Your website brief should let a supplier understand the business, the customer and the job the site needs to do. You can start before you know the page count or have a folder of finished copy.
“We need a better website” is a reason to have a conversation. To get a useful quote, explain what better would change. Perhaps a prospect cannot tell which service fits. Perhaps your best work is buried in an old gallery. Perhaps every enquiry starts with staff chasing information the form could have collected.
Write the problem down in your own words. Then work through the decisions below. Mark anything you do not know as a question for the supplier.
Describe the customer and the next action
Who is the site for? What brings them to you, what do they need to understand, and what should they do next?
A customer deciding whether to book a consultation needs different information from an agency buying a template. Be specific about the decision. “Anyone who needs our services” gives the supplier little to design around.
Name one main action for the first scope. It might be requesting a quote with photographs, booking through your existing calendar, buying a product or applying for an account. Explain who receives the information, whether a staff member needs to approve the request and what confirmation the customer gets.
Show what is failing today
Include the current website address and the pages you would keep. Tell the supplier which parts work, which are hard to update and which questions customers keep asking.
Use evidence you already have: a confusing enquiry, a screenshot of the problem or the steps staff follow to handle a new request. Remove customer names and private details before sharing examples. You do not need to invent a conversion target to explain a problem clearly.
If the business has no website yet, explain how customers currently find you and what they ask before they buy. That is useful content material.
Separate the design from the business rules
References help a designer understand your taste. Add a sentence beside each explaining what appeals to you: the way it presents projects, its typography or how clearly it explains a service. A reference is more useful with a reason than with “something like this”.
Then describe the rules the website must follow. “Online booking” is incomplete if bookings depend on travel distance, staff qualifications or a deposit. List those conditions in plain language and identify the tool that handles them today.
You can ask for a design direction to be developed around your brand while keeping an existing booking service. You can also use a ready-made design with a separately scoped custom workflow. Our template or custom website guide explains that choice.
List your tools and content
Name the CRM, calendar, email, payment and accounting tools involved. Say which information needs to move between them and which tool holds the authoritative record. Arrange access separately when it is needed. Passwords do not belong in the brief.
For content, distinguish what exists from what still needs work. Include brand files, usable photographs, service descriptions and permission to publish any testimonials. If writing or photography needs to be commissioned, say so. The supplier can then include it or explain what you will need to arrange.
For a replacement website, include the content and old page addresses that must be retained. Redirect planning, forms and tracking belong in the migration scope. Google provides guidance for moves that change page URLs. Plan destinations for the addresses people already use.
Write the first scope and the later ideas separately
A useful first scope names what someone must be able to do when the site opens. Put later ideas in a separate list so the supplier can price the first release without treating every possibility as a commitment.
A fictional service business could start with project pages and a quote request that reaches the right person. A customer portal for approving quotes could be a later project. Ask the supplier whether those parts can operate separately before deciding on that scope.
Include a preferred date and any reason it matters. Say who can supply content, give feedback and approve the work. A supplier needs those facts to propose delivery arrangements.
Copy this brief into your document
Our business is [name] and we help [customers] with [services or products]. Our current site is [URL, or no site yet]. The main problem we want to address is [specific problem]. A visitor should be able to [main action], after which [what happens and who handles it]. We use [tools] and want to keep [tools or processes]. We can supply [content and assets]; we need help with [missing material]. Existing pages or records that must move are [list]. The first scope must include [requirements]. Later ideas are [separate list]. Our preferred timing is [date and reason]. The person supplying feedback and approving the work is [role]. Our budget guidance or budget question is [details].
Before accepting a proposal, check that it answers the brief, names your responsibilities and separates the build price from recurring charges. Our website cost guide includes a worksheet for comparing quotes on that basis.
Bring the brief to a free intro call. A rough outline with the right questions is enough to start a useful conversation.
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