How to Write a Website RFP: Step by Step

Why RFPs fail

Most RFPs fail because they describe a website instead of a business outcome. Vendors respond with wildly different scopes because the brief was too vague.

A good RFP is specific about goals, constraints, and success criteria — it lets vendors quote like-for-like.

What to include

Include your business context, project goals, target audience, must-have features, integrations, budget range, timeline, and decision criteria.

Budget range is the most underused field: giving a range filters out mismatched vendors and yields realistic proposals.

Questions to ask vendors

Ask about team composition, project management approach, post-launch support, code ownership, and how they handle scope changes.

Ask for two client references and one project that went wrong — how a vendor handled failure tells you more than their best case study.

How to evaluate proposals

Compare scope, not just price. The cheapest proposal usually excludes integrations, content, or support that you’ll pay for later.

Score proposals against your stated criteria — team, approach, cost, and fit — and shortlist two or three for a working session before deciding.