Web Design RFP
Writing a Web Design RFP for any organization, whether or not you are a non-profit or for-profit company, is a pain point for many. But your website is the most important part of your marketing image. It is often the first place that people get introduced in a deeper way to your company, so finding the best company to design your website is important and perhaps extremely difficult. Here are tips to help you create your web design RFP.
Goals of the new website
All of the goals of your web design RFP should be clearly laid out so that the vendor understands what is required from them to make your perfect website. It’s really important to be as specific as possible.
Marketing Goals: Define in the web design RFP the marketing goals of the new website. For example
- Increase donations
- Increase sponsorships
- Increase website traffic
- Increase registrations to events
- Increase sales if you have an e-commerce shop
- Increase awareness and visibility
- SEO optimized — search engines should be able to find your new website
- Analytical data – Google analytics should be part of it
Technology Goals
- Integration with a CRM
- Integrate with other software such as MailChimp, salesforce, event bright, etc.
- Easy to content manage such as adding new pages, images, videos, etc.
- Event registration software integration – do you link to an outside vendor, or do you want seamless integration
- Mobile optimized – should look great on every device from desktop to mobile.
- Hosting Services – what kind of hosting does your vendor offer
- Website Accessibility
- Does your website need forms?
- Donation Software — do you link to an outside vendor, or do you want seamless integration?
EWA.ORG example of fully integrated software that connects with Salesforce
SSSEVA.org Example of a donation page that connects with Blackbaud
Security
Make sure that your host has all security such as Secure server, SSL certificates, and firewalls for their server and websites, using tools such as WordFence and Sucuri.
Hosting and Maintenance
Many of our clients use our services for continued support and maintenance meaning constant technology updates to the websites, helping with content management, and more. You can request pricing for this type of service.
Process
An important part of the Website RFP is the process that will occur to ensure that your website does everything and more that you require. In an RFP this is generally an open request for your website designer to respond to. We Are Immediate’s process consists of:
- Discovery: This is an in-depth analysis of your organization and your organization’s needs. Documentation that comes from discovery meetings is the groundwork that will enable your vendor to create the perfect web application for you.
- User Experience: Commonly known as UX, this part of the process is where site maps and wireframes are created.
- Design: Correct design process will help you to have branding and schemes that match your vision of how your new website should look.
- Development Process: How does the web design agency provide you with updates?
- Quality Assurance: What is the web designer’s process for ensuring there are no code breaks/bugs? How long is the guarantee?
- Research: Does your design team research the viewpoints of current users and staff? What methods to they use to ensure your website will answer all the problems that the current website presents? How will they understand what is required of a new website?
Additional requests in your Web design RFP
At a minimum, your vendors should include the following information in their proposal as well as the elements outlined above:
- Contact Information: Name, address, email, phone, website
- Years of operation
- 3 -5 Client references
- 3 -5 top projects, why they are relevant with links to live websites.
- History of the company
- Why they think they are a good match for the project
- What differentiates them from other companies
- Team size and bios of the people who will work on your project
- Whether they use subcontractors
- A timeline is broken down by element
- Costs
Other helpful elements to add to your RFP
The more requirement details you provide, the easier it will be for the right web design team to be presented to your agency. If you have “must-have” elements, please, let us know! Guessing never works out for anyone. For example:
- Number of years of experience
- minimum number of references and example
- Must they have experience in your field
- Budget range and ability to deliver on the budget
- Location
Don’t settle for Mediocre!
There are a lot of great non-profit web design firms out there (though not as good as We Are Immediate!) Seriously, we have seen great design and we have seen bad design. Make sure you don’t settle for anything but the best. Your organization depends on it.
Ready for a free evaluation of your website? Contact Us!
