How to Write a Website Design Brief (With a Simple Template)
What to include in a website brief so agencies understand your goals, quote accurately and build something that works for your business.
On this page
A website design brief is a short document that explains what your new website needs to achieve, who it is for, what it needs to include, and the constraints the project has to work within. A clear brief gets you more accurate quotes, fewer surprises and a better website, because the people building it understand the business problem rather than just a list of pages.
It does not need to be long. Two or three pages covering the right things is better than twenty pages of design preferences.
What to include
1. About the business
What you do, who you serve, where you operate, and what makes you different. Include anything about how you sell, such as whether customers usually call, book online, request quotes or buy directly.
2. Goals for the website
What should the site achieve? Examples: increase enquiries for a specific service, reduce time spent answering basic questions, support recruitment, sell online, or replace a site that no longer reflects the business. Make goals measurable where possible.
3. Target audience
Who visits the site and what are they trying to do? Describe the main customer types, their questions and concerns, and how they typically find you. If you have done customer research, include it. Our guide on voice of customer research explains why this helps so much.
4. Current website
What works and what does not? Share any analytics you have, such as top pages, traffic sources and conversion rates. List pages that currently rank or bring in leads, because they need protecting during a rebuild. See website migration SEO.
5. Pages and structure
List the pages you think you need. Typical service business sites include a homepage, service pages, about, case studies or portfolio, contact, and possibly pricing, FAQs, locations and a blog. Our website page planner helps you map this out, and how many pages a business website needs gives guidance.
6. Features and integrations
Booking systems, CRM integration, payment, live chat, member areas, multilingual content, calculators or quote forms. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves.
7. Content
Who will write copy and provide images? Many website projects are delayed by content, not design or development. Be honest about whether you need copywriting and photography included.
8. Brand and design direction
Share your logo, colours, fonts and any brand guidelines. Include a few websites you like and, more usefully, explain why you like them. Also mention sites you dislike and why.
9. Technical requirements
Preferred platform if you have one, who will host the site, who needs editing access, accessibility requirements, and any compliance needs for your industry. Our article on website accessibility covers the basics.
10. Budget and timeline
Give a budget range. Agencies cannot recommend the right approach without one, and a range helps them propose realistic options. Mention any fixed deadlines, such as a launch event, and why they matter.
11. Decision-making
Who will approve designs and content? How quickly can feedback be given? Projects slow down when approval roles are unclear.
A simple template
You can structure your brief using these headings:
- Business overview
- Website goals and how we will measure them
- Target audiences and their main questions
- What works and does not work on our current site
- Pages we think we need
- Must-have and nice-to-have features
- Content: what we have, what we need
- Brand assets and design references
- Technical and compliance requirements
- Budget range and timeline
- Decision-makers and approval process
Common brief mistakes
- Focusing on colours and layouts instead of goals.
- Leaving out budget, which leads to quotes you cannot compare.
- Forgetting existing pages that bring in traffic.
- Assuming the agency will write all content without saying so.
Once you have a brief, our guide on choosing a web design agency helps with the next step.
Want help shaping your website project?
We help businesses turn goals into a clear website plan, then design and build sites that deliver on it. See our Website Design and Development service or get in touch to talk through your brief.