How to write a website brief

A website brief is a short document, usually two to four pages, that tells a designer what your business does, who the site is for, what it must make visitors do, and what you already have. Writing one takes about an hour. It pays back in more accurate quotes, fewer revision rounds and a shorter build, because nobody has to guess.

Below are the ten sections I ask for, what a useful answer looks like, and a template you can copy into a document and fill in. You do not need marketing language. Plain answers, written the way you would explain your business to a new employee, work best.

Why a brief saves you money

Without a brief, the first week of a project goes to discovery calls and follow-up emails. Designers quote with a buffer because they do not know what they are signing up for. And halfway through, someone remembers that the site needs online booking, which changes the plan.

With a brief, you can send the same document to two or three designers and compare quotes that cover the same scope. It also forces useful decisions early: which services matter most, which areas you cover, what a good lead looks like.

The 10 sections of a website brief

1. About the business

What you do, in two or three sentences. How long you have been in business, how many people work with you, and where you operate. Example: "Family-owned HVAC company, 12 technicians, serving Dayton and surrounding counties. Residential repair, installation and maintenance plans."

2. Services and priorities

List every service, then mark the three that bring the most profit or that you want to grow. The website structure will follow this list. If a service is seasonal, say so.

3. Service area

Cities, counties, zip codes or a radius in miles. Mention areas you want more work from and areas you avoid. For multi-location businesses, list each location with its address and hours.

4. Ideal customers

Who hires you and why. Homeowners or property managers? First-time buyers or repeat customers? What do they worry about before they call? What questions do they ask on the phone? This section is gold for the copywriter.

5. Goals and the main action

What should a visitor do: call, book online, request a quote, buy? How do you measure success: calls per week, booked appointments, orders? If you run or plan to run Google Ads, mention it, because landing pages and tracking need to be planned for ads.

6. Competitors and examples

Two or three competitors and what you think they do well or badly. Then three websites you like, from any industry, with one line on why. "I like how this one shows prices" is more useful than "it looks clean".

7. Content you have

Logo files, photos of your team and work, existing copy, reviews, licenses and certifications you hold, videos. Be honest about gaps: "We have no good photos" is useful information.

8. Features and integrations

Online booking, quote forms, a calculator, a CRM, email marketing tool, live chat, payment, multiple languages. Note which tools you already pay for, so the site connects to them instead of replacing them.

9. Technical details and access

Who registered the domain and where. Where the current site is hosted. Who has the logins to Google Business Profile, Analytics and ad accounts. If you do not know, write that down: finding out is part of the project, and better done early.

10. Budget, deadline and decision-makers

A budget range, even a rough one, helps a designer suggest the right scope instead of guessing. Mention any hard deadline (a trade show, a new location opening, the start of your busy season). And name who approves the work: one person is ideal.

Free website brief template

Copy this into a document and fill it in:

Section	Your answer
Business in 2 to 3 sentences
Services (mark top 3)
Service area
Ideal customers and their main worries
Main action on the site
How you will measure success
Competitors (2 to 3) and notes
Websites you like and why
Content you have (logo, photos, copy, reviews)
Features and tools to connect
Domain, hosting and account access
Budget range
Deadline and why
Who approves the work

Common brief mistakes

• Describing the design instead of the problem. "Blue and modern" is a preference. "Older customers find our current site hard to read" is a problem a designer can solve.
• Listing every service equally. If everything is a priority, nothing is.
• Skipping the budget. It feels like a negotiating tactic, but it mostly leads to quotes that miss in both directions.
• Writing a novel. Four focused pages beat twenty pages of company history.
• Forgetting the people who answer the phone. They know which questions customers ask. Ask them before you write section 4.

An example of a strong answer

Here is how one section can look when it is done well. Section 4, ideal customers, for a hypothetical pest control company: "Mostly homeowners aged 35 to 65 in older houses, calling after they see mice or termite damage. They worry about chemicals around kids and pets, about the price of a full treatment and about whether we will come back if the problem returns. Property managers are a smaller but steady group; they care about invoicing and response time." That paragraph gives a copywriter five headlines and three FAQ answers.

What happens after you send a brief

When I receive a brief, I read it, look at your current site and a couple of competitors, and come back within one business day with questions or a first estimate. Then we have a free 30-minute call on Zoom to fill gaps, and I send a proposal with a page list, price, timeline and payment stages.

If filling in a document feels like homework, use my online website brief form instead; it asks the same questions in about ten minutes. You can also see how a project runs from the first call in how I work, and what each type of site costs on the website pricing page. For questions to ask a designer once you have their proposal, see 12 questions to ask a web designer.

Related reading: how long it takes to build a website and landing page or full website.