How to Write a Website Redesign Request for Proposal
A website redesign request for proposal is a written brief you send so several designers quote on the same job. Put goals, pages, constraints and a budget range in one place and you can compare cost, timeline and approach without a week of clarifying emails.
When a written brief is worth doing
If you are speaking to one trusted person, a phone call and a page of notes is enough. Write a proper request for proposal when you will ask three or more people, when procurement at work expects a paper trail, or when the site has bookings, stock, logins or several languages. Keep it short. Two to four pages beats a 30-page pack that nobody reads.
I see the same pattern from small firms in Kent and further afield: a vague email produces quotes from £800 to £12,000 for what sounds like the same site. The gap is almost always missing scope, not greed. A tight brief closes that gap.
What the document must contain
Use plain headings. Anyone quoting should be able to answer without a follow-up call, though a short call after they have read it is still useful.
- Who you are and what the site must achieve in the next 12 months (leads, bookings, sales, fewer support calls).
- Current site URL, what is wrong with it, and what must stay (URLs, blog posts, reviews, integrations).
- Page list or sitemap: home, services, about, contact, plus extras such as a shop, booking, client login or multi-location pages.
- Must-have functions: forms, payments, diary, stock, CRM, analytics, cookie consent, accessibility target.
- Content: who writes copy and supplies photos; whether you need redirects from old URLs.
- Brand: logo files, colours, fonts, examples of sites you like and why.
- Audience and competitors (three URLs is enough).
- Technical constraints: stay on WordPress, move off Wix, keep the same domain, GDPR, hosting in the UK.
- Budget range and whether you want a one-off build or a setup fee plus monthly management.
- Deadline for the live site and for questions on the brief itself.
- How you will choose: price, examples of similar work, who does the day-to-day work, support after launch.
State a budget range even if it feels awkward. Without it, people guess. A typical small-business redesign in the UK sits roughly between £1,500 and £8,000 as a one-off project, depending on page count and integrations. Monthly packages are usually a setup fee then a recurring figure that includes hosting, updates and ongoing management. That second route suits firms that cannot fund a lump sum. I publish current figures for both routes on arlowebstudio.com rather than repeating them here.
Suggested structure
| Section | Why it is there | Keep it to |
|---|---|---|
| Goals and success measure | Stops people designing a pretty brochure that does not generate enquiries | Half a page |
| Page and feature list | Makes quotes comparable | A bullet list |
| Content and assets | Shows who does the slow work | A short paragraph |
| Budget and commercial model | Filters out firms who only sell one type of deal | Two sentences |
| Timeline and decision process | Avoids six-month drift | Dates, not adjectives |
Questions that force like-for-like quotes
Ask every respondent the same set. Put the answers in a spreadsheet.
- Is this a fixed-price one-off build, or a setup fee plus monthly hosting, updates and management?
- What is included after launch: security patches, plugin updates, small copy changes, backups, uptime?
- Who owns the domain, hosting account and CMS login on day one and if we part ways later?
- How many rounds of design amends are in the price?
- Who writes or migrates content, and what happens if copy is late?
- What is the expected timeline from kick-off to go-live, in weeks, with your current workload?
- Can you show two live sites of a similar size, not just mock-ups?
- What do you need from us each week so the project does not stall?
If someone will not quote a monthly option and you have no capital, that is useful information. If someone quotes a one-off price with no hosting or updates, add those costs yourself: UK business hosting often runs £10 to £40 a month, plus a retainer if you do not want to log in yourself.
How to judge the replies
Ignore glossy PDFs. Score four things: they restated your goals in their own words; the page list matches yours; the commercial model is clear (lump sum versus setup plus monthly); they named who actually does the work. A 40-page proposal that never lists the pages is weaker than a two-page email that does.
Watch for scope gaps. “Ecommerce” without a product count, “SEO” without saying whether that means technical setup or ongoing content, and “unlimited revisions” with no time limit are the usual holes. Ask them to price extras: extra languages, a booking engine, a members’ area. Those items routinely add £500 to several thousand pounds on a small site.
Timeline: a straightforward brochure rebuild with your copy ready is often 4 to 8 weeks. Add content writing, a shop or a custom booking flow and 10 to 16 weeks is more realistic. Anyone promising a complex rebuild in ten days is either using a rigid template or under-scoping.
Mistakes that waste everyone’s time
Do not send the brief to 20 firms. Three to five is enough. Do not hide the budget and then complain the quotes are all over the place. Do not ask for a full visual mock-up before you have chosen anyone; that is unpaid design. Do not demand a 50-page specification if you cannot describe your own pages. Do not treat “redesign” as a fresh coat of paint if the information architecture is wrong; say if you need a new sitemap.
If you already have a site that ranks, say so and require a redirect plan. Losing organic traffic because nobody mapped old URLs is an expensive way to get a new look.
After you pick someone
Turn the winning reply into a one-page statement of work: pages, features, price, payment stages, what “done” means, and what sits outside the price. For a monthly plan, write down what the monthly fee covers and the notice period. Keep the original brief; it is the yardstick when someone later says “that was extra”.
You do not need legal language. You do need numbers, dates and a shared list of pages. That is the whole point of a website redesign request for proposal: fewer surprises, a fair comparison, and a build that matches what you actually need.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a website redesign RFP be?
Two to four pages is enough for most small-business sites. A page list, goals, budget range and timeline matter more than brand history. Longer packs tend to be skipped.
Should I give a budget in the brief?
Yes. Without a range, quotes scatter. UK small-business redesigns often fall between about £1,500 and £8,000 one-off, or a setup fee plus a monthly package that includes hosting and updates. A range still lets people compete on approach.
How many firms should I send it to?
Three to five. More than that and you will spend a week answering the same questions. Pick people who already show similar live work, not a long directory list.
Is a formal RFP better than asking for quotes?
Only if several people will quote or someone at work needs a paper trail. A short written brief is the useful part. The label on the file does not matter.
What if I cannot afford a lump-sum redesign?
Say so in the brief and ask for a setup fee plus monthly hosting, updates and management. That model exists specifically for firms without a large upfront budget. Compare what the monthly figure actually includes.
Do I need mock-ups before I choose?
No. Asking for unpaid visuals from several firms is a poor use of their time and yours. Choose on process, similar live sites, commercial terms and a clear page list, then design with the person you appoint.