The 9 Question Checklist When Bidding a WordPress Project | EP 138

The 9 Question Checklist When Bidding a WordPress Project

1. What is the plan/purpose of the website? 03:21
   • When a visitor comes to your website, what do you want them to do? 
   • Usually you’ll get more specific answers than “we want to make money”. They might say “Well, we would like to have more traffic in our storefront.” or “We’d like to increase revenue from our website and create an additional revenue stream.”
   • Whatever the answer is will determine how you design the website.
   • If a client doesn’t know what the purpose of the website will be, this can be your opportunity to guide them in a direction and provide extra value.
2. Who is providing the images, artwork, and graphics? 05:26
   • This may seem obvious, but it gets missed a lot when bidding a WordPress project.
   • Is the client sourcing their own stock images and providing them to you or does the client expect you to find the images yourself?
   • The answer changes a lot. It’s going to change the time it takes for you to complete the project, and also the cost for you to complete it.
3. Who is providing the text content? 06:12
   • Who is going to write the website copy? You or the client?
   • This is similar to the graphics. It is easily overlooked and can change the timeline/cost a lot. You may have to hire a copywriter at the last minute. Knowing this ahead of time will help you prepare the correct budget.
4. What is the timeline/deadline? 06:50
   • You need to ask the client when they are expecting the project to be completed.
   • A lot of times, the client will say “as soon as possible”. This deadline just isn’t realistic. Dig deeper to find a realistic timeline that you can work with.
   • When you come up with a timeline, add two weeks as a buffer in case something comes up.
   • If a client really does request that you rush the project, make sure sure that they pay for that extra urgency.
5. What is the budget? 08:06
   • Not every client will tell you this. They may be afraid that you will quote them at the top of their budget.
   • Reassure them that this is so you can quote the features that correspond to their budget.
   • For example, a $3,000 website might do the job, but a $10,000 website could give them the extra integrations that will take their business to the next level.
   • Ask the question. They might tell you no, but that is a perfectly normal answer.
6. Do you require mockups? 09:58
   • This is less common when you are using page builders like Divi or Beaver Builder, as you can design as you build it.
   • The traditional way is to have a designer create a mockup in Photoshop or Illustrator and then give it to the developer to build.
7. Will you want to add any special functionality, API integrations, etc? 11:12
   • This is very important to know going into the project.
   • David had a real estate client who wanted to connect the site to their CRM. While this was very cool functionality with the integrations involved, it turned out to be very complex.
   • You’ll want to add some buffer in your bid and timeline when this is involved.
8. What are your plans for email acquisition? 12:06
   • The client might ask “Why do I need this?”
   • This is an opportunity to educate them on the value of email marketing.
   • It goes back to the purpose of the website. If obtaining email addresses and building an email list is a priority, then that’s going to change the goals of the page (and maybe even add in some extra integrations).
9. Will you be managing the site yourself, or need us to manage it for you? 13:00
   • This is an opportunity for recurring revenue.
   • David brings this up initially before ever getting into the other questions and then returns to it at the end.
   • He tells the client that they should have a professional performing maintenance on the site, even if it isn’t him. It is very important and will give them piece of mind knowing that someone is looking after the website.
   • At the end of the conversation, when he asks this question, the potential client is open to the service agreement and understands the value.

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