One of the most overlooked factors in the success of a web development project is what happens before a single line of code is written: the brief. A well-constructed website brief is not just a formality – it is the document that determines how efficiently your project runs, how accurately the final product reflects your vision, and how many costly revision rounds you avoid.
Whether you are commissioning a new website or a significant redesign, here is how to write a brief that gives your development team everything they need to deliver exceptional work.
1. Start With Your Business Context
Begin by explaining who you are and what you do – not as a marketing pitch, but as genuine context. Include your industry, your target audience, your key competitors, and your current market position. A developer who understands your business will make far better decisions than one working in a vacuum.
Also describe the problem the new website is meant to solve. Are you launching for the first time? Rebranding? Trying to improve conversion rates? Expanding into a new market? Context shapes every decision downstream.
2. Define Clear Objectives
Vague goals like ‘we want a great website’ are unhelpful. Specific objectives drive specific solutions. Examples of useful objectives include: generate 50 qualified enquiries per month, reduce customer service queries through better self-service content, or achieve a page load time under two seconds.
Prioritise your objectives. Not all goals carry equal weight, and knowing what matters most helps your team allocate effort appropriately.
3. Describe Your Audience in Detail
Who will use this website? Provide demographic and psychographic detail where possible. What devices do they typically use? What are their technical comfort levels? What questions or concerns do they arrive with? What do they need to see or read in order to take action?
The more precisely you can describe your user, the more purposefully the site can be designed around their journey.
4. Specify Functionality Requirements
List every feature the site must have – and distinguish between must-haves and nice-to-haves. Common elements to consider include:
- Contact forms or enquiry systems
- E-commerce or payment processing
- Content management system (CMS) for self-editing
- Multi-language support
- Integration with CRM, booking systems, or third-party tools
- Blog or resource library
