Updated: 23 October, 2026
- Start with your customers, not your colour scheme
- Describe your business in a few sentences
- Say what the website must achieve
- List the pages and features you expect
- Think about content early
- Cover accessibility and mobile use
- Be upfront about budget and timing
- Name the decision makers
- A simple website brief template
- Frequently asked questions
- How long should a website brief be?
- Do I need to know the technical details before I write a brief?
- Should I include my budget in a website brief?
- Can I change the brief once the project starts?
- Will a good brief help my site rank on Google?
A good website brief is the single most useful thing you can hand a web designer before a project starts. It does not need to be long or technical. It just needs to say who the website is for, what it should help them do, and what you need from it as a business. If you are a business owner in Liverpool or Merseyside planning a new website, online shop or app, this guide walks you through what to write, step by step.
Why bother? Because a designer or developer can only quote accurately, and build the right thing, if they understand what you are trying to achieve. Without a brief, the first weeks of a project often go on questions that you could have answered in an hour at your desk.
Start with your customers, not your colour scheme
It is tempting to open a brief with "I want it to be blue and modern". Start somewhere more useful: the people who will use the site. The GOV.UK Service Manual makes this point clearly. Its guidance on learning about users and their needs says a team cannot build the right thing without knowing who the users are and what they need, and that opinions which do not come from users are assumptions to be tested.
That guidance suggests a simple way to write a need down: "I need to... so that...", optionally starting with "As a..." to say who the person is. It also advises describing the problem rather than the solution. You can borrow this for your own brief:
As a first-time visitor, I need to see what you offer and where you are, so that I can decide whether to get in touch.
As an existing customer, I need to rebook or reorder quickly, so that I do not have to phone.
As someone on my phone, I need pages that load and read easily, so that I can find an answer in a minute.
Write five to ten of these. They are more valuable to a designer than a page of adjectives, because they describe what the website has to do.
Describe your business in a few sentences
Give a short, honest summary: what you do, where you work, who you sell to, and what makes customers choose you. Mention whether you serve a local area, such as Liverpool, the Wirral or Sefton, or customers nationally. Add the names of two or three competitors or businesses you admire, and say what you like or dislike about their sites. Specific examples are far easier to respond to than "something clean".
Say what the website must achieve
Pick one main goal and a couple of supporting ones. For example:
Get more enquiries through a contact or quote form.
Take bookings online.
Sell products through an online shop.
Give existing customers a place to log in or get support.
A clear main goal helps decide what goes on the homepage, how many pages you need and whether you need extra features. If you are not sure which type of site fits, our guide to what a website costs explains how scope affects the price, and the website requirements page helps you list what you need.
List the pages and features you expect
You do not need a finished sitemap, but a rough list helps. Think about:
Pages: home, about, services or products, contact, FAQs, blog.
Features: contact or quote forms, online booking, payments, a shop, a members area, a newsletter sign-up, a map or reviews.
Integrations: accounting software, a booking tool, a mailing list, a stock system.
Content changes: whether you want to edit the site yourself, and how often.
Mark each item as "must have" or "nice to have". That one step makes quotes easier to compare and keeps the project from growing without anyone noticing.
Think about content early
Content is the most common cause of delays. Say who will write the text, who will supply photos and logos, and whether you need help with either. For search, Google's own SEO Starter Guide recommends content that is well written, easy to follow, unique and up to date, with clear page titles and descriptive URLs. It is also honest that there is no guarantee any particular site will be added to Google's index, and no secret that will automatically rank a site first. So be wary of anyone who promises you a ranking, and ask your designer how they build pages to be easy for search engines to understand. Our Web Design Liverpool page explains how we approach this.
Cover accessibility and mobile use
Say that the site must work well on phones and be usable by people with disabilities. It is far easier to plan for this at the start than to fix it later. Our post on accessible web design covers practical points you can add to your brief.
Be upfront about budget and timing
Give a budget range, or at least a ceiling, and any fixed dates, such as a product launch, a trade show or a seasonal peak. Designers are not trying to spend your whole budget; a range helps them recommend what fits. If the date is flexible, say so. If it is not, say why.
Name the decision makers
Say who signs things off. Projects slow down when feedback arrives from five people who do not agree. Choose one person to collect comments and give a single set of changes at each stage.
A simple website brief template
Copy this into a document and fill it in:
About us: what we do, where, and for whom.
Goals: the main aim and two supporting ones.
Audience: three to five user needs ("As a..., I need... so that...").
Pages and features: must have and nice to have.
Content: who provides text, images and logo.
Examples: sites we like and dislike, and why.
Practical: budget range, deadline, who approves.
If you would like to talk it through, get in touch or use the website quote request. Outible is a web design and app development agency based at Liverpool Science Park in Liverpool. We offer bespoke, responsive, mobile-first and SEO-ready web design, e-commerce websites and online stores, and app development.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a website brief be?
One to two pages is usually plenty. It should be long enough to explain your goals, audience and practical limits, and short enough that a designer reads it all. You can always add detail in a follow-up conversation.
Do I need to know the technical details before I write a brief?
No. Describe what you want visitors to be able to do, and let your designer recommend how to build it. Describing problems rather than solutions leaves room for better ideas.
Should I include my budget in a website brief?
It helps. A budget range lets a designer propose options that fit, rather than guessing. You do not have to give an exact figure.
Can I change the brief once the project starts?
Small changes are normal, but larger ones can affect cost and timing. Marking items as "must have" or "nice to have" up front makes it easier to decide what to adjust.
Will a good brief help my site rank on Google?
A good brief helps you plan useful, clear content and sensible page structure, which is what Google's guidance recommends. But no one can guarantee a ranking, and results depend on many factors.
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