Website brief template for small businesses
A website brief is a short document that tells a designer what your business does, what the site needs to achieve and what you already have. Fill this one in before you ask for quotes and you will get quotes you can compare, for the same job. It takes about 20 minutes.
Why write a brief
Without a brief, two designers can quote £500 and £5,000 for what you thought was the same website, because each has imagined a different one. A brief fixes the number of pages, the features and who supplies the words and photos, which are the things that drive the price. Our UK website cost guide explains how those affect cost.
It also helps you. Writing down who your customers are and what they ask is the first draft of your website copy.
The 10 sections
1. About your business
Two or three lines are enough. A designer needs to know what you do before anything else.
- Business name
- What you do, in one sentence
- How long you have been trading, or “just starting”
- Sole trader, limited company or other
2. What the website needs to do
Pick one main action. A site that tries to make visitors call, book, subscribe and buy all at once usually gets none of them.
- The main thing visitors should do: call, book, request a quote, buy or visit
- Anything else it should do
- How you will know it is working, such as five enquiries a month
3. Your customers
The questions customers ask you on the phone are the questions your website should answer.
- Who your best customers are
- What they ask before they book or buy
- Why they choose you over others
4. Services or products
List each one. Starting prices are optional, but they save you answering the same question every day.
- Each service or product, with a starting price if you are happy to publish it
- Which ones you want more of
5. Where you work
This shapes your local search results more than almost anything else on the site.
- Towns or areas you cover
- Whether customers come to you or you go to them
- Opening hours or availability
6. Pages you think you need
Most small businesses start with Home, Services, About, Gallery and Contact. A designer can suggest changes.
- A rough list of pages
7. What you already have
Designers price partly on how much content they need to create.
- Logo
- Photos of your work
- Reviews and where they are
- Qualifications, registrations or insurance to show
- Existing website or social pages
- Domain name, if you own one
8. Features
Name the software you already use, so the site connects to it instead of replacing it.
- Contact form, online booking, payments, shop, quote form with photo upload, WhatsApp button
- Booking or payment software you already use
9. Look and feel
Examples are far more useful than adjectives like “modern” or “clean”.
- Three websites you like, from any industry, and what you like about each
- Colours or styles to avoid
10. Practical details
A budget range helps a designer suggest what is realistic, instead of guessing.
- Budget range
- Ideal launch date
- Who will update the site after launch
- Anything else
An example, filled in
Business: Muddy Paws, mobile dog grooming. Started six months ago. Sole trader.
Main action: book a groom through my Tuft booking page. Working if I get 10 new bookings a month from the site.
Customers: busy dog owners within 20 minutes of Chichester. They ask what it costs for their breed, whether I come to them, and how long it takes.
Services: full groom from £45, bath and tidy from £30, puppy intro £25, nail clip £10. Want more full grooms.
Areas: Chichester, Bognor Regis, Selsey, Midhurst. I go to them in my van.
Have: no logo, lots of before-and-after photos on Instagram, 23 Google reviews, Level 3 City & Guilds, public liability insurance.
Like: one website with big photos and prices shown clearly; another with a simple booking button on every page.
Budget: under £500. Launch within a month. I will send updates; I do not want to edit it myself.
That is enough for a designer to quote accurately. It took about 15 minutes. (Muddy Paws is an invented example.)
Send us your brief
If your brief describes a site of up to five pages, it probably fits our Founders’ Offer: £200 to design and build, then £20 a month for hosting and care. Paste your brief into our contact form or email it to mo@sussexwebmasters.com, and we will reply within one working day.