How to Write a Website Brief That Gets You What You Actually Want

I’ve started dozens of website projects. The ones that run smoothly, stay on budget, and deliver on time all have one thing in common: a proper brief. The ones that don’t? Usually, the brief was a single email saying “we need a new website” and maybe a folder of screenshots.

Here’s the thing: web designers can’t read minds. We can’t infer your business strategy from a vague conversation. We need you to tell us, properly, what you actually want.

Why Most Briefs Are Too Vague

“Professional,” “modern,” and “user-friendly” sound helpful. They’re not. Every website looks professional to someone. Modern to one person is dated to another. User-friendly is meaningless without context.

When you say “like this website,” and you show us something Apple made with a $200 million budget, we know you’re visualizing something that’s technically brilliant but not realistic for your business, timeline, or budget.

The vagueness isn’t your fault. Most people haven’t thought about how to describe what they want from a website. It’s actually pretty hard. But spending an hour thinking it through properly will save you weeks of back-and-forth, revisions, and frustration.

The 8 Things Every Good Brief Includes

1. Business Context What do you actually do? Not the elevator pitch — the full picture. Who are you? What’s your market? What makes you different?

2. Objectives Why are you building this website? To get more enquiries? To sell products? To build authority? To replace an old site? There’s a difference, and it changes everything.

3. Audience Who’s going to use this website? If it’s for “everyone,” you’ve lost the plot. Be specific. Age, role, frustrations, what they’re looking for.

4. Key Messages What three things do you absolutely need visitors to understand? What should they remember after they leave?

5. Competitor Context Show us three websites you admire — and for each one, explain what specifically you like about it. Not “it looks cool.” What does it do well? How does it make you feel?

6. Functional Requirements What does the website need to actually do? Contact form? Shop? Blog? Booking system? Email signups? Be specific about every piece of functionality.

7. Content What content do you have? Photos, copy, testimonials, case studies? Do you need help creating it? Do you have it sitting in a folder somewhere?

8. Timeline & Budget When do you need this? What’s your budget? These aren’t secrets — they actually help us scope the project properly and set realistic expectations.

What NOT to Put in a Brief

Excessive design directions. A brief is not a mood board. Show us three things you like and tell us why. Beyond that, you’re micromanaging the designer before they’ve even started, and that always goes wrong.

Unrelated requests. “While you’re at it, can you design our packaging?” No. Keep scope tight.

Constraints without context. “It has to be blue because that’s our colour.” Great — that’s context. “It needs to be under $500.” Is that realistic? That’s a conversation to have, not a directive.

How to Avoid Scope Creep

Scope creep is when a project balloons beyond what was originally agreed. Website design is particularly vulnerable to it.

The brief is your contract. If something isn’t in the brief, it’s extra work. When you brief properly, everything’s clear: this is what we’re building, this is what’s outside.

If you come back mid-project and say “oh, we also need an Instagram feed on the homepage,” that’s scope creep. It’s not the designer’s fault. It’s how these things happen when the initial brief is vague.

A detailed brief prevents that. It’s boring to write, I know. But it’s genuinely the difference between a project running smoothly and one that’s painful for everyone.

The Template

If you want to give this a go, write something under each of those eight headings. A paragraph or two each. Not War and Peace. Just clarity.

Then send it to your designer before you start proper conversations. You’ll be amazed how much more efficient the whole thing becomes.

Ready to build a website that actually works? Let’s have a chat about what you need.