Start with the change your business needs.
Before comparing agencies, write down what needs to be different. More relevant enquiries, a website your team can maintain, a clearer product story and a reliable lead handoff are different problems. Each calls for different work and evidence. Describe the current situation, the people affected and the commercial context. Separate the outcome you want from a presumed solution. Asking for a new website is less informative than explaining that customers cannot understand the offer or that enquiries are disappearing between the form and the sales team. A clear problem helps a supplier recommend an appropriate scope rather than pricing an assumption.
Compare deliverables, not package names.
Two proposals called a website redesign may cover very different work. One may include research, copy, content migration and launch checks; another may only cover page design and development. Ask for the deliverables, assumptions and exclusions in plain language. Identify who supplies content, photography, access and approvals. Check the number and purpose of review rounds, the treatment of changed requirements and any third-party costs. For ongoing marketing, distinguish service activity from media spend and software subscriptions. A lower headline fee is not a fair comparison until the underlying responsibilities match.
Ask what the evidence actually demonstrates.
A polished portfolio shows that something was presented well; it does not explain who did the work or what changed for the business. Ask about the problem, the agency's role, the delivered scope and the basis for reported results. Where a result is numerical, ask about the time period, baseline and source. Reference material may be limited by confidentiality, and that limitation should be explained rather than filled with fictional claims. A hypothetical design study can help you understand an approach, but it should be labelled as such. Treat reviews and examples as inputs to your decision, not as substitutes for a clear proposal.
Understand the people and the working relationship.
Ask who is responsible for planning, implementation and communication. You do not need a large-looking team page to have a reliable project, but you do need clear accountability. Agree how feedback is gathered, who can approve changes and what happens when a dependency is late. Discuss useful meeting overlap for remote work and where written decisions will live. A strong working model supports both teams: it should not depend on instant replies at every hour or on the client translating instructions between several suppliers. Ask how the agency can work alongside people and tools you already trust.
Check ownership before access is shared.
List the accounts and assets involved: domain, hosting, analytics, ad platforms, CRM, source repositories and design files where relevant. Confirm who owns each account and how access is delegated. Review what is handed over, what is licensed and what remains covered by the agreement. Do not place passwords or customer records into a public enquiry form. Sensitive data needs a suitable sharing method and responsibilities agreed in advance. Ownership is easier to establish at the beginning than to untangle when a relationship ends or a supplier changes.
Agree how progress will be judged.
Ask what the agency can commit to delivering and how the result will be reviewed. A form test, a content review and a campaign performance review each need different evidence. Distinguish visits from enquiries, enquiries from qualified opportunities and opportunities from revenue. The relevant measure depends on your sales process and the data you can reliably collect. Commercial results may also depend on the offer, market conditions and follow-up outside the agency's scope. A report should make those boundaries clear. Avoid treating a promise of a specific ranking or unqualified lead volume as a substitute for a defensible plan.
Ask about the period after launch.
The first public release is not the end of ownership. Confirm the handover materials, any training, where backups are maintained and who is responsible for subscriptions or renewals. Identify which verification happens in the real environment after launch. Ask what post-launch support includes, how additional work is requested and what an ongoing arrangement would cover. A project can finish successfully without including indefinite maintenance, but that boundary needs to be explicit. Your team should be able to understand how the delivered system is operated and who to contact when the next need appears.
Use a small decision record.
For each proposal, record the business fit, included deliverables, responsibilities, evidence, exclusions, access model and next step. Mark unanswered questions instead of guessing. Discuss the shortlist with the people who will approve and operate the work, not only the person purchasing it. The best fit is the proposal your team understands and can realistically support. Use our marketing website brief guide to organize the context, compare ways to work together and review the delivery standards we bring into a project conversation.