Have you been selected to comprise a request for proposal (RFP) and search online to find the perfect vendor to create your company’s new website?

This can be a long and tedious process if you’ve never done this before. You might even find yourself trapped and unable to differentiate the bad companies from the good ones.

If this is you, let us help guide you in the right direction!

You will find yourself absolutely inundated with website proposals. Every website company and their brother will be approaching your company telling you that they can create your new website.

Here’s what you’ll need to know and look out for to find the perfect website company:

Don’t Trust Companies that Give Quotes Before Knowing Your Requirements

During the RFP and search process, you will sometimes come across website development companies that will send you a quote before they even know the project. That’s like selling you a home or car before knowing what you’re even looking for! This is definitely a red flag.

Any proposals that offer a quote upfront should be deleted immediately. They’re being too eager to sell their services without any real incentive or guarantees.

Look at that— you’re already narrowing down the pool of candidates. Congratulations!

You Need to Conduct an Overall Comprehensive Evaluation for Each Proposal

There are many ways to evaluate the remaining proposals for designing your website. Your company may even have its own standards for doing so, that are intended to hire companies with the same vision.

However, whether you do or don’t already have such standards, we highly encourage you to check out our blog post, 7 Things to Look for BEFORE Hiring a Website Design and Development Company. This may help your company fill in any gaps in your evaluative process that you may not have considered until now.

If you are completely new to the process, then this article will be essential to helping you find the perfect website company for you.  It will also help you discern exactly the type of things that are the best fit for your specific company.

Does the Website Company Specialize in Creating Responsive Websites?

Responsive websites are an essential tool for reaching today’s consumers. This is thanks to the significant rise in mobile consumerism in the past few years. Many, if not most, of your website visitors will be trying to access your website through their mobile devices.

If you don’t have a website design company that can design your website to be responsive to both your vastly growing mobile customers and traditional PC browsers, then you’ll be alienating a significant portion of your consumer base.

To learn more about the necessity of having a responsive website, read The Importance of Having a Responsive and Mobile-Friendly Website. This will help you in finding a company that specializes not only in making websites responsive but also ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices.

Will They Be Able to Protect Your Company From Common Website Risks?

If you are a larger company or are simply concerned about the potential risks your website faces online, you’ll want to read 8 Ways Your Website is at Risk (And What to Do About It). This article will give you the inside knowledge you need and may not already know when sorting through proposals.

Your company will want a website company that is also familiar with all these risks and knows how to put safeguards in place to circumvent them. Having this knowledge ahead of time will give you the peace of mind that you’ve done your due diligence.

A GREAT Proposal Should Include an Offer for Monthly Maintenance

The chances are that if your company is outsourcing to have its website built, you aren’t prepared to handle the regular maintenance that comes with it when it’s finished. This is something that is important to keep in mind when looking through proposals for website companies.

Take a look at Top 5 Reasons a Website Maintenance Monthly Plan is Essential for Your Company. It’s not a surprise that some of the best website companies offer monthly maintenance services in their proposal.

Maintenance of your website is NOT something that you can simply push to the wayside. It’s critical in protecting your website and gives you the opportunity to add new features and functionality to it when you want or need them.

Keep in Mind that Local Does NOT Equal Better

A website is a key investment for your company. You want the website company you choose to be the best one for the job. Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because a company is local, they are going to be automatically better. It’s a dangerous mindset to have.

Many of our own clients come from all over the United States, so we know that communication holds no barriers except for the ones the website company puts in place. Website companies should already have the means to communicate seamlessly with anyone, anywhere, and at any time.

If you are still leaning on hiring a local website company, we only ask that you read The Myth of the ‘Local Based Website Company’ first. It will give you perspective on the risks that come with trusting a local website company to do the job.

Beware of the ‘Shiny Red Apple’ Proposal Effect

If a website company’s proposal is long, drawn out, and confusing—and if they can’t provide clear, concise explanations for each item in writing— then you might want to look elsewhere. It’s most likely just fluff to make it look like they have the skills and experience you need without actually saying any of them.

On the flip side, if the proposal is too short, vague, and not comprehensive enough in detailing out each item, this too is another red flag and can lead to disaster.

The sneakiest one of them all is the bright and colorful proposals that allure you into thinking their website company is the best—all because their proposal has great graphic design.

A website company’s investment in their proposal-making skills holds no bearings on their expertise, trustworthiness, and how well that website company can deliver on time and as instructed.

It’s always essential to look past the proposal, and do your due diligence in checking a website company’s references, online reviews, and past website creations.

Get Started Today!

As you can already see, sifting through proposals from website companies can be a long and difficult process, but it doesn’t have to be.

Contact Levi Marketing today to see if we’d be a great fit for your company’s new website. With us, you’ll get a website proposal that you can submit to your board with confidence.

Get Started Today!