Make this brief your own
Download the editable Markdown template, replace the bracketed prompts, and send the same requirements to every shortlisted partner. Open it in any text editor or paste it into your document tool. No email required.
Download the editable RFP templateStart with the decision and the people responsible
Replace the bracketed prompts in the download with your business context, main audience, current website, priority journey, evidence of the problem, and one accountable approver. State what must change and what must be preserved. Give a preferred launch date and identify whether it is a hard external dependency or an internal target.
- Name the business goal and a baseline, if available; do not promise a conversion uplift without evidence.
- Identify the decision maker, content owner, technical owner and person responsible for launch approval.
- Describe constraints: platform, languages, accessibility needs, data permissions and resources your team can supply.
- Tell suppliers what you do not yet know so they can propose discovery rather than guess.
Turn page counts into a scope matrix
Inventory page templates and content volumes separately. A case-study template reused twenty times differs from twenty bespoke interactions. For each requirement, ask the supplier to mark included, optional, excluded, or dependent on discovery, with an owner and acceptance check.
| Requirement | Specify | Ask the supplier |
|---|---|---|
| Customer journey | Audience, entry points, primary action, important states | How will you test the complete journey on mobile? |
| CMS and content | Templates, content types, roles, volume and languages | Who writes, migrates, reviews and trains editors? |
| Forms and integrations | CRM, email, booking, payments, APIs and owners | How do retries, spam, consent and failed delivery work? |
| Design and access | Components, responsive behavior, keyboard and reading order | Which checks and evidence are included? |
| Operations | Deployment, monitoring, handover and support | What is covered after release, and who can roll back? |
Protect existing search value during migration
Ask for an inventory of valuable URLs and landing pages using available analytics, Search Console and a crawl. Keep working URLs unless there is a reason to change them. Where changes are necessary, request a reviewed redirect map, canonical and metadata plan, sitemap checks, and a way to test the redirects before launch.
- State who owns current search and analytics accounts and provides the baseline.
- Include indexability checks, staging restrictions, internal links, structured data and image migration.
- Separate technical launch acceptance from future ranking outcomes; no supplier can guarantee search rankings.
- Agree post-launch owners for crawl errors, form monitoring and unexpected traffic changes.
Specify access, ownership and acceptance before pricing
Have the business control its domain, hosting, repository, CMS and measurement accounts. Ask about licensed fonts, imagery, plugins, export limitations, source files, credentials transfer and recurring costs. The contractual wording and any regulatory requirements should be reviewed by the appropriate adviser for your business.
- Require a test environment and permission-cleared data, never production passwords in the brief.
- Define acceptance tests for forms, integrations, mobile journeys, performance and content accuracy.
- Ask for milestones, review windows, client dependencies, change control, warranty and support exclusions.
- Require a handover checklist covering editing, backups, rollback, documentation and account access.
Compare evidence before comparing totals
Use the scorecard in the download. Set your own weights before reviewing proposals, record evidence beside every score, and leave unknowns as questions. A polished pitch is not proof of implementation ownership. Ask for a relevant workflow walkthrough and permission to verify references.
| Criterion | Evidence to request | Decision note |
|---|---|---|
| Scope fit | Completed requirements matrix and explicit exclusions | Can the team deliver the essential journey? |
| Delivery confidence | Named roles, milestones, dependencies and comparable work | Are assumptions testable? |
| Technical and content ownership | Architecture, licenses, handover and editing demonstration | Can we maintain or move the system? |
| Commercial clarity | One-time fees, recurring costs, taxes and change process | Are totals based on the same coverage? |
| Launch and support | QA evidence, monitoring, rollback and response expectations | Who owns failures after launch? |
Issue the same brief and keep a decision log
Share one version of the brief, a response format, a question deadline and an evaluation process with every shortlisted supplier. Give all candidates material clarifications. Reconcile missing scope before choosing a total, and record which assumptions need to be resolved in discovery.
If you want help shaping the brief, a consultation can clarify the primary journey, platform constraints, migration risks and what an estimate should include. You do not need to hire The AntiAlias or provide an email to use this resource.
Is an RFP required for a website redesign?
Not universally. This is a voluntary planning tool. Your organisation may have its own procurement rules; ask the appropriate adviser about obligations that apply to you.
Can I edit and share the template with agencies?
Yes. Adapt the downloaded Markdown brief for your own procurement process and share it with shortlisted suppliers. Remove sensitive information before sharing.
Does it include standard prices or timelines?
No. Ask suppliers to price your actual scope and give milestones with dependencies. The budget worksheet uses your own estimates, not invented rates.