By Mehdi HassanWhat should a website redesign RFP include?
A website redesign RFP should include ten things: who you are, who the site is for, why you're redesigning, what's wrong now, the scope, who owns content and copy, platform requirements, budget, timeline and how you'll choose. That's it. Everything else either belongs in a later brief or is procurement paperwork that slows startups down.
Most RFP templates online are written for universities, councils and enterprises. They run to dozens of pages and ask for insurance certificates before anyone has talked. Small senior studios, often the best fit for a startup, frequently decline those. This website redesign RFP template is built the other way round: short, specific, and easy for a good agency to answer in a day.
RFP section | What to write | Why agencies need it |
|---|---|---|
1. Company and product | Two or three sentences on what you sell and to whom | Context for every other answer |
2. Audience | Primary buyer, secondary users, where they come from | Shapes structure and copy |
3. Goal | One measurable aim for the redesign | Defines success and scope |
4. Current problems | What's broken today, with evidence if you have it | Shows what to fix first |
5. Scope | Pages, templates, CMS collections, integrations | The basis of the quote |
6. Content and copy | Who writes it, what exists, what's missing | The biggest swing in price |
7. Platform | Required, preferred or open: Next.js, Framer, Webflow | Determines who can bid |
8. Budget range | A range, even a wide one | Lets agencies propose the right depth |
9. Timeline | Target launch and any fixed dates | Tests feasibility |
10. Decision process | Who decides, by when, on what criteria | Lets agencies tailor replies |
If you haven't sorted your internal requirements yet, start with our website requirements checklist and come back to this template once it's done.
The website redesign RFP template (copy and paste)
Copy the sections below into a document, replace the bracketed notes, and delete any line that doesn't apply. Keep answers short. Agencies would rather read two clear sentences than two vague paragraphs.
- About us. [Company name] makes [product] for [customer]. We've [stage: raised a seed round, launched, reached first customers]. Website: [URL].
- Who the site is for. Primary audience: [role, company type]. They usually arrive from [search, ads, outbound, referrals]. Secondary audiences: [investors, candidates, partners].
- Why we're redesigning. The main goal is [one aim, for example: increase demo requests from organic traffic, or explain our new product line]. We'll judge success by [metric or outcome].
- What's wrong today. [Three to five specific problems, for example: unclear headline, no pricing page, slow mobile pages, the team can't edit pages without a developer].
- Scope. We expect around [number] pages: [list]. Templates needed: [blog, case study, careers, changelog]. Integrations: [CRM, analytics, scheduler, forms].
- Content and copy. [We'll supply final copy / We need the agency to write all copy / We have drafts that need rewriting]. Existing assets: [brand guidelines, photos, illustrations].
- Platform. [Required / preferred / open to recommendation]: [Next.js, Framer, Webflow, other]. Who will edit the site after launch: [marketing team, founders, developers].
- Budget. Our range is [low] to [high]. We're open to phasing if the full scope doesn't fit.
- Timeline. We'd like to launch by [date] because [reason]. Fixed dates: [events, launches, fundraise].
- How to reply and how we'll decide. Please send the items listed below by [date]. [Name] makes the final decision. We'll judge replies on [criteria and rough weighting].
What should you ask agencies to send back?
Ask every agency for the same five things so you can compare replies line by line. If each agency answers in its own format, you'll end up comparing presentation skills instead of substance.
Approach in one page
How they'd tackle your goal, what they'd do first and what they'd question in your brief.
Scope and price
A line-item scope with a fixed price or a clear range, showing what's included and excluded, especially copy, CMS setup and migration.
Team
Names and roles of the people who'll actually do the work, and who your day-to-day contact is.
Two relevant examples
Live sites similar in audience or complexity, with what the agency did on each.
Process and schedule
Phases, review points, number of revision rounds and how changes are handled.
Our guide to what a good web design proposal looks like annotates a strong reply, and the agency evaluation scorecard turns these five items into a weighted score.
What should a startup RFP leave out?
A startup RFP should leave out anything that doesn't change the quote or the choice of agency. Long company histories, mission statements, generic legal boilerplate, insurance requirements for a small project and requests for free design concepts all make good agencies less likely to reply.
- Speculative design work. Asking for free mockups attracts agencies with time to spare, not the busy, good ones. Pay for a trial instead if you want to see work.
- Twenty-agency distribution. Sending the RFP widely signals a price shop. Three to five targeted agencies get better replies.
- Feature wish lists without priority. Mark each feature as must-have or nice-to-have, or every quote will include everything.
- Procurement forms before a conversation. Save vendor forms for the shortlist.
How is an RFP different from a brief or a statement of work?
An RFP invites agencies to propose; a brief tells your chosen agency what to build; a statement of work is the signed scope you'll hold them to. They follow each other in that order, and each one gets more detailed and more binding.
Document | Who writes it | When | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
Requirements checklist | You, internally | Before contacting anyone | Agree internally what you need |
RFP | You | To invite proposals | Get comparable replies from several agencies |
Brief | You, with agency input | After choosing, or for a single agency | Give the detail needed for an accurate quote and kickoff |
Proposal | The agency | In reply to the RFP or brief | Approach, scope, team and price |
Statement of work | Agency, agreed with you | Before signing | The binding line-item scope |
If you already know which agency you want, skip the RFP and send a brief. Our web design brief template has the questions we ask before quoting, and how to write a website brief walks through it step by step. Once you've chosen, use the website statement of work template to lock scope.
Which other templates go with a website redesign RFP?
The RFP is one part of a small kit. Depending on what you're buying, you may also need a narrower brief for a single page or a brand project, and documents for after the agency replies.
If you need | Use this template |
|---|---|
To agree requirements internally first | |
A brief for one agency | |
A brief for a single conversion page | |
A brief for identity work | |
To judge the replies you get | |
To understand a proposal | |
To lock scope before signing |
If you're moving platforms as part of the redesign, our guide to hiring a Webflow or Framer migration agency covers the extra questions to add to section 7.
Filled-in example: a startup website redesign RFP
Here's a filled-in version of the template for an imaginary company, so you can see the level of detail that works. It's a hypothetical example, not a real client.
Hypothetical example: RFP for a seed-stage AI analytics startup
About us: our fictional company makes an AI tool that explains changes in product analytics for growth teams at B2B SaaS companies. We raised a seed round and have a small number of paying customers.
Who the site is for: heads of growth and product analysts at 50 to 500 person SaaS companies, arriving mostly from founder posts, search and outbound.
Why we're redesigning: visitors don't understand what we do. The goal is more qualified demo requests. Success means demo requests from people who match our ideal customer.
What's wrong today: a vague headline, no product screenshots, no pricing page, and only engineers can edit the site.
Scope: about 7 pages (home, product, pricing, security, about, careers, contact) plus blog and customer story templates. Integrations: HubSpot forms, a scheduler and analytics.
Content and copy: we need the agency to write all copy from founder interviews. We have a logo and colors but no guidelines.
Platform: open to recommendation; the marketing lead must be able to publish blog posts without a developer.
Budget: $8,000 to $20,000. Timeline: launch before a conference in about three months. Decision: the CEO decides, weighing copy and strategy quality highest, then design, then price.
Notice what that example does: one clear goal, specific problems, a budget range, and an explicit statement that copy is in scope. An agency can quote that accurately in a day.
How do you compare agency replies to an RFP?
Compare replies on the same criteria you stated in section 10, scored before you look at price. Scoring price last stops a low number from coloring your view of everything else. Then check the scope lines carefully, because the cheapest quote is often the one that quietly excludes copy, CMS setup or QA.
- Read the scope before the total. Line up included and excluded items across proposals in one table.
- Check who does the work. The senior people in the pitch should be the people on the project.
- Look for questions. The best replies challenge part of your brief. Agencies that agree with everything haven't thought about it.
- Call one reference per finalist. Ask what went wrong and how the agency handled it.
- Run a paid trial if you're torn. A short paid engagement tells you more than another round of calls.
If you're shortlisting from scratch, our list of website agencies for early-stage startups under $10k and our guide to affordable agencies that still do quality work are good places to start. AI companies can also check our AI startup web design agencies list.
How Designify answers a website redesign RFP
When we receive an RFP, we answer the five items above and add the one thing most replies skip: what we'd change in the brief. Our prices are fixed and published, so the quote section is short. A website is $8,000 for up to 6 pages, +$500 per extra page, with copywriting, custom design, CMS and a Next.js build. A landing page is $6,000.
We'll also tell you who writes the copy, because at Designify it's us: one small in-house team writes, designs and builds. If your RFP says copy is supplied, we'll still review it, since words decide most of the layout. Delivery dates are scoped on the intro call. For more on why one team for copy and design matters, see agency vs in-house for website copy and design, and for the details that make a build feel finished, our guide to micro-interactions.
If we're not the right fit, for example you need a large, many-stakeholder program or a large multi-language enterprise site, we'll say so on the call rather than send a proposal that doesn't fit. A full-service web design agency may be the better match for that.
