A website brief is the assignment you give a studio. The clearer it is, the fewer misunderstandings, reworks and extra costs. You do not need to be a developer to write one; you only need to answer a handful of questions.
What a brief should contain
- About the company and the product. What you do, for whom and how you differ. Two or three sentences are enough.
- The goal of the site. What you want from it: enquiries, calls, online sales, or simply presenting the company. This is the most important point, because everything else depends on it.
- The audience. Who your customers are, what they look for and which devices they use.
- Page structure. Which sections you need: home, services, about, work, blog, contacts. If you are not sure, the studio will suggest.
- Features. A contact form, online payment, a customer account, several languages, an admin panel, a CRM integration.
- Examples. 3–5 sites you like, and what exactly you like about them: colours, structure, feel. Say what you dislike too.
- Materials. Do you have a logo, photos, copy? Who will prepare them?
- Timeline and budget. Even approximate. Hiding the budget saves nothing; it only makes an accurate quote harder.
- Who decides. One person who approves the result. When five people sign off a site, it gets reworked forever.
Common mistakes
- "I want a beautiful site" is not a task. Beauty differs from person to person, while a goal should be measurable.
- "Like theirs, but better." That tells the studio nothing. Say what exactly suits you.
- Forgotten copy. The most frequent cause of a late site is material the client does not supply.
- Changes along the way. A new feature mid-project moves both the deadline and the price. It is better to think them through at the start.
If you do not know what to write
A brief does not have to be perfect. Write it the way you would explain it to a friend, and the studio will ask the questions. We usually start with a conversation and then draw up an assignment both sides agree on.
