How to Write a Website Design Brief: A Template for Briefing Your Agency

Before you book a first call with any agency about a new company website or online store, you need one document on the table: a website design brief. I have spent more than a decade on the side of the desk that writes proposals. Still, most projects I have seen go wrong did not fail in design. They drifted in the very first email. In this guide I walk through goals, audience, competitors, scope, content, budget, timeline and success metrics. At the end you will find a template you can copy and fill in.

What is a website design brief and why does it matter?

A website design brief is a short written roadmap that captures a web project's purpose, target audience, scope, content responsibilities, budget range, timeline and success metrics. The agency uses it to write an accurate proposal, and you use it to check what was promised at handover.

Without a brief, every meeting starts from zero. For example, the marketing lead may ask for "a modern site" while the managing director quietly pictures a dealer portal. Meanwhile the agency prices the job from notes taken in a single call. As a result, three people use the same words and mean three different things.

My experience is simple. A good brief shortens the proposal stage and cuts revision rounds. It also ends the "was that included?" argument before it starts. In addition, it lets you compare offers from several agencies on equal terms. So I suggest treating the brief as the first agreement of the project, signed before the real contract.

What separates a strong brief from a weak one?

The fastest way to show the difference is to put two versions of the same section side by side. For example, the table below lists vague phrases I see often. Next to each one is a sharper version you can use instead.

The strong version is not longer. Instead, it is simply more concrete. In other words, you leave nothing for the agency to guess.

What should you prepare before writing the brief?

When one person writes a brief alone at their desk, the result usually describes the site in that person's head. It rarely describes what the business needs, because nobody else was consulted. Therefore, take a short internal tour first.

• Ask sales which questions customers repeat on the phone every week.
• Ask finance or leadership for a realistic budget range for this project.
• Open your analytics and note which pages get traffic and which get none.
• Name the decision maker who will approve the design and have the final word.
• List your existing assets, such as logo files, brand colours, photos and product PDFs.

Collect everything you find in one shared folder, in raw form. For instance, paste sales questions word for word and save analytics screenshots with dates. Then write the brief by picking from that folder. The agency can also look at the raw material if it needs more context.

This prep usually takes a day or two. However, it saves far more time later, because you answer half the agency's questions in advance. It also builds ownership inside your team, so nobody complains afterwards that they were never asked.

How should you describe your company and the project background?

The brief should open with a short introduction. If the agency does not know you, it needs to grasp your product, market and edge in a few paragraphs. So skip brochure language here and write plainly.

For example, answer these questions. What do you sell, and to whom? Which cities or countries do you serve? Why do customers pick you over a rival? After that, explain why the project is happening now. Has the current site aged badly, did you launch a new product line, or are you starting to export?

That "why now" question often reveals the real purpose. One client told me in our first meeting that the site simply looked old. A few questions later, we found the actual pain: dealers were sending orders by phone, and nobody could track them. Consequently the project shifted from a showcase site to a simple request system. Honest background gives the agency a fair chance to propose the right solution.

Finally, mention any planned brand changes. If the logo or visual identity will change, that work should come first. Otherwise you will design the site twice. In that case, plan web design and brand work on the same timeline.

How do you write a measurable project goal?

The goal section is the heart of the brief. "Looking professional" or "having a digital presence" is a feeling, not a goal. After all, an agency cannot make design decisions from a feeling, so it will guess. Instead, write one sentence about what the site must deliver for the business.

Goals like these work well:

• Increase qualified requests from the quote form.
• Answer repeat phone questions directly on the site.
• Give overseas distributor prospects an English product catalogue.
• Reduce front desk workload with online booking.

If you have several goals, then rank them. The ranking decides which action gets the most prominent spot on the homepage. Also note next to each goal how you will measure it on the site. Typical signals are form submissions, phone clicks, WhatsApp clicks or catalogue downloads.

If you are unsure how to turn a goal into a number, my guide on setting website conversion goals covers it step by step. In the brief itself, naming the main conversion and its supporting actions is enough.

What belongs in the target audience section?

The audience section sets the tone and density of the design. A site for a thirty-year-old founder should not look like a site for a sixty-year-old factory owner. That is why you should describe your audience by needs and behaviour, not just demographics.

In practice, four questions usually cover it. Who visits the site? What are they curious about when they arrive? What do they need to see before they decide? Which device do they use? For example, a B2B buyer looks for spec sheets and certificates. A consumer, on the other hand, checks price, reviews and delivery time.

If you serve several audiences, write a short profile for each one and mark which one comes first. Above all, base those profiles on real evidence. Notes from sales, support tickets and analytics reports beat guesswork every time.

For a deeper method, see my guide on target audience analysis. That said, the brief does not need a long persona deck. Half a page of clear description gives the agency plenty to work with.

How should you share competitor and reference sites in a website design brief?

First, this section makes taste visible, which is hard to do with words alone. Still, a bare list of URLs is not enough. "We like this site" does not tell the agency whether you like the colours, the layout or the speed.

Here is the structure I recommend:

1. List three direct competitors.
2. For each one, note two things you like and one thing you dislike.
3. Add two inspiration sites from outside your industry, even if you like only one feature.
4. Include one example you definitely do not want, because "not like this" also gives direction.

The competitor list is also useful for SEO. Knowing which sites you compete with in search results helps you plan page structure and content depth. You can use the method in my SEO competitor analysis guide for that. That said, state clearly that you do not want a copy of any rival. The aim is inspiration, not imitation.

How do you define pages and features in the scope section?

Scope drives the price more than any other section. "Company website" could mean a five-page showcase or a forty-page portal with logins. So describe scope with a page list and a feature list.

First, start with a draft sitemap: home, about, services or products, case studies, blog and contact. Then estimate how many pages each group will hold. For instance, "six product categories and about forty products" tells the agency whether to plan templates or bespoke layouts.

Next, list the features. Common ones include multiple languages, a blog, site search, filters, a quote or booking form, user accounts, payments, and CRM or ERP integration. When you think about form fields, my article on booking, quote and demo form design can help.

Finally, tag every feature as "must have" or "later phase". This lets the agency quote in two tiers. You then decide which features make the first release based on budget.

Why should you list what is out of scope?

The out of scope list is the most skipped part of any brief. Moreover, it is the part that causes the most disputes. You may assume a task is obviously included while the agency never priced it. The reverse happens too. An agency may add an expensive feature that you do not need.

So discuss these points openly and write the answers down:

• Is photography or video production part of the quote?
• Who handles copywriting and translation?
• Who moves content from the old site to the new one?
• Will domain, hosting and email management stay with the agency?
• Is post-launch maintenance, updating and security monitoring a separate contract?
• Are ad setup and social media management part of this project?

Admittedly, writing this list can feel negative at first. In fact it does the opposite. You simplify the proposal by telling the agency what not to price. In short, an out of scope list is the cheapest insurance against surprise invoices later.

Who should own copy, images and translation?

In web projects the most common delay is not design. It is content. The team approves the design and development finishes. Then the About page copy or product descriptions stay missing for weeks. For that reason, spell out content ownership line by line.

In practice, a simple method helps here. For each content type, answer three questions: who prepares it, by what date, and who signs it off. Copy, product images, team photos, client logos, certificates and translations each deserve their own row.

If you write the copy yourself, send the agency a sample page early. That way the design reflects real text length. If you buy copywriting from the agency, add it to the scope and include your search expectations. Should you want search-led page copy, discussing the content plan with SEO consulting at the same time saves weeks.

Also note image licensing. If stock photos are used, who pays for the licence? If you supply your own photos, at what resolution? Otherwise these small details can turn into big problems in launch week.

What technical requirements should a website design brief include?

You do not need to be a developer to write this section. The aim is to share constraints and expectations the agency must know. For example, if your company uses a CRM, accounting tool or stock system, say whether the site must connect to it.

If you prefer a specific content management system, name it. Otherwise a needs statement is enough, such as "our team must be able to edit text and images without help". Also record where the domain and hosting live and who has access.

Measurable performance and accessibility targets are a good habit. Google's Core Web Vitals guidance on web.dev defines a good experience as LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP of 200 milliseconds or less, and CLS of 0.1 or less. Writing "Core Web Vitals must sit in the good range" gives the agency a clear target. Likewise, you can reference the W3C WCAG 2.2 guidelines for accessibility.

Finally, add legal requirements. If you collect personal data from EU visitors, state that you expect privacy notices, cookie consent and form consent to follow the GDPR.

How do you add SEO and redirect notes if you already have a site?

Unless the site belongs to a brand new business, your brief needs a "current state" section. After all, deleting pages that have earned traffic for years can wipe out every gain the new design brings.

Include these points: the pages with the most organic traffic, the pages that convert best, important URLs that earn external links, and the analytics tools in use. Then state whether the URL structure will change. If it will, name the person who prepares the redirect map from old addresses to new ones.

For moves that change URLs, Google recommends preparing a mapping of old to new URLs and using permanent redirects. Specifically, the details are in the Google Search Central site move guide. When the brief does not assign this job, it usually falls between the cracks.

I cover the full process in my website migration SEO checklist. The brief itself does not need a long technical plan. One sentence such as "keeping current rankings is a project requirement", plus the name of the owner, is a solid start.

Should you share your budget in the brief?

Yes, you should share at least a range. Many companies believe hiding the budget gives them leverage. In practice, an agency without a budget picks one of two paths. It either quotes the most expensive scenario or quotes the cheapest one and quietly shrinks the scope.

With a range, the agency thinks about how to create the most value within it. For example, it might suggest a few smart templates instead of custom layouts for every page, and add more features with the savings. As a result, proposals land closer together and become easier to compare.

I suggest splitting the budget into three lines:

• A one-off budget for design and development.
• Recurring costs such as hosting, domain, licences and maintenance.
• A promotion budget for content, SEO or ads after launch.

The third line is often forgotten. However, a site that launches without a plan to attract visitors may underperform even when the design is excellent. Pricing factors deserve their own article. In the brief, what matters is an honest, realistic range.

How do you define the timeline and approval process?

"As soon as possible" is not a timeline. Write at least two dates in the brief: when the project should start and when the site must be live. If the launch date is tied to a trade fair, campaign or product release, explain why. Only then can the agency judge priority.

The approval process also matters just as much. Who signs off the design? How many days does approval take? How many revision rounds do you expect? In my experience, delays rarely come from agency speed. Instead, they come from the approval chain on the client side.

So add a simple decision table to the brief. Name one day-to-day contact, the person with final approval, and people who give input but do not approve. Also note holidays, peak seasons or other periods when your team is unavailable.

A sample phase order looks like this: discovery and sitemap, wireframes, visual design, development, content entry, testing, then launch. When you define who approves each phase up front, the project keeps its rhythm.

How do you set success metrics in the brief?

Put simply, a success metric answers "did the project work?" without debate. Without one, judgement falls back on personal taste. If one board member dislikes the colour, the project may be labelled a failure.

Link your metrics to the goal section. For example, if the goal is more quote requests, compare form submissions and form conversion rate before and after launch. If the goal is lower support load, track how many repeat questions still arrive by phone.

Next, put measurement setup into scope as well. Analytics installation, conversion event setup and a tagged link convention for campaign traffic all take work. Who owns them, you or the agency? For campaign links, the UTM builder tool keeps naming consistent.

If picking metrics feels hard, my guide to digital marketing KPIs offers a good starting list. Three or four metrics are enough for a brief. Fifteen metrics only blur the focus.

What does a website design brief template look like?

Copy the template below into a document and fill in each heading. Also keep every item short. The goal is not to write a novel but to answer likely questions in advance.

1. Company and background: what we do, who we sell to, why we are starting now.
2. Main goal: the one thing the site must deliver, plus secondary goals.
3. Target audience: priority profile, needs, main device.
4. Competitors and references: three rivals, two inspiration sites, likes and dislikes.
5. Scope: sitemap, rough page count, languages, features, must have versus later phase.
6. Out of scope: work not included in the quote.
7. Content: owners and due dates for copy, images and translation.
8. Technical: integrations, CMS expectations, hosting, performance and accessibility targets, privacy requirements.
9. Current state: pages to protect, redirect owner, analytics access.
10. Budget: one-off range, recurring costs, promotion budget.
11. Timeline: start date, hard launch date, approval times, unavailable periods.
12. Success metrics: three or four metrics and who measures them.
13. Contacts: project lead, final approver, preferred channel.

This template will not fit every project exactly. For instance, an online store needs extra headings for payments, shipping and product data import.

What mistakes do companies make when briefing an agency?

Looking back at the briefs I have received, the same mistakes keep coming up. Knowing them therefore lets you run a quick check before you hit send.

• Writing the solution instead of the problem. "We need a slider" is weaker than "we must show three product groups on the homepage".
• Marking everything as a priority. If all ten items are critical, none of them are.
• Bringing in the decision maker late. If the final approver first sees the design at the presentation, revisions are certain.
• Underestimating content work. If copy is not ready, you end up approving a design full of empty boxes.
• Sending different briefs to different agencies. Then fair comparison becomes impossible.

One more point. A brief is not a document you write once and forget. Update it as the agency asks questions, and attach the final version to the contract. For other questions to ask before hiring design help, see my UI/UX design services checklist.

What should happen after you send the brief?

Sending the brief does not end the work. In fact, the real conversation starts there. A good agency reads the brief and comes back with questions. The number and depth of those questions tell you how seriously the agency takes the job.

Therefore my advice is to book a short call after sending it. On that call, ask the agency to explain the brief back to you in its own words. Any misunderstanding shows up right there, and fixing it costs nothing.

When proposals arrive, map each one to the headings in your brief. Which agency covers which item, and which one skips or reinterprets it? Moreover, you will notice that most price gaps come from scope gaps. This mapping stops you comparing apples with oranges.

Once you agree, attach the final brief to the contract. Then every new request during the project can be checked quickly against one question: is it in the brief? That tells you at once whether it is extra work or already in scope.

How does a good brief change the agency relationship?

Many people see a brief as a technical form. Yet it also sets the tone of the relationship. An agency that receives a clear brief sees a prepared, serious client, and the team tends to invest more effort as a result.

In addition, a brief gets your own team speaking one language. When marketing, sales and leadership make decisions from the same document, meetings get shorter. If disagreement arises, you return to the written goal instead of personal opinion.

Finally, another benefit appears after launch. You measure what you gained against the success metrics in the brief. Consequently you can choose where to invest in the next phase based on data.

On my side, the most productive projects have always been with clients who worked on the brief with me. Sometimes we write the first draft together and fill the gaps in a call. When you work this way, design decisions stop being arguments about taste. They become choices that serve a clear goal.

What is the final checklist before you send your brief?

Before you send the brief, ask yourself the questions below. If you can answer yes to all of them, your document is ready for the agency.

• Did you state the main goal in one sentence?
• Is the priority audience and its main device clear?
• Did you add competitor and reference sites with reasons?
• Did you list scope and out of scope items separately?
• Are content owners and due dates written down?
• Did you state the budget range and recurring costs?
• Are the hard launch date and approval chain clear?
• Do you know what you will measure after launch?

In short, a good website design brief tells the agency what you want to achieve, not how to build it. Instead, leave the how to the agency, and make the goal, limits and metrics clear. If you want a second pair of eyes on your own brief, you can reach me through my web design service page.