Here we provide you with the guidelines to writing a great RFP for a website project and also offer you a free RFP template and scoring card to complete (with instructions).
Whether you are coming from the education sector (college, university, etc.), the government sector (departments, country councils, etc.), or anything in between; you may be required to complete an RFP before you can proceed with a project. This is intended to attract suitable suppliers to the task at hand (in this instance a website to be designed) by allowing them to submit proposals to fulfill your needs and secure your backing for the job.
What is an RFP and why do I need one?
As touched on above, an RFP is a document that you release to potential suppliers so that they can read and assess it before putting themselves forward for the job. Your RFP sets out exactly what you are seeking and how you want these criteria to be met. The more detail that you put in your RFP, the more you can ascertain as to whether those who reply to it are suitable for the job. You may be required to release an RFP to secure funding for a project by showing that you have sought out the perfect supplier for the job or perhaps you need to release an RFP as your own independent searching for a suitable supplier has not been fruitful. Regardless, the RFP document is an extremely comprehensive and measurable way to obtain the most suitable candidate for your task at hand.
How do I write a good RFP?
There are many things to consider before writing and releasing an RFP. To start off, you need to know exactly how you want the end result to look. When making an RFP for a website, you will need to have researched the look, functionality, and layout that you would like so that you can present this as the criteria that need to be fulfilled. You will also have to broach subjects such as hosting, social media integration, security, training, and more. With these many headings that populate an RFP, you run the risk of confusing and overwhelming potential website designers by drowning them in a sea of repetitive or at times contradictory text if you are not organized in your approach to this. That is why we have taken the time to perfect an RFP template for you to use.
The RFP Template and Scorecard
Save yourself countless hours trying to write a website RFP from scratch and download this template from Ireland Website Design instead by clicking here. This template was created after studying 30+ different RFPs and combining all of the important parts into one comprehensive document. The template includes instructions of what to write under each heading and also provides tangible examples of a hypothetical online clothing shop to put this into context for you. Each section is broken down under easy-to-understand headings and a reactive table of contents so it will reflect the work and text that you add to it. The accompanying scorecard gives you a simple system to use to score each of the candidates that respond to your RFP so that you can score each once and use this to choose the best candidate for the job.
Finishing Touches
Make sure to address all of the relevant parts of the RFP template and when doing so, let the personality of your business shine through from what you write. This helps those who respond to your RFP get an insight into the type of company and type of people that they can expect to work with should they be successful in their application. It is also a good idea to include any pictures or screenshots that you have and feels would buttress the RFP.
