A useful website brief explains the business decision the website needs to support. A finished specification, page designs or perfect copy can wait.
Describe what you sell
Name the product or service, its audience and the situations that lead someone to buy. Add typical questions, alternatives and objections. These details help shape the page structure more than a list of preferred colours.
Choose the primary action
A website may support several actions, but the main one should be clear: request a quote, book a discussion, buy a product or find a distributor. Explain what happens after the action and who handles it.
Gather evidence and materials
Prepare existing pages, product information, photos you are allowed to use and examples of completed work. Label anything that is outdated or not approved for publication. If you have customer results, include their source and the period they describe.
Explain the current situation
If you already have a site, share what works and what does not. Available analytics and enquiry data are useful. A preference such as “it looks old” and a measurable problem such as “the mobile form fails” are both worth discussing, but they require different decisions.
State constraints early
Include a desired launch date, budget range, languages and necessary integrations. Name the person who can approve content. If the deadline is fixed, separate what must be available at launch from later improvements.
A short brief you can copy
- We sell:
- Our main customer is:
- The website should help them:
- The current problem is:
- We already have these materials:
- Our constraints and must-have integrations are:
Send this with a website link or product description. Discuss your project.
A filled-in example
This is a fictional manufacturer, not a client brief.
We make packaging equipment for food producers. Buyers need to select a machine by product and output, then request a quote. Our existing catalogue does not explain those differences. We have specifications and approved photos. The sales engineer approves the copy; the launch needs English and Russian pages. CRM integration will be scoped separately.
This is enough to discuss the catalogue, selection criteria and what belongs in the first launch. It does not fix the price or delivery date before the scope is agreed. See what a manufacturer website project includes. If you do not yet know why the current site underperforms, an audit can help define the task first.