A polished proposal can hide weak discovery, unclear ownership and fragile delivery. Compare Nairobi web design partners on evidence, decision quality, technical care, handover and their ability to support the website after launch.
The right web design company is not simply the team with the most dramatic portfolio. It is the team that can understand your operating context, make defensible product decisions, deliver a maintainable system and leave your organisation in control. A structured comparison makes those qualities easier to see before price pressure and presentation style dominate the decision.
Prepare the same decision brief for every company
- The audiences and priority tasks the website must serve.
- Business outcomes and how they will be measured.
- Required pages, languages, content types and integrations.
- Known legal, privacy, accessibility and security constraints.
- Who supplies, reviews and approves content.
- A realistic decision date, launch window and budget authority.
- Expected support, ownership and handover after launch.
Give every shortlisted company the same core information and allow written clarification. This reduces the chance that one proposal looks more complete only because that team guessed more requirements or included work another bidder correctly treated as out of scope.
Ask for evidence behind relevant work
Review completed work, then ask what problem the team was solving, what constraints changed the design, what they personally delivered, how success was measured and what happened after launch. A relevant case study explains decisions and outcomes. Screenshots alone cannot show content governance, conversion quality, accessibility, performance or maintainability.
Evaluate discovery and decision-making
A strong team asks about users, approvals, data, content ownership, integrations, failure states and operational support before prescribing a visual direction. Ask what they will validate before full implementation, how unresolved assumptions are recorded and who makes the final decision when stakeholders disagree.
Score the proposal beyond appearance
| Area | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Problem understanding | Restated objectives, audiences, risks and exclusions |
| Approach | Clear phases, decision gates and named deliverables |
| Content | Inventory, migration, editing workflow and ownership |
| Accessibility | Target standard and testing method |
| Performance | Budgets, image strategy and measurement |
| Security and privacy | Server controls, data handling and verification |
| Ownership | Domain, hosting, source, accounts and data rights |
| Handover | Documentation, training, warranty and support route |
| Commercial clarity | Assumptions, dependencies, change process and payment milestones |
Make accessibility and security testable
Ask whether the delivery target includes WCAG 2.2 Level AA, keyboard testing, visible focus, form errors, contrast and reduced motion. For security, ask how server endpoints are authenticated and authorised, how dependencies are reviewed, how uploads are validated and which parts of the OWASP ASVS inform verification. Vague promises are difficult to accept or enforce.
Confirm that your organisation remains in control
- The domain is registered in an account your organisation controls.
- Hosting, analytics, email and payment accounts have named business owners.
- Source code and design files are delivered under agreed rights.
- Your data can be exported in a usable format.
- Third-party licences and recurring costs are disclosed.
- Administrator credentials and recovery methods are handed over securely.
- The contract explains what happens if either party ends the relationship.
Check the team you will actually work with
Meet the delivery lead and ask who owns strategy, design, development, content, quality assurance and support. Understand what is subcontracted and where responsibility stays. Ask for a sample status report, issue workflow and acceptance process. Communication quality during selection is useful evidence of how uncertainty will be managed during delivery.
Compare total responsibility, not only launch price
Separate one-time build costs from hosting, licences, content production, maintenance, integrations and future change. A low launch figure may exclude content migration, accessibility remediation, analytics, browser testing or handover. A higher figure is not automatically better, but it should make the scope, evidence and risk ownership clearer.
Read about Avidni's approach and review our business website service, then use the scorecard above with us or any other company. A credible partner should be comfortable with a transparent comparison.
Discuss a Website Brief