WEBSITE RFP

Creating Your Website Request for Proposal (RFP)

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is the document you provide to WebDuck Designs and other web development companies when requesting a proposal and quote for your website project. Website RFP's outline exactly what you are looking for in your new website, so that we may provide you with the most accurate website quote possible.

Here you will find a general guideline of the information that you should include in your website outline. Include as much information as possible as it is important for the team at WebDuck Designs to have a good understanding of what your goal is for your new website.

The Website RFP Process

1. Project Scope: Your project scope provides a brief background of your company and description of the overall project. Because no one knows your company quite like you do, be as detailed as possible when writing your project scope.
   
   Your ideal time frame should also be indicated in this section of your website RFP. Here you will let us know of any cut-off dates, deadlines, crucial meetings, etc. that we need to be aware of. Be realistic with your time expectations and let us know how flexible you are with the projects completion date.
   
   Also included in the website project scope should be any detailed budget information that can help our developers scale your project appropriately.
    
2. Target Audience: Who will be the main user of your website? Approximate age range, user comfort level with technology, are they more likely to use high-speed connections or modems, etc. are all things that are helpful to know. This allows us to build your website to be as user friendly as possible for your main audience.
    
3. Website Design & Corporate Branding Requirements: Here you can express your preferences for any color palettes or font styles. If you company has any corporate identity guidelines that you are required to follow, that should also be provided at this time if possible.
   
   Do you envision a specific “feel” that you would like our web designers to convey? If so, include some adjectives to help describe what you are looking for. It can also be helpful to provide examples of other sites you have seen that you like or disliked, and tell us why so that we can either incorporate some of those same elements, or avoid them.
   
   Finally, do you wish to incorporate any animated elements (i.e. Flash animations) into your website design? If so, where would you like to see them and how are they going to be used?
    
4. Technical and Website Infrastructure Requirements:
   
   Hosting – Being as detailed as possible, describe your current hosting situation and/or hosting needs. (i.e. Are you self-hosted? Do you have administrative access to the webserver and databases?) Are you looking for a new hosting solution?
   
   Browsers - Which browser platforms are you using (PC, Mac, UNIX-based)? All of the websites built by WebDuck Designs are cross browser compatible but for testing purposes it is important to know what browser you are using.
    
5. Functionality/Programming Requirements: Will there be any interactive features on the site and if so, how do you envision them to work?
   
   For example:
   Forms – will there be any forms and if so, how many? When your customer completes a form, will it be e-mailed to the recipient or stored in a database?
   
   Content Management – will your website require tools allowing you and/or your staff to manage the content and information on each of your websites pages? If so, what kind of capabilities will you be needing (just editing text, adding events to a calendar, etc)
   
   E-commerce – will your website include any e-commerce features and if so, who will be entering the data on each of the products offered and how will the transactions be managed?
    
6. HTML Production Requirements: How many pages do you anticipate and what will those pages be? (Example: About Us, Contact Us, Services Offered, etc).
    
7. Ongoing Website Maintenance Plans: How often do you anticipate the site being updated and do you plan to do this in-house or outsource any maintenance services? If maintenance will be done in house please discuss the staff's programming and coding capabilities.
    
8. RFP Response Deadline and Contact Information: When is the response to your RFP due and who should the response be sent to? Please also indicate a time frame in which you expect to award the project.

If you have any questions in writing your request for proposal or if you are ready to submit your RFP to WebDuck Designs, please contact us here.