Explain your business context
Describe your offer, audience and reason for starting the project. Identify your current website and what makes work or customer contact difficult. Specific situations are more useful than aesthetic descriptions alone.
Separate requirements from inspiration
List the content and features you need. When sharing inspiration, explain what works well: navigation, service descriptions, the rhythm of the page or catalogue behaviour. A link to another website does not, by itself, explain your expectations.
- Your audience’s most important tasks.
- The scope of the first launch.
- Materials your company can provide.
- Timeline, budget and decision-makers.
Leave room for questions
You do not need to choose a CMS or development approach. Identify unknowns and constraints. The brief should start a conversation, not replace the work of agreeing a scope together.
A short brief: copy and complete
Company and offer: what do we do, and which services or products should be most prominent on the website?
Reason for the project: what is not working on our current website, or why do we need a new one?
Audiences: who will use the website, and which two or three tasks should they complete?
Launch scope: which pages, languages and features are essential? What can wait?
Content and materials: what do we already have, what needs preparing and who will approve copy, photography and translations?
Systems and dependencies: which systems need to exchange data with the website? Who knows the existing hosting and CMS? Include names and contacts, not passwords.
Budget and timeline: what are the limits for the project? Is the date tied to an event or simply preferred?
Decisions: who gathers feedback and who approves the scope and each stage?
Open questions: what do we not yet know, and where do we need help?
You do not have to complete every field. “To be agreed” is better than an arbitrary choice of technology or features. Information about your company’s situation and main expectations is enough for the first conversation.
For more advice, read our guide to preparing your business for a website redesign.
LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT
Let’s talk about your project.
Tell us what you want to change. We will help define the scope and next steps.
Contact us