A list of pages, templates and integrations tells you what might be built. It does not establish whether the agency understands what needs to improve. Ask five questions before comparing proposals.
1. How will you establish what is wrong? Look for discovery, customer evidence and a diagnosis that can be challenged. A redesign should not be the answer before the investigation.
2. Who owns content and decisions? Clarify research, copy, approvals, photography and accessibility responsibilities. ‘Content supplied by client’ can conceal substantial work.
3. How will you protect what already works? Ask for an inventory, URL mapping, redirects, analytics continuity and a plan to check the transition. Migration is part of the project.
4. What will we measure? Agree the priority visitor tasks and baseline evidence. Be cautious when success is defined only as delivery on time or a better-looking homepage.
5. What happens after launch? Confirm ownership and access to domain, hosting, content and accounts. Understand maintenance, security updates, support, handover and the cost of future changes.
Request sample outputs and named responsibilities. Specific answers make proposals more comparable than a promise to be strategic.
