How to Write a Website Design Proposal
As a web developer, your job is all about creating excellent websites! Writing website proposals will come to be a task that drives your business forward and as such, you’ll do it again and again.
Your proposal should ultimately be more about your prospect than your company, but that doesn’t mean you should leave out your organization’s background and capabilities.
After your prospect reads your proposal, they should feel confident that your organization is the right size and fit for their new website.
To further instill confidence at this level, your website proposal should show clear examples of similar, relevant work to demonstrate your organization’s competency for the prospect’s specific project.
Chances are, you’ve spent hours agonizing over the execution of the work you’ve done. These projects make up your portfolio- they’re the lifeblood of your business. If you want to show prospective clients excellence in your services, there’s no question: your proposal needs to show case studies of past projects.
Doing this is easier said than done. From picking the right type of media to positioning of content, there’s a lot more to it than just dragging and dropping content into your proposal.
The last thing you want to do is not give your work the credit it deserves. Do it justice - don’t just quickly throw it into your proposal with little to no planning. Here are some tips for you to consider for your next proposal!
Utilizing Rich Media
As you shift away from boring old PDF files, this means that the days of text-heavy proposals are over. Successful proposals are built on more than just the inclusion of media - the way you utilize what you use matters.
Surprisingly, many businesses still fail to even just include media, let alone successfully use it to showcase past work in their proposals. The majority of businesses will instead attach an external link to their website where they’ll showcase an entire range of work.
Remember, if you find yourself among these businesses (since the aim of a proposal is to directly sell services to your prospect), we recommend that you start attaching past work directly into your proposal.
Service-based businesses are fighting an uphill battle- the intangible nature of their offers make it hard for prospective clients to visualize what they’re paying for. You can overcome this challenge by attaching photos, videos and GIFs of deliverables across your entire proposal as a great way to grab your prospect’s attention and really demonstrate what the end product is that they’ll be receiving.
Space Out Your Media
Avoid cluttering your proposal with too many images too close to each other- saturating your proposal with media makes it confusing and hard to follow. A block that has too many images can serve to actually deter prospective clients as they can’t absorb your content.
Ideally, spreading your images across the entire proposal is best. This helps to maintain consistent attention across the entire proposal. Remember, images are meant to complement your copy- it’s all about finding the right balance between text and visual media!
Website Proposals
When constructing a website proposal, using a static image may be ineffective in showing the design of your website. Instead, use screen recordings or even GIFs as an effective way to demonstrate the user experience of past work. Navigating and clicking through your website can engage your client, helping them to realize your capabilities in UX/UI design.
Another tip: try to include past work that’s close to your client’s industry. Doing so will show your client that you understand the design principles, aesthetic, and intricate details that are relevant to their specific industry. This will no doubt help build trust with your prospect and instill confidence in your services.
Breaking Up Proposal Documents
Each and every proposal needs a good balance between text and media. Using too much media can be just as detrimental as too much text.
If your proposal is too short to spread your media across, consider displaying the project as a way to break up the copy in the proposal- like a page break.
Thanks to Qwilr, dedicating an entire block to past projects is easy! If you are hesitant about including too many projects, we’ve got you covered with our “Unfold” feature. Using the Unfold feature, you can collapse your block- that way your proposal doesn’t look too long. Whenever your client wants to expand the block and read more, all they have to do is click on the button and expand the block.
Categorization of Projects
When you’re showcasing your past work, try organizing them into respective categories. This helps you demonstrate the diversity of your work while also making it easy for prospects to quickly navigate through whichever category is relevant to them.
With website proposals, categorizing your work by industry can be a way of demonstrating your expertise in a range of different website designs.
Don’t Be Afraid to Boast
The end goal of showcasing past work is to reassure your prospect that the services you offer are high quality.
In addition to showcasing past work, you can double down on the effectiveness of your projects by quantifying the results you achieve. No matter if it’s an increase in site traffic or revenue, if you’ve achieved impressive results, this is not the time to hold back on speaking up about them- prove that you are best for the job!
For other projects that may be more difficult to quantify results, painting the story of your past clients and their needs/problems and how you helped solve them can help your prospect visualize what your services can do for them.
Final Word
Selling services is already a hard process. Since services are intangible, clients have a difficult time conceptualizing the end product they’re paying for. By incorporating past work into your proposal, you can engage your prospects, establish trust, and give your past work the attention and spotlight it deserves. If you're need for some inspiration to get started, be sure to check out our website proposal templates!
