1. Executive Summary
The honest answer to the question “Which website development company do you like?” is not the name of a specific company. Ordering process that lowers the probability of failure no matter which company you meetis close to the answer. Document requirements (RFP), verify portfolio on live site, compare quotes on the same basis, and check ownership and repair provisions in contracts. A project that skips these four steps will falter even if it meets a competent company.
This article summarizes the standards used internally by web agencies from the perspective of the orderer. From the company's perspective, this includes things that are not necessarily mentioned first - subcontracting, restrictions on the number of modifications, and domain names.
key message
The goal of selecting a company is not “finding the best company.” “Sifting out companies that do not fit our project”no see. There is no guarantee that an agency that creates websites for large corporations will do its best for a 5 million won startup website, and vice versa.
The basis for filtering comes from three documents. Portfolios, estimates, contracts. Chapters 3 to 6 of this article are covered one by one.
2. 3 patterns of failed projects
There are often consultations with projects that are stuck in the middle. The stories are different, but when you dig into the causes, they almost always converge on one of three things. Undefined requirements, lowest price contract, unsecured ownership. Either way, this is a problem that could have been prevented before the contract was signed.
Pattern 1 — “I thought that was definitely included”
If a contract is made with the words “Do we have a website to introduce the company” without specifying the requirements in writing, the orderer and the company start off with different pictures in their minds. The orderer may have imagined an English page and a recruitment bulletin board, and the company may have included a 5-page one-page expandable version in the estimate.
This gap is revealed only after the draft is published. From then on, every request is a seed of conflict. The company says it is “additional scope” and the orderer says it is “obviously basic.” The problem is that neither of them are wrong. If there is no reference document, the match will be played without a referee.It goes.
Pattern 2 — How a 3 million won contract becomes 9 million won
The lowest price quote is there for a reason. Set the scope to a minimum, limit the number of revisions, or use a template. The contract itself is KRW 3 million, but the final settlement doubles or triples as additional charges for responsive additions, subpage additions, and 3 modifications are charged, which is a pattern we often see in practice.
The company did not commit fraud. The conditions that were written in small print on the estimate were all triggered in the actual project. Owners who have signed a contract based solely on the total amount will first understand this structure when paying the balance.
Pattern 3 — Site exists but no keys
This is the most painful pattern of the three. The site runs normally, but the domain is registered in the name of the company, and the company owns the hosting account and source code. The moment you cancel a maintenance contract or have a falling out with the company. A situation where I am the only one who cannot access my company websiteThis happens.
When I searched for a new company for renewal, I heard the answer that "you need to receive the source to do the work," and there are cases where the existing company cannot be contacted. In the end, we make it again from scratch. If you lose the domain along with the search exposure you have accumulated over several years, the damage will be several times the production cost.
What the three patterns have in common
All three do not originate from the company's malicious intent. Things not decided before contractIt came back later in the project with bills and disputes.
So, the rest of this article is all about “what to decide and confirm before signing a contract.”
3. Candidate screening: Portfolio verification method
Portfolios should be viewed by URL, not by image. There are three verification questions: Is the site still alive, did this company create it themselves, or has they worked on a project similar to ours? There are fewer companies than you might think that pass all three.
How do I know if my portfolio is real?
Start by requesting an actual URL and connecting directly. A portfolio that only lists captured images is not a basis for judgment. Images don’t tell you anything about loading speed, mobile compatibility, or the completeness of a subpage.
- Don't just look at the main page, but also subpages: There are many sites that put a lot of effort into the main but neglect the sub. Go to the company introduction, bulletin board, and inquiry pages.
- One more time on mobile: More than half of our visitors come from mobile devices. Check whether the menu, table, and inquiry form work properly on your smartphone.
- Footer's production credits: If there is a manufacturer notation at the bottom of the site, it can be cross-checked. However, in many cases there is no credit, so it is only a reference indicator.
- Check when it was made: Sites in the portfolio may have since been renovated by another company. Ask, “When and to what extent have you been working on this site?”
Questions to determine whether it is self-manufactured or subcontracted
There are companies where sales and production are separate. The contract is with company A, but the actual work is handed over to company B or a freelancer. Subcontracting itself is not a bad thing, but if it is carried out without the orderer's knowledge, communication is hindered and responsibility becomes blurred.
How to screen is a specific question. “Who did the design in this portfolio? Is he/she also involved in our project?” The team you created yourself talks about the decision-making process of the project. Why did you choose this structure, what did the client ask for, and how did you solve it? Portfolios received as subcontractors provide an answer to this question.
Why is similar industry experience important?
Manufacturing B2B sites and beauty commerce have different grammar. The key to the former is a structure that shows technical reliability and delivery performance and connects to quotation inquiries, while the key to the latter is visuals and purchase conversion flow. Companies with experience working in our industry or in industries with similar purchasing decision structures have already gone through the trial and error that comes with the planning stage.
Comparison of characteristics by business type
| division | freelancer | Small studio (2-10 people) | Medium to large agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| strength | Price, fast communication, flexibility | Direct involvement of the CEO, completeness compared to price | Systematic process, personnel stability, large project experience |
| risk | Reliance on one person — no alternative in case of submersion or interruption, weak follow-up management | Schedule delays when there are many concurrent projects | Costs rise, practical work can be handled by juniors |
| Confirmation points when signing a contract | Step-by-step delivery of output in preparation for mid-term departure, availability of tax invoice | Specify personnel in charge, defect repair response window | Actual workforce composition, minimum contract size |
| fit project | Small one page, clear single task | Most corporate homepages and brand sites | Large-scale platform, group company/public project |
What to Really Look for in a Portfolio
The portfolio shown by the company is that of the company. best workno see. The output you will receive will be close to average.
Therefore, it is more useful to gauge the actual level of a site by opening a site in the middle of the portfolio list rather than two or three representative works.
4. RFP Writing Guide
When you think of an RFP (Request for Proposal), you think of a dozens of pages of documents for public bidding, but when ordering a corporate website, One or two A4 sheets are sufficient. The real function of an RFP is not the format, but this: it allows multiple companies to submit quotes based on the same conditions, making it possible to compare quotes. The three quotations received without RFP are price lists for different products, so comparison is not possible.
What should I include in my RFP?
Seven items are sufficient. A paragraph or two should be enough for each item, and for items you don't know, just write "Undetermined — Request for Proposal." That too is information for the company.
- ① Purpose: In one sentence, what should change with this site? Rather than “introducing the company,” a better definition of purpose would be “get buyers who met at the exhibition to leave quotation inquiries.” If the goal is to secure inquiry leads, the site structure itself will be different, and the design will be Create a B2B lead machineThis was dealt with separately.
- ② Target: Who comes in, does what, and leaves. The first screen will vary depending on whether you are a purchasing manager, an investor, or a job applicant.
- ③ Required functions/pages: A list of main pages, company introduction, several product pages, inquiry forms, pages to be modified directly from the administrator, etc. Be sure to specify whether or not it is multilingual as it will significantly change the estimate.
- ④ Reference: 2-3 sites that you feel are good and why. The more specific you can be, such as “This site’s product page structure,” the less time you have to go back and forth.
- ⑤ Budget range: Not by exact amount, but by range. This is explained separately below.
- ⑥ Schedule: Desired opening date and reason (exhibition, new product launch, etc.). If there is a reason, the company can determine the priority of the schedule.
- ⑦ Maintenance: Who manages the content after opening? If you plan to modify it internally, the administrator function requirements must be included in the estimate, and if you plan to outsource it to a company, the monthly maintenance condition must be included in the estimate.
Should I disclose my budget in advance?
It is advantageous to disclose it in scope. There are many owners who hide their budget for fear of paying too much, but in reality, it has the opposite effect. Companies that do not know their budget do not know whether to prepare a 5 million won proposal or a 30 million won proposal, so they send an ambiguous proposal somewhere in the middle. “Range of 10 to 15 million won”If you write this, the company will suggest specifically what it can do within that budget, and the orderer can compare proposals in the same budget range.
If it is difficult to set a budget range, the next step is to figure out how costs are accumulated for each item. Structure of website production costsWe have summarized the cost structure for each stage of planning, design, and development.
5. Compare quotes and negotiate
When you receive three quotations, you first look at the total amount, but you should look at the total amount last. The comparison order is Scope → Condition → Totalno see. It is common for estimates to be two or three times higher even if the same RFP is given, and most of the difference is not due to skill but differences in the scope and conditions set by each company.
Compare items, not totals
Place the quotes side by side and match them item by item. Planning, design, publishing, development, responsive. If something on one quote isn't on the other, there are two things to do. Either it is incorporated into another item, or it is completely outside the scope. If it is the latter, you will be charged an additional fee later. Like “Does this quote include responsiveness?” Make the ranges of the three estimates the same by directly asking for items that are not available. Comparing the total amount is meaningful.
The difference in estimates is 3 times. Is this normal?
It's normal. Even for the same “10 page company introduction site”, the time required for template customization and full custom design is several times different. A cheap quote is not a trap, nor is an expensive quote excessive. The first thing to check is what each amount is based on. A quote that doesn't give a clear answer when asked about its premise is a real red flag.
Negotiation: What to cut and what not to cut
The standard for price negotiation is not to slash the unit price but to adjust the scope. A company that responds to “please take a 20% cut” collects that 20% from somewhere. Usually in terms of planning time and number of design drafts. instead “We postpone the English page to the second stage and adjust accordingly.”By reducing the scope, you can meet your budget while maintaining quality. Adjusting production costs by tying up a maintenance contract also makes sense for both parties.
Three lines you must check in the quote
① Number of modifications: Conditions such as “Includes two revisions to the design draft” are written somewhere. Please check the excess unit price in advance. ② Whether to include responsiveness: There are still cases where mobile support is a separate estimate. ③ Manuscript/image preparation entity: The schedule and cost vary greatly depending on whether the orderer prepares the text and photos for the site or whether the company writes and photographs them.
If these three lines are not in the quotation, you can ask other companies for the same conditions based on the quotation.
6. Required provisions of the contract
There are five things to check in the contract. Ownership, defect repair, inspection standards, payment structure, copyright. Read how these five items are written in the standard contract provided by the company, and if they are missing or ambiguous, add them as a special contract. There is no reason for a sane company to refuse this request. If you refuse, that itself is a basis for judgment.
| clauses | What to specify in the contract | What happens when you fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Source code ownership | Upon full payment of the balance, all deliverables such as source code and DB are delivered to the ordering company. | When renewing or changing companies, you cannot receive the source and start over from scratch. |
| Domain/hosting name | Both the domain registrant and hosting account are in the name of the ordering company, and the administrator account is transferred. | If the relationship with the company is severed, you will not be able to access your site and risk losing your domain. |
| Repair of defects | Period (usually 3 to 6 months) and scope — Error correction is free, feature addition is separate. | Charged for each bug fix immediately after opening, dispute over “Should this be a defect or an addition?” |
| Inspection standards | Inspection items, deadline, processing method in case of no response within the deadline | Dispute over payment of balance over time of “inspection completion” |
| payment structure | Down payment, intermediate payment, and balance ratio and timing of each payment (based on output) | If the proportion of advance payment is large, negotiation power regarding the quality of post-production work is lost. |
| Copyright/License | Design copyright attribution, license details for fonts and images used | Received proof of font/image copyright infringement a few years later |
Domain name, how to check right now
If you already have a site in operation, it will be verified in just one minute through a WHOIS search. You can check whether the registrant is our company on the domain registrar site or whois search service. If the registrant is in the name of a manufacturing company or an unknown individual, before talking about renewal, From before the name Requesting is the order. This is something that can easily end when the relationship is good.
How is it safe to split the payment?
A reasonable structure is around 30% down payment, 30% mid-payment, and 40% balance. The key is more than ratio Tying the timing of payment to the outputno see. The intermediate payment is “when the design draft is confirmed,” and the remaining payment is “when inspection is completed and the product is delivered.” If you tie it to a date, money must be paid even if the work is delayed, and if you tie it to the output, progress and payment move together. It is best to avoid contracts with a 70-80% down payment ratio because it means that the orderer's cards will be lost in the later stages of the project.
Defect repair and maintenance are different contracts.
Repair of defectsis a part of the production contract that fixes the product free of charge when it does not work as per the contract. maintenanceis a separate paid contract that allows content modification and feature improvement after opening.
If you do not distinguish between these two in the contract, a war of attrition will arise, asking, “Why am I receiving money when it is defect repair period?” It is neat to organize the defect repair period and scope in the production contract, and maintenance in a separate clause or contract that sets the monthly cost and monthly work scope.
7. Conclusion and Checklist
Going back to the first question — good companies are not found through search. A good ordering process filters it out. When you send an RFP, the quality of the company's response differs; when you request a portfolio URL, there is a difference between a company that you are confident in and a company that is not; and when you request a special ownership agreement, there is a difference between a company that will last a long time and a company that does not. The fact that the owner has standards is itself a safety device for the project.
Just check this before signing the contract.
- Write an RFP: Organize the seven items: purpose, target, essential functions, reference, budget range, schedule, and maintenance into 1 to 2 pages of A4 and deliver them equally to all candidates.
- Portfolio Verification: Check subpage and mobile through live URL, ask questions about whether you created it yourself and have experience in similar industries
- Compare 3 or more quotes: Rather than comparing the total amount, the items, scope, number of revisions, and person preparing the manuscript are set to the same standards and then compared.
- Ownership Terms: Source code delivery, name of domain/hosting account ordering company specified in contract
- Defect repair/inspection: Defect repair period, scope, and inspection deadline are specified in numbers and distinguished from maintenance.
- Payment Structure: Divide down payment, intermediate payment, and balance based on output and secure balance proportion
Even if you do all six, the actual work time is less than a day. That one day can save you millions of dollars in additional fees, months of disputes, and, worst of all, a complete rebuild of your site.