Define the decision your website must support
Start with the customer and the action you want them to take. A service business seeking better enquiries needs a different scope from a retailer rebuilding its catalogue and checkout. Explain what is difficult on the current website and what a useful improvement would look like.
Give each agency the same starting brief. Include your current URL, main services, useful content, required integrations and any fixed dates. This makes the proposals easier to compare and gives the agency enough context to challenge assumptions.
Look for relevant decisions in the portfolio
A screenshot tells you about presentation. A useful project explanation tells you what the audience needed, how the structure changed and what the agency actually delivered. Ask which parts of a project the supplier handled and whether the example resembles your requirements.
For example, the Balsamini Pizzeria project focuses on essential customer information and a polished presence. M&A Tutoring focuses on explaining the offer and reassuring parents and learners. These are examples of approach, rather than measured conversion claims.
Explore the M&A Tutoring project
Compare scope, not just the total price
Ask each agency to state its deliverables, assumptions and exclusions. Clarify whether the quoted work includes content, migration and launch checks as well as visual design. If one quote excludes work another includes, the price difference alone does not tell you which is better value.
- Page structure, copy and imagery responsibilities
- Templates, mobile behaviour and editing controls
- Forms, integrations and migration
- Testing, redirects and launch support
- Hosting, licences, ownership and handover
Understand how you will work together
Establish who you will speak to, who makes decisions and when your feedback is needed. Ask how changes to the brief are handled and how unresolved questions are recorded. Your own availability and content preparation affect delivery, so a useful plan includes responsibilities on both sides.
Ask what happens after launch
Find out who owns the domain and accounts, which parts your team can update and how support is arranged. Ask the agency to distinguish a launch handover from ongoing maintenance or improvement. Those arrangements should be clear even if you decide to manage the website yourself.
Choose the proposal you can explain
Before committing, summarise the work in a paragraph: the problem, the deliverables, the dependencies and how the result will be checked. If the proposal does not let you do that, ask for clarification. RiseNorth works with UK businesses on web design and redesign, with scope shaped around the customer journey.
Share your current website or workflow, the change you need and any timing or budget you have in mind.
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