The quality of a website project is often decided before anyone designs anything: in the brief. A clear brief gets you comparable quotes, a faster start and fewer surprises. A vague one gets you proposals that can't be compared and a first month spent working out what you meant. Here's how to write a website brief agencies love, with a template you can copy.
What a website brief is for
A brief explains why you need a website, who it's for and what success looks like, along with practical constraints like budget and timing. It's not a technical specification. Its job is to give an agency enough understanding to propose the right solution and price it.
The sections every website brief needs
1. About your business
Two or three sentences: what you do, who you serve and what makes you different. Link to your current site and any brand guidelines.
2. The problem or opportunity
Why now? "Our site doesn't work on phones and we're losing bookings" is more useful than "we need a new website". Include any numbers you have.
3. Goals and success measures
What should the site achieve, and how will you know? For example: more enquiries, online sales, fewer support calls, faster content updates. Pick two or three primary goals. Our guide to measuring website ROI helps you choose measures.
4. Audience
Who are your visitors, what do they need, and what devices do they use? If you have customer research, summarise it.
5. Scope
The pages and features you think you need, marked must-have, should-have or nice-to-have. Mention integrations (payments, CRM, booking, accounting) and content needs (copy, photography, translations).
6. Design direction
Sites you like and why, sites you don't, brand assets you already have, and any tone words. Describing taste in words is hard; a tool like Taste Genome can help you pin it down.
7. Technical constraints
Platform preferences, hosting, existing systems, accessibility requirements and data protection needs.
8. Budget and timeline
A budget range and any fixed dates, such as a launch event. Be honest about which is more flexible.
9. How you'll decide
Who approves work, how you'll choose an agency and what you want to see in proposals.
A website brief template
Copy and fill this in:
| Section | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Business in two sentences | |
| Why now | |
| Top 3 goals and how we'll measure them | |
| Primary audience and devices | |
| Must-have pages and features | |
| Nice-to-have features | |
| Integrations | |
| Content: who provides copy and images | |
| Sites we like (and why) | |
| Brand assets available | |
| Technical constraints | |
| Budget range | |
| Key dates | |
| Decision-makers and approval process |
Common brief mistakes
- Listing features without goals. Agencies can't suggest better solutions if they don't know the aim.
- No budget. You'll get proposals from a few hundred to tens of thousands of pounds.
- "Like Apple's site". Say what you like about it: the simplicity, the photography, the motion.
- Forgetting content. Copy and images are a frequent cause of delays.
- Too many decision-makers. Name one person who signs off.
- Fixing scope too early. Leave room for the agency to recommend; be open to handling new ideas fairly later.
Example: a filled-in brief for a local bakery
| Section | Example answer |
|---|---|
| Business | Family-run sourdough bakery in Leeds with a café and weekend market stall |
| Why now | Our site isn't mobile-friendly and we take pre-orders by phone, which ties up staff on busy mornings |
| Goals | 1) Online pre-orders for collection, 2) more café visits, 3) fewer phone calls |
| Measures | Online orders per week, calls per day, Google Business Profile visits |
| Audience | Local families and office workers, mostly on phones |
| Must-haves | Menu, online ordering with collection times, opening hours, location, contact |
| Nice-to-haves | Gift cards, blog with recipes, newsletter sign-up |
| Integrations | Our card machine provider's online payments; Google Business Profile |
| Content | We'll write the menu; we need help with photography |
| Sites we like | A neighbourhood café site for its warm photography and simple menu |
| Budget | A range, with flexibility for photography |
| Dates | Live before the Christmas pre-order season |
| Decision-maker | The owner signs off; the café manager reviews ordering |
That's under a page, and any agency could quote from it.
New site vs redesign: what changes in the brief
A redesign brief should also include:
- What's working now, so it isn't lost: pages that rank, forms that convert.
- Analytics access, so the agency can see real behaviour.
- Current URLs, so redirects can be planned and rankings protected.
- Known problems, from customer feedback or support questions.
A new site brief should focus more on the business model, audience research and launch plans, since there's no history to learn from.
What agencies look for in a brief
From the agency side, the most useful briefs:
- Explain the business problem, not just the solution you have in mind
- Give a budget range, so the proposal is realistic
- Say who decides, and how quickly
- Are honest about constraints: dates, systems, content readiness
- Leave room for recommendations
Briefs that list fifty features with no goals, or that ask for "something like Apple" with no budget, tend to get generic proposals in return.
Make the brief easier to write
If a blank template feels daunting, talk it through instead. Zelvorm's AI Brief Builder asks the follow-up questions a good account manager would and turns your answers into a structured creative brief. Pair it with the AI Project Blueprint for a scope and timeline, and you'll have most of a brief in a few minutes.
Once your brief is ready
Send the same brief to every agency you're considering, so quotes are comparable, and use our list of questions to ask a web design agency to compare their answers.
The short version
A good website brief covers your business, the problem, goals and measures, audience, scope, design direction, constraints, budget, timing and how you'll decide. Keep it to a few pages, include a budget range and focus on outcomes over features.
