Web development RFP template you can send this week

When an RFP is worth the effort

An RFP makes sense when several people sign off, procurement requires comparison, or the project has integrations, security reviews or a migration. For a ten-page marketing site, a one-page website brief and two calls will tell you more, faster.

If you cannot yet say what the site must achieve, write the brief first. Vendors can only price what you can describe.

The sections to write

Questions every vendor should answer

• Which two past projects are closest to ours, and what did you build in each?
• Who will work on our project, and who is our day-to-day contact?
• Describe how you handle a change request after the scope is agreed.
• What do you need from us, and by when, to hold the timeline?
• How do you test before launch, and what happens in the first thirty days after?
• Who owns the code, content, domain and accounts at the end?
• What does support cost after launch, and what does it include?
• What would you cut or change in our scope, and why?

The last question is the most useful. Vendors who agree with everything are either unsure or not listening.

Scoring sheet with the math

Agree weights before proposals arrive, or the numbers will bend toward whoever you liked on the call. Score each vendor from 1 to 5 on each row, multiply by the weight, add the results and divide by 5 to get a score out of 100.

Check one: Vendor A is 25x4 + 20x3 + 20x4 + 15x5 + 15x3 + 5x4 = 380, and 380 divided by 5 is 76. The three vendors are within two points of each other. When scores are that close, do not pick the highest number. Hold a second interview focused on the lowest-scored row for each vendor.

Price carries only 15 of the 100 points here on purpose. Raise it if your budget is fixed, lower it if scope fit matters more.

A realistic process and timeline

1. Issue the RFPSend it to three to five vendors, with a deadline for questions about a week out.
2. Answer questions in writingShare every answer with all vendors so nobody gets an edge.
3. Receive proposalsAllow two to three weeks. Shorter windows get copy-and-paste replies.
4. Score alone, then togetherEach reviewer scores privately. Compare, discuss the gaps, then average.
5. Interview the top twoAsk them to walk through how they would handle your hardest requirement.
6. Check references and signSpeak to a client on a similar project, then agree scope, payment steps and ownership in the contract.

Pitfalls, notes and the download

• Do not ask for free design work as part of the proposal. Good vendors will decline.
• Do not hide the budget. It does not lower quotes, it only lowers the quality of the comparison.
• A fixed price only compares fairly if scope is fixed. See fixed price vs time and materials.
• Market data: Clutch reports that web projects typically cost under $10,000, with an average of $66,499. Use it to sanity-check the proposals, not to set your budget.

The downloadable version has the scoring sheet as a ready-made table with the formulas already filled in, and our margin notes on each question. You can also ask us to respond to your RFP. We will tell you plainly if we are not the right fit.