defining project guardrails before you get started. But, to be brutally honest, the number one reason to write a website RFP is because your organization requires one. Which brings us to…

When to Consider NOT Writing a Website RFP

We’re going to let you in on an industry secret: Most top website design and development agencies hate responding to RFPs. Those who can get away with it simply won’t do it — unless they are truly convinced that the project would be a great fit.

That’s because responding to an RFP is a lot of work. A 2023 study by the RFP software company Loopio shows that teams spend an average of 32 hours responding to each RFP. And, with an average RFP win rate of 44%, that could mean a lot of wasted time. Learn more about why NOT to write a website RFP here.

However, if your organization DOES require an RFP, don’t stress. Website agencies with experience and capabilities within your industry won’t pass you up just because you submit an RFP. For example, at Vital one of our strongest specialties is college and university website design — and it’s pretty common in higher education to require RFPs for website builds and redesigns. So when a higher ed website RFP comes our way, we always take the time to thoroughly review it in order to decide whether to respond.

(Writing a higher education website RFP? We’ve got a template for that, too. Check it out.)

With that in mind, here are some tips for making sure your RFP gets a high response rate from the top website agencies you’d like to work with.

Website RFP Best Practices

We receive website RFPs for website design (or redesign) and development all the time. Some are VASTLY better than others in terms of setting expectations and including all the info we need to respond with a thorough and project-appropriate proposal.

We can usually tell whether a company is a good fit for us simply by reading through their RFP. The best ones:

• Clarify the goals of the new website design.
• Explain the criteria for vendor selection.
• Articulate details like functionality, deadlines, selection processes, and contact information.

When you’re writing your web RFP, keep in mind that you aren’t just asking potential web designers and developers questions that will help you pick the best partner — you’re also telling them about who you are and creating an impression of whether they would like to work with you. You’re not just picking a vendor — you’re also hoping that they pick YOU.

Remember that the best, most in-demand web design agencies are very picky about which RFPs they respond to — they’re only going to bother putting in the hours if your RFP convinces them that:

• You’ve thought the project through and you’re clear about your goals.
• You’re realistic about what you can achieve within your budget and timeline.
• There’s alignment between what you want and the agency’s capabilities and approach.
• There aren’t any glaring “difficult client” red flags.

The last thing you want to do is lose out on getting to work with a great web design agency because they determine that you would not be a good fit based on your RFP. Let’s not let that happen!

So first, let’s cover the basics of the RFP process.

Download the Website RFP Template Now >

What to Include in an RFP

There are 11 crucial sections you must include in an RFP:

1. Intro / Project Overview — In this section, you should include the vital information that vendors receiving the RFP will be looking for to make an initial decision on whether the project is worth their time. If you get this part right, more vendors are likely to read through the rest of the RFP.
   
   There are some essential pieces of information that you should include in the project overview section. If you leave this stuff out, your response rate will suffer.
   
   Examples:

   Web RFP/Proposal Timeline: Include the date you sent out the RFP, the deadline for proposal responses, and the date respondents can expect to hear back from you. Website Project Launch Goal: Include the date that you hope your website will be launched. Keep in mind that a typical website takes 18-26 weeks, depending on the complexity of the project. If you want your site live next month, chances are that 99% of companies will decline to respond due to an unrealistic time frame. Contact Information: Include where the proposal response should be sent and who to contact with any questions.

2. Company Overview — Introduce your company in one or two paragraphs. You don’t want to overwhelm readers with unnecessary details, but include enough information so that those who have never heard of you will get a sense of your business.
3. Your Website’s Audience — Here is where you can describe who will be using the website. Usually, that means the group or groups of people you’d like to attract as new customers. This is critical information for the website designers, developers, strategists, and copywriters — the type of audience will determine everything from functionality to UX and aesthetics. If you have buyer personas, include them here! If not, you might want to consider creating buyer personas as part of the website redesign process.
4. Website Objectives — Identify the primary objective of your website and list any secondary or tertiary objectives in this section. A website with an objective to increase sales-ready leads will look and act very differently from a website with a primary objective of educating investors.
5. Current Website — Take an honest inventory of exactly what is not working with your current website. The more specific you are, the better. Don’t worry, we won’t judge you on the state of your current site!
6. New Website Functionality Requirements — List any functionality that is essential for your new website. The more specific you are on these requirements, the more accurate estimate your vendors will be able to give you. This is different from your new website objectives, which are about goals; this part is about specific functionality.
7. New Website Wish List — Here, you will include optional functionality that is dependent on budget. Separating this list from the requirements will allow you to see line-item costs and empower you to decide on functionalities based on budget and timeline impact.
8. eCommerce Details — If your new website will have an eCommerce component, you should list details such as product/SKU quantity and near-term and long-term anticipated growth. These details will prove useful when it comes to designing an eCommerce platform that makes sense for your immediate and future budgets.
9. Website Budget Details — Reiterate your budget (which should be included at the top in the project overview) and include any details that need explaining, such as payment schedule or fiscal year limitations. We’ll explain later why sharing your budget is a must.
10. Proposal Requirements — Here, you should provide an outline of what responding vendors should include in their proposal responses. Every website design and development firm has a different process. Providing a clear outline will help standardize responses, which will help you compare proposals in the decision-making step.
11. Website RFP & Project Timeline Details — State your RFP response deadline (which should also be included at the top in the project overview) and let vendors know when they will be hearing back on their responses should they be selected as a finalist or win the business. You can also include your kickoff and target website launch dates here. Just make sure your dates are realistic.

Download the Website RFP Template Now >

How to Write Your RFP

Now that you have a foundational knowledge of how your website RFP should be structured, you’re ready to build on it and make it your own!

You want your website design RFP to stand out by being more focused, self-aware, and straightforward than the masses of uninspiring RFPs in your potential vendors’ inboxes. The level of excitement in your RFP is up to you, but it will be improved significantly by thoughtfully executing the following:

1. Establish Goals for Your New Website

Do a little exercise before you start a wish list for your new site. First, what is the most important thing you want your website to do?

• Educate and inform prospective customers?
• Sell products?
• Generate leads for your sales team?
• Provide information and be a go-to resource in your industry?
• Support high-converting landing pages for a PPC campaign you’re managing?

You will probably have several goals for your website, but make sure to prioritize them. Pick one definite top-priority goal. Add several secondary goals if applicable, but realize that your primary goal comes first.

Examples:

• “Our top priority is generating sales-ready leads for our sales team. Our secondary goals are educating prospective buyers on our services and providing helpful resources.”
• “Our top priority is establishing credibility for potential investors. Our secondary goal is making it very easy to contact team members through the website or through social media profiles.”

2. Be Honest About Your Current Website

If you have an existing site, evaluate it honestly and concisely. Simply saying that your current website isn’t working won’t be enough detail for your vendors — be specific about why it isn’t working!

• Do people not know where to find certain resources?
• Are you not getting enough traffic or conversions?
• Is it aesthetically acceptable but no one at your company knows how to update content?
• Is it technically out-of-date and in need of a performance overhaul?

Be specific about the complaints your website regularly gets, and the things that you hope the new website will change.

Examples:

• “Users can’t find anything on the website because of the navigation. Menu options change based on which page you are on, which is confusing. We want to create more consistent, intuitive website navigation.”
• “The design is visually consistent with our brand, but the tone of the copy is not in line with our brand, nor does it speak to our audience.”
• “Customers regularly tell us they get errors during checkout and must call us on the phone to complete their order (and there’s no telling how many give up and go to a competitor instead).”
• “Load times are too long, and the site isn’t mobile-friendly, so we are getting killed on SEO.”

3. Define Core Functionality and Note Optional Features

This is the meat and potatoes of your RFP. These are the elements by which the website designers and developers you send it to will determine what they will charge you.

It’s crucial to be specific. List which functionalities are mandatory and which may be optional depending on cost so that vendors will be able to line-item optional features. You can then make a more informed decision.

Examples:

• “It’s essential that we have an accurate and functional store locator that works across all devices. Optional feature: It would be nice to have an interactive map with a legend of custom icons for different store features.”
• “We need a blog on our website to share updates. Optional feature: We would love a full resource center with video library and advanced search functionality.”
• “We must have an appointment booking feature that integrates with our CRM. Optional feature: It would be great if we could send automated calendar reminders.”

Download the Website RFP Template >

4. Keep It Simple

One of the best RFPs we’ve ever received was in a very simple outline form. What made it great was the honesty with which they assessed their current site, how they outlined exactly what they wanted their new website to do, and how they knew exactly who their audience was.

They eschewed overly professional language for the cold, hard truth, and it allowed us to respond with an incredibly specific proposal, complete with strategic positioning, specific recommendations, and line items. This helped both of our teams cut to the chase and save lots of time when it came time to kick off the project.

Examples:

• “We know our current website sucks. But we also know exactly what our goals are for our new website, and we’ve invested in defining our audience and customer profiles.”
• “We do not have the budget for a full brand redesign at this time, but would love to revisit our logo in the near future. For now, we just need a simple, easy-to-use website that we can start building up with great content. A full brand redesign might come down the road.”

5. Ask the RIGHT Website Questions

As you write your RFP, you’ll probably come up with questions along the way about specific functionalities, platforms or tools.

However, you don’t want to ask questions that will be limiting or that will lead your responders to believe you are tied to specific tools or limited to certain versions or functionalities. Make sure your questions are open-ended and ask for recommendations from the professionals who spend every day building websites.

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert. If you don’t know about a certain aspect, don’t fake it by asking questions or adding functionality specifications that sound good, but that you don’t fully understand. Instead, articulate your desired outcome, describe your objective, and ask for recommendations.

The right agency will let you know how easy (cheap) or difficult (costly) various ways to meet that objective will be.

Examples:

• Instead of asking, “How many portal sites do you recommend?” ask, “What approach would you take to handle speaking to multiple audiences?”
• Instead of asking, “What WordPress plugin would you use to stream a Twitter feed on the homepage?” ask, “How would you recommend we bring social media elements into our website?” (or, “Do you recommend social content be pulled onto the homepage?”).

6. Include Your Website Budget

YES, you really should include your budget in your RFP! This will save you much time and effort on vendors that are way above your budget. It will also allow right-fit vendors to suggest ways to customize your functionality to make your goals work within a budget.

If you aren’t clear about your ballpark budget, vendors might propose a plan that includes everything you asked for but that is out of your price range. However, they might be able to lower the cost if they know your budget. A good design and development firm will engage in further conversation with you if your budget is wildly too low for the parameters you desire. Transparency pays off.

Examples

• “We have a budget of $120,000 for a new website. We would love to complete the project with $100k and have $20k to invest in content marketing. We would love to hear your thoughts on how to most effectively spend this budget.”

• “We have a $95,000 budget for this website, and we must bill it before our fiscal year-end on October 1st. We are happy to discuss flexible payment options, and website development solutions that will allow us to add additional features and functionality in our next fiscal year.”

7. Show Off Your Personality

This applies to ALL companies. Even if you’re a no-nonsense, B2B tax law firm, your business still has a personality. That personality may be trustworthy, credible, and reliable; it may be silly, punny, and irreverent; it may be authentic, generous, and passionate. Whatever your personality, your web RFP should faithfully represent that.

Again, it all comes back to setting expectations. A company that reads your web RFP should be able to get a sense of what kind of relationship they will have with you. On top of that, your business’ personality will influence how your website looks, feels, and functions for your visitors. So make sure your RFP is YOU.

Examples:

• “Our company is awesome, and our website should reflect that!”

• “We do not have the liberty to share information about our clients. However, we are willing to invest the time in creating case studies based on real situations. In this way, we hope to populate a resource center for our clients, so that they may see themselves working with us in a mutually successful partnership.”

Where to Send Your RFP

If you don’t already have a list of great website agencies you’d love to work with, here’s how to decide where to send your RFP.

• Do a Google search. Search for terms like “best website agency for X industry.” Sponsored listings will give you insight into what agencies are actively seeking RFPs from companies or institutions like yours. Organic results will tell you who’s doing a great job at SEO.
• Read the reviews. Review sites like Clutch are a great place to learn from others’ experiences with top website agencies.
• Do your homework. Make a list of websites you admire, ideally in your industry. Check the footer to see if it includes a statement about who designed and built the site. If not, reach out and ask (as long as they’re not a direct competitor).
• Look for technical partners. If you have technical requirements (for example, you want to host your site on WP Engine or you need to integrate with HubSpot), search for agencies that have verified partnerships with those tech providers.

• Conduct a Pre-Emptive Q&A. Before you send out the RFP, you should have a Q&A period with all the agencies you want to participate. During this Q&A period, explain why you’re sending your website RFP to their agency, and be clear about your expectations of the completed RFP.

Once you have some contenders, plan on sending your website RFP to 3-6 agencies.

Website RFP Examples

Here are a few examples of RFPs companies have used to get agency bids on their website projects.

1. Internet Standards Organization Website RFP

RFP Link

What it gets right: Easy-to-follow table of contents, well structured and written overall. We particularly like the use of bold text for critical pieces of information.

What could be improved: Other than not including a budget, not much! This is a great example of a website RFP.

2. Philanthropy Foundation Website RFP

RFP Link

What it gets right: Clear explanation of phases and expectations for deliverables.

What could be improved: There are no clear, measurable goals for the two websites covered by this RFP. In addition, they don’t disclose budget or their criteria for selecting a website agency partner.

3. Government Contractor Website RFP

RFP Link

What it gets right: Detailed information about the website’s audience, clear list of necessary functionality, and websites they like for inspiration.

What could be improved: They request pricing, but don’t include a budget to work with.

4. Architecture Firm Website RFP

RFP Link

What it gets right: Detailed information about the limitations of the current website and the goals of the rebuild.

What could be improved: Again, no budget. And while they specify that they want to look more like “award-winning websites,” they don’t specify any sites they like.

5. Nonprofit Organization Website RFP

RFP Link

What it gets right: Clear, detailed breakdown of different audiences for the site. We also like that they separate website objectives from functionality requirements (often RFPs lump the two together). And this one includes a budget!

What could be improved: It would be nice to see a list of sites they like.

How to Choose a Website Agency

If you follow the steps laid out here, you’ll end up with a great dilemma: How to choose from the agencies that respond to your website RFP? Your RFP will do some of the work for you because you’ve already laid out the criteria for your selection. But if you still have multiple vendors who meet the criteria, here are a few considerations to help you decide.

• Presentation quality. Did the agency come to sales and discovery calls prepared? How polished was their presentation? Were they on time, organized, and able to articulate what sets them apart? This tells you a lot about what they’ll be like to work with.
• Team members. Were you able to meet with key team members who will be directly responsible for important parts of the website process? This might include a project manager, lead designer, developer, copywriter, and more.
• Working process. Did the agency describe the website design process in detail? Are you clear on things like how often you’ll meet, how you’ll communicate on a day-to-day basis, any project management tools they use, etc.?
• References. Get them. Check them.
• Vibes. Building or redesigning a website is no small task. You’re going to be in the trenches with these people. There will be challenges and you’ll have to work through them together. Trust your gut when it comes to more intangible qualities like communication style, common values, and even a sense of humor.

Should You Ask for Pricing in Your RFP?

An RFP is a bad way to price shop. Responding to a website RFP is a time-consuming process for agencies. You’re asking them to invest a lot of time and effort thinking about your company and envisioning a custom website solution just for you.

If you’re shopping for price, just call the agencies and ask them their general pricing for a website of an approximate size and functionality. This will at least get you a ballpark for each agency, and will be far less time-consuming for you and the agency if price range is an eliminating factor.

Remember, too, that you’re including your budget in your RFP. This should easily disqualify agencies that can’t work within that budget.

There you have it! Those are our insider tips for creating a kick-ass website design and development RFP that will generate proposals that you can use.

Now, for the fun part. We’ve created a handy dandy template that you can use to craft said RFP. Download it, customize it with your name, dates, goals, hopes, and dreams. And then BOOM! You’re in RFP heaven.

Good luck! And be sure to send a copy our way — just contact us here.