A useful website brief explains what the business needs the site to achieve, who will use it and what those visitors need to know. It records the pages, content, responsibilities and constraints before design starts. You do not need to specify every technical detail. You do need to make the important business decisions visible.
The brief gives everyone a common starting point. “A better website” is an ambition; it does not yet describe the work.
What should the website help the business do?
Choose the main action you want a suitable visitor to take. That could be an enquiry about a service, a request for a quote or another action your business can handle.
Explain what makes that action useful. If you want enquiries, name the services, customer types and areas you can serve. Include work you do not want, too. A form full of unsuitable enquiries is not a strong result just because it is busy.
Describe the current problem in observable terms. “People ask whether we provide this service” is more helpful than “the website needs more impact”. Keep preferences and business problems in separate parts of the brief.
Who is the site for?
Describe the person arriving, what they are trying to decide and what might stop them. An owner choosing a supplier may need different information from someone checking a technical capability for a colleague.
You can start with actual questions from enquiries or sales conversations. Remove identifying details before sharing them. Mark assumptions clearly so the designer does not mistake a plausible audience description for established research.
Which pages and content do you need?
List the services and decisions the site needs to explain, then give each page a job. Do not begin with a page count you have seen on another site.
For each proposed page, note the information you already have and the gaps:
| Page | Visitor's question | Useful evidence | Who supplies it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main service | Can this business do what I need? | Accurate scope and relevant work | Service owner |
| Case study | What has it actually delivered? | Approved project facts and assets | Project owner |
| About | Who will I deal with? | Verified biography and business details | Business owner |
| Contact | How do I start the conversation? | Working contact route and next step | Enquiry owner |
This is an example planning table, not a mandatory four-page site. The content needs to fit your offer.
What should you say about design?
Supply the brand assets you have permission to use. Show a small number of references and explain what you like about each: the clarity of navigation, the reading space or the way projects are presented.
Include dislikes with the same precision. A named concern is easier to solve than a folder of unrelated screenshots.
For website design and development, the visual direction and the words need to support the same visitor task. An impressive opening should still leave someone able to explain what your business does.
What practical constraints belong in the brief?
Record the decision-maker, who approves copy and who can provide access. State any real deadline and why it matters. Identify existing systems the website needs to work with.
If the site is being replaced, include the current domain, important existing pages and who looks after hosting and email. Do not paste passwords into the brief. Access should be arranged through an appropriate secure route.
Define what happens after an enquiry: where it goes, who responds and how it is recorded. A contact form is a business process as well as a box on a page.
A short brief you can fill in
- We provide these services, for these customers.
- The current website makes these decisions difficult.
- The new site's main job is to help visitors do this.
- Our important pages need to answer these questions.
- We can supply this content and this authorised proof.
- These systems, dates and access arrangements affect the work.
- These people will supply information, approve work and handle enquiries.
- These items are outside the agreed project.
Leave genuine unknowns visible. A short, accurate brief is more useful than a long one full of assumptions.
If you have those answers, start a project. They give us a useful basis for discussing the site and its scope.