The best time to update and revamp your website is when the economy is down because your competitors will likely be cutting back on their marketing efforts. What better way to kick start the new year than with a custom WordPress or Joomla website? The first step to hiring a web design firm or web designer would be to create a RFP a.k.a. Request for Proposal. Now there are a lot of RFP templates out there and many of them I think are way too complicated and overwhelming. Hence, I have greatly simplified things for you here in five easy sections.

1. Objectives

• Do you want to convert your static HTML website to Joomla, WordPress or some other CMS for better content management?
• What challenges do you have with your current website?
• Do you want to sell your products or services online?
• Do you want to redesign your website to match new branding guidelines?

2. Target Market

• How would you describe your target market? What are their income levels, age group, interests and other characteristics that would influence their buying decisions?
• What makes them tick? What motivates them?
• What are their pain points? What do they want to avoid?

3. Company Background

• What products or services does your company provide?
• How long have you been in business?
• What differentiates your product / service from your competition?
• Include samples of your existing marketing collateral like brochures or links to your website

4. Site Specifications

• If you plan to expand content or this is a new website, include a sitemap or list of pages and subpages
• Include samples of other websites that you like and why you like them
• Do you require any other functionalities like connecting your forms to your CRM, email marketing, ecommerce, etc..

5. Budget / Timeline

This is a make or break question because you probably want it ASAP for the cheapest price. However, you get what you pay for – not to be cliche or anything. Sure, you can hire a web developer in India for a few hundred bucks but they won’t be available during your business hours, there will be communication problems and they will only do exactly what you ask and not more. So if you don’t know what to ask for, you might end up with a static HTML website with no content management. Custom WordPress and Joomla websites start around $2,000 if you are hiring someone locally who knows what they are doing. If you are unsure how long things take or what your website budget should be, ask around, shop around and be sure to evaluate portfolios. If you include a reasonable range here, most web designers will try to work with you.

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