Website brief template: what to put in it before you ask for quotes

Without a brief, three agencies get the same request, "we need a website", and send three quotes for three different sites: one with five pages from a theme, one with custom design and copy written for you, one with a blog and three languages. The prices can't be compared, and at handover nobody is sure what was supposed to be delivered. A brief fixes that: you write down once what you need, and every quote answers the same thing.

What a website brief is

It's a document of two or three pages describing the website you want, in your own words, before you ask for quotes. Larger organisations send it as part of an RFP (request for proposal). It doesn't need technical terms or a choice of technology: it says what the site has to achieve, and the agency proposes how.

A good brief does three things:

1. Makes quotes comparable, because they all answer the same requirements.
2. Gets the project started faster, because the agency doesn't have to ask the same questions from scratch.
3. Makes handover easy to check: what's in the brief and the quote should be on the site.

What goes in it

The template, ready to fill in

Copy the text below into a document and fill in what you know. What you don't know, leave blank or write "open to suggestions".

WEBSITE BRIEF – [BUSINESS NAME]

1. About us
   What we do:
   Where (city, area, online):
   Current website (if any):
   Project contact:

2. What the site must achieve
   Main visitor action (call / request a quote / buy / book):
   Secondary actions:
   How we'll measure it (e.g. quote requests per month):

3. Our customers
   Who they are:
   What they're looking for when they arrive:
   Languages:

4. Pages (most important first)
   Required:
   Nice to have, if the budget allows:

5. Features
   Required:
   Nice to have:
   Tools the site must connect to (CRM, invoicing, calendar):

6. Content
   Copy written by: us / the agency / together
   Photos: we have them / need a shoot / stock
   Logo and colours: we have them / we don't

7. Examples
   Sites we like and why:
   Competitors:

8. Technical
   Domain (whose name it's registered in):
   Existing hosting and email:
   Who changes copy, prices and photos after launch:

9. Legal
   Data the site collects (forms, orders, newsletter):
   Online payments: yes / no

10. Deadline and budget
    Launch date we need:
    Budget (range):

11. After launch
    Changes: we make them / the agency makes them
    Maintenance and SEO: yes / no / open to suggestions

12. What we want in the quote
    Total price and what it includes, timeline by stage, warranty,
    yearly costs after launch, what changes cost.

How to write the sections that matter most

The goal. "Modern and professional" isn't a goal. "Twenty quote requests a month from the Denver area" or "customers book their own appointments so I stop answering the phone all day" are goals, and an agency can build towards them.

Pages and features, by priority. Split them into required and nice to have. If a quote comes in over budget, you know what to cut without losing what matters. The pages a small business site usually needs: What a small business website should include.

Content. Say clearly who provides the copy and photos, and by when. A design can be ready in a week, but the site can't launch until there's something to show. If you want the agency to write the copy, say so in the brief so it's in the price.

Who edits after launch. If you want to change prices, the menu or your hours yourself, write it down: it decides the platform more than any other requirement. The difference, in detail: WordPress vs custom website.

Budget. A range helps more than "as cheap as possible". Without one, agencies guess, and quotes come back either too thin or too expensive. For reference: How much does a website cost.

What the contract must include

The brief describes the site; the contract says who is responsible for what. A few clauses prevent most disputes:

• Who owns the site. Under US copyright law, a commissioned work is a "work made for hire" only if it falls into one of nine specific categories and both sides sign a written agreement saying so (17 U.S.C. § 101). A website usually doesn't fit those categories, so the agency or freelancer keeps the copyright unless it's transferred, and a transfer is valid only in a signed writing (§ 204). Ask for a written assignment of the rights in the design, copy and code made for you, effective on full payment. Bought themes and plugins stay under their own licences. In the EU, national copyright laws apply, and the safe route is the same: a written assignment.
• The domain, hosting and accounts in your company's name, with admin access for you.
• Delivery and acceptance dates, and what happens when either side is late, including when you send content late.
• The warranty: how long, and what it covers.
• Changes: how many rounds before launch, and what changes cost afterwards.
• Personal data. If the agency hosts the site or sees form submissions and orders, it's processing data on your behalf; under the GDPR (Article 28) that requires a written agreement, and US privacy laws in several states expect similar contracts with service providers.
• Payment by milestone, tied to what's delivered, not to calendar dates.

Common mistakes

• Too vague: "a nice site, like our competitor's". Every agency reads it differently.
• Too technical: technology requirements copied from somewhere without knowing why. Let the agency propose and explain.
• Everything required: without priorities, any budget cut becomes a renegotiation.
• No legal section: privacy and cookie pages are hard to bolt on at the end. What the law expects: Website legal requirements.
• No accessibility: a site people with disabilities can use is easier to build from the start; the technical reference is WCAG 2.2. Details: Website accessibility: ADA and the EAA.

If you don't have time to write one

Send us what you have, even a few lines. In the first conversation, which is free, we go through the questions in the template, and afterwards you get the price and timeline in writing, with what they include. The rights in the site pass to your company, the domain and accounts are in your name, and the warranty is 24 months. Details on our web design page.