The purpose of a clear, detailed website brief is to equip your chosen design and development team with essential information for creating a top-notch website that meets all your requirements: a responsive, functional, and visually appealing site that effectively showcases your organization and its offerings. A well-written brief also guarantees that your brand image is considered throughout the design process, and your corporate philosophy is clearly communicated to your target audience.
If you’re new to writing website specifications, this guide will help you put together an effective brief. Follow the suggestions below to create a brief that enables any skilled design and development team to turn your website vision into a fully-functioning reality. Additionally, this brief can be used to request accurate quotations from various design teams if you have yet to select one to work with.
✉️ You’ll receive a copy of your brief after submission.
How to Write the Perfect Website Brief
Adhere to the structure outlined below to create a website specification containing all the necessary information in an easy-to-read format.
1. Introduction
Summarize your website’s purpose in the introductory section of your brief. This should only take a couple of sentences, as there’s no need to delve into great detail yet. For example:
“We require a new corporate website that enables our B2B customers to explore our product range. It should contain technical details for each product we manufacture.”
2. Overview of your Business
In this section, explain your company’s operations, its history, and future plans. Include your corporate philosophy if applicable.
3. Notes on Existing Website
Skip this section if you’re building a new website. However, if you want a design team to create a fresh site to replace your existing one, provide notes on what you like about the current site and what you’d like to change.
4. Design & Branding Notes
Describe the desired design and branding for your new website in this part of the brief. Mention any specific color schemes, fonts, images, or other elements you consider essential to your site’s design. Ensure the design notes align with your corporate philosophy and public image. For instance, if promoting your company as environmentally friendly, consider a design featuring earth tones and nature imagery.
5. Target Audience
Consider who you want to reach with your online presence before writing this section. The design team will need to know your target audience to create an effective website.
6. Specific Online Goals
List the specific goals you want to achieve with your new website. Include objectives like increasing turnover by 10% through sales leads generated by your online presence.
7. Website Navigation & Menu Structure
Provide details here if you have a clear idea of your website’s organization. If you’d like the design team to devise a sensible structure, omit this section from your brief.
8. Key Features
List any particular features you’d like your new website to have in this section. Mention essential features like a secure payment facility for processing debit and credit card payments.
9. Notes on Competitors’ Websites
Provide prospective web design teams with links to your competitors’ websites and notes on what you like and dislike about them. Include any websites you particularly admire, regardless of whether they belong to direct competitors.
10. Timeframe
Inform prospective designers of the time they have to prepare a quotation and, assuming they win the job, the time they have to complete the work. Be realistic when setting limits, especially for large, complex websites with advanced functionality.
11. Budget
Ensure your budget is compatible with your requirements by being realistic about how much functionality and design work you can expect for the money you’re willing to spend. Once you’ve determined an acceptable budget, include it in your brief.
12. Final Thoughts
Conclude your brief with any additional information the winning design team will need. If you have specific requirements that don’t fit into the sections above, mention them now. If you’d like a hosting plan to be part of the package, note that here. Also, clarify whether you expect the team that builds your website to maintain it in the future and, if so, whether you expect maintenance costs to be included in the website design proposal or charged at a fixed hourly rate.
If your company operates in a niche industry with unique online rules and regulations, be sure to mention these in your brief. If you have any questions about writing a website brief not addressed in this guide, or you’d like to discuss your requirements with a member of our web design team, please don’t hesitate to call or email us.