How to Write a Website Brief (Free Template)

Most small-business websites don't go wrong in design or code. They go wrong in the first email — "Hi, how much for a website?" — because nobody knows yet what the site is for, who it talks to or what has to be on it. A one-page website brief fixes that. It takes an evening to write, it gets you quotes you can actually compare, and it is the single best way I know to launch on time. Here is exactly what I'd want to see from you, and a template you can fill in today.

What a website brief is (and what it isn't)

A brief is a short document — one or two pages is plenty — that tells a web designer what your business does, who the site is for, what it must do and what you can give them to work with. It is not a technical specification, and you don't need to know the difference between hosting and a CMS to write a good one.

Guides for writing a web design brief, like the one from FormKeep, split it into roughly three parts: an introduction to the business and audience, the budget and what success looks like, and the timeline with key contacts. That structure works well for small businesses too. You just keep each part short and concrete.

Part 1: your business in five sentences

Start with the basics a stranger needs to understand you. Write it the way you'd explain it to a new employee on day one:

• What you sell — your main services or products, and which one earns you the most.
• Where you work — one town, a region, all of Bulgaria, or the whole EU.
• Who your best customers are — "families in Pleven with kids under 10" beats "everyone".
• Why people pick you — speed, price, quality, a guarantee, 20 years in the trade.
• Who your competitors are — two or three names or websites, so I can see what your customers compare you with.

That last point matters more than people think. When I know a customer will look at you and two other companies before calling, I can design the page that wins that comparison.

Part 2: the one job the website must do

This is the most important line in the whole brief. A website for a small business usually has one main job: get a phone call, a booking, a quote request or an online order. Pick one primary action and, at most, one secondary.

A clear goal shapes everything else: what goes at the top of the homepage, which button repeats on every page, whether you need a booking calendar or just a form. It also gives you a way to judge the finished site later — not "do I like it?" but "is it bringing in what we agreed?"

Part 3: pages, features and the sites you like

You don't need a perfect sitemap. A rough list is enough, and your designer should refine it. Write down:

1. The pages you think you need — e.g. Home, Services, Prices, About, Contact. If you're not sure a single page is enough, that's a question worth asking, not a decision you need to make alone.
2. Features — online booking, a quote form, a shop, a blog, two languages, a map, reviews, a newsletter sign-up.
3. Systems it must connect to — your booking software, invoicing, a courier, a payment provider, Google Business Profile.
4. Two or three sites you like — and one sentence on why for each. "I like how clear the prices are" is more useful than a link on its own.
5. One site you don't like — equally useful. It tells me what to avoid.

Features are where prices change the most. A booking system or an online shop is a different job from a brochure site, so listing them up front is what makes quotes comparable.

Part 4: content — the part that decides your launch date

Here is the uncomfortable truth: in most small projects, the thing that delays the launch isn't design or development. It's waiting for texts and photos. Practitioners have written about this for years — A List Apart called it "content-delay syndrome" — and content tools like EasyContent describe late content as the main cause of project slowdowns, because one late delivery pushes every later step back.

So the brief should say honestly what you already have and what you don't:

• Logo in a vector file (SVG, AI, EPS or PDF), not just a screenshot
• Brand colours and fonts, if you have them
• Texts for each page — or a note that you'd like them written for you
• Real photos of your team, premises and work (phone photos in good light are fine)
• Prices, or at least "from" prices for your main services
• Reviews you're allowed to show, with the customer's permission
• Company details for the legal pages: registered name, address, company ID, VAT number

A two-week build can easily become a two-month build while everyone waits for "the texts".— the most common delay in small website projects

If writing isn't your thing, say so in the brief. On my projects I can write the copy myself, which is usually faster than waiting — and you still approve every word.

Part 5: budget, deadline and who decides

Many people leave the budget out because they're afraid of being overcharged. In practice, a range helps you more than it helps the designer: it lets them propose the best solution for that money instead of guessing. "Between €900 and €1,500" is enough.

For reference, my own websites start from €890, go live in 2–5 weeks and include 3 months of free care after launch; a full brand identity is €690 and takes 2–3 weeks. If you need a logo before the site, mention it in the brief — it changes the order of work.

Also add:

• A real deadline, and why it exists — a season, a shop opening, a trade fair. "As soon as possible" isn't a deadline.
• One person who decides. Projects stall when three partners each send different feedback.
• What you already own — the domain, hosting, email, social accounts — and whose name they are registered in. If the domain is in a former developer's name, sort that out first.

A one-page brief template you can copy

Copy these headings into a document or an email and answer each in a few lines. That's your brief.

Send the same brief to every designer you're talking to. Then the quotes describe the same project, and the comparison becomes about approach, quality and price — not about who guessed what. It also pairs well with a list of questions to ask a web designer before hiring.

Your 30-minute homework for today

If you only do one thing this week, do this:

1. Write the five sentences about your business and the one job the site must do.
2. Open your current site (if you have one) and list what's wrong with it — slow, outdated prices, no clear button, not great on phones.
3. Collect your logo file, ten good photos and your company details into one folder.
4. Check who owns your domain — log in to the registrar or ask whoever registered it.
5. Write down a budget range and a date.

Want a head start on point 2? Run the free website check — it looks at speed, mobile, SEO basics and legal pages, and the results drop straight into the "what's wrong today" part of your brief.

What happens after you send the brief

A good designer should reply with questions, not just a number. On my side, the brief turns into a 30-minute call about your customers, then a written page plan and a fixed price — nothing starts until you say yes. After that you see the real site on a private link, not static pictures, and we launch, submit it to Google and look after it for three months.

If you'd like me to read your brief — or help you write it on the call — have a look at how I work on the web design page. And if you're starting with the identity rather than the site, the brand identity page explains what's included. Either way, a page of honest answers from you will save us both weeks.