How to brief a web design agency, with a template you can copy

A clear brief gets you a more accurate quote, a shorter project and a website closer to what you pictured. It doesn't need to be long or technical. This guide explains what to include, with a template you can copy into an email.

Agencies price what they can see. If a brief leaves out an online shop, a booking system or forty pages of content, the quote will be wrong, and the gap shows up later as extra cost or delay. The more an agency understands about your business and goals, the better the advice it can give before any design starts.

1. About your business

What you do, who your customers are and where they are. A sentence on what makes you different helps the agency write and design for the right people.

2. What the website needs to do

Be specific about the goal: more enquiries, online sales, bookings, or simply looking credible when customers search for you. A website built to sell looks different from one built to win trust.

3. Pages and features

List the pages you expect, even roughly. Then list anything that goes beyond pages: an online shop, a blog, a booking form, more than one language, a members area, or connections to other software you use.

4. Content

Say who will write the text and provide the photos. If you need help with either, say so now, because writing and photography change the timeline and the price.

5. Your brand

Do you have a logo, colours and fonts you're happy with, or do they need work too? Send whatever you have.

6. Websites you like, and why

Two or three examples help more than any description. Say what you like about each one: the layout, the photography, how easy it is to use. Competitors' sites are useful too.

7. Budget and timing

Giving a budget range isn't showing your hand. It lets the agency tell you what is realistic and suggest where to spend. Include any fixed date, such as a launch or a trade show.

8. After launch

Will you update the site yourself? Do you need hosting, maintenance or ongoing SEO? This affects how the site should be built.

Business: What we do, in two or three sentences.
Customers: Who they are and which countries they're in.
Main goal: What the website must achieve.
Pages: Home, About, Services, Contact, and any others.
Features: Shop, booking, blog, languages, integrations.
Content: Who writes the text and supplies photos.
Brand: What we have already, and what needs work.
Websites we like: Links, with what we like about each.
Budget range:
Deadline: Any fixed dates.
After launch: Who updates the site; hosting and maintenance needs.

A good agency will come back with questions before it sends a price. That's a good sign: it means they are reading the brief properly. Our project form asks for most of the above, so it is a quick way to brief us. You can also see how we work from first call to launch.