How to Write a Web Design Brief (+ Free Template)

Key Takeaways

• A good brief saves you time and money — projects with clear briefs consistently come in on budget and on time
• You don't need marketing expertise to write a brief — just honest answers about your business, audience, and goals
• Include your budget range — agencies cannot recommend the right approach without knowing what is realistic
• The brief is as much for you as for the agency — writing it forces you to clarify what you actually need before spending money

Why Agencies Ask for a Brief (and Why It Benefits You)

The first thing most web agencies will ask you for is a brief. If you've never worked with a web designer before, this can feel like a strange formality — a hoop to jump through before the real work starts.

It's not. A good brief is the difference between a project that runs smoothly and one that drags on for months with endless revision rounds and growing frustration on both sides.

Here's the thing: a brief isn't primarily for the agency. It's for you. The process of writing one forces you to clarify what you actually want, what success looks like, who you're building for, and what your constraints are. Without that clarity, you can't evaluate whether the work you receive is good — because you haven't defined what "good" means.

I've worked through briefs that were four paragraphs and briefs that were twenty pages. Both can work. What doesn't work is no brief at all, or a brief so vague it communicates nothing: "We need a new website. It should look modern and professional and represent our brand."

This guide walks through every section of a solid web design brief, with example content so you can see what useful looks like versus what vague looks like.

At the end, I'll point you to our Start a Project form — which is essentially a structured brief template built into our process.

Section 1: Company Overview

Start by telling the agency about your business. Not your whole history — a focused summary that gives them enough context to understand who you are.

Vague: "We're a marketing agency based in London."

Useful: "We're a four-person B2B content marketing agency based in Shoreditch. We work with SaaS companies and professional services firms with 50–500 employees, primarily in financial services and legal. We've been running for three years. Most clients come through referral but we want the website to work harder as a lead generation tool."

The second version tells an agency something. It informs decisions about tone, design direction, audience, and functionality from the very first conversation.

Section 2: Project Goals

What do you actually want the website to achieve? Be specific.

For each goal, define what success would look like in measurable terms where possible.

Vague: "We want more enquiries."

Useful: "Our current site gets around 800 visitors per month but converts fewer than 0.5% to enquiries. We want a redesign that improves that conversion rate. Secondary goal: improve organic visibility for our key service terms — we currently rank on page 2-3 for most of them."

If you have Google Analytics or Search Console data, share it. Even a screenshot. It helps.

Section 3: Target Audience

Who is the website for? Not "everyone" — be specific.

Example: "Our main audience is operations managers at manufacturing companies with 100–500 staff. Typically 35–55, technically capable but not developers, making purchasing decisions for productivity software. Their main concern is implementation time and whether the software will work with their existing systems. They're usually comparing us with two or three alternatives before making contact."

This level of detail shapes everything — the language used in the copy, the features highlighted, the trust signals emphasised, even the imagery chosen.

Section 4: Design Preferences

This is where things get more subjective, but you still need to give the agency something to work with.

If you have these, share them. If you don't — perhaps this project also involves a rebrand — say so. Some projects at Brambla combine a new web design with branding work from the ground up.

What do you like and dislike?

Find three to five websites you admire — ideally in adjacent sectors, not direct competitors. For each one, note specifically what you like about it. "I like this one" is less useful than "I like how this site uses white space and keeps the navigation minimal."

Same for dislikes. "I don't want it to look corporate" is more useful if you can point to an example of what corporate looks like to you.

What feeling should the site convey?

Pick five adjectives from this kind of list and prioritise them: trustworthy, innovative, friendly, premium, approachable, technical, creative, bold, minimal, warm, authoritative, playful.

Section 5: Functionality Requirements

What does the website need to do?

List every functional requirement you can think of. Include things that might seem obvious:

• How many pages, approximately?
• Does it need a CMS so you can update content yourself?
• Do you need a contact form? What fields?
• E-commerce (how many products, roughly)?
• Booking or appointment system?
• Members area or login-protected content?
• Third-party integrations (CRM, email marketing, booking software, payment processor)?
• Blog or resource library?
• Multiple languages?
• Accessibility requirements beyond standard?

Be honest about what's a "must have" versus "nice to have". Agencies will use this to scope the project and estimate costs. If you conflate the two, you end up with a quote that's bigger than needed.

Section 6: Content

Who is responsible for the content on the new site?

This is one of the most common sources of project delays. The website is ready to launch but the client hasn't finished writing the About page, or the product descriptions aren't done yet.

Be clear in your brief:

• Will you provide all copy, or do you need the agency to write it?
• Do you have photography, or will you need images sourced or shot?
• Do you have video, or will you need it produced?
• Is there existing content to migrate from the current site?

Copywriting and content production are often quoted separately from design and development. If you need them, say so upfront.

Section 7: Budget

I know this is the section most people want to leave blank. Don't.

Sharing your budget doesn't give the agency ammunition to overcharge you. What it does is help them propose the right solution for what you can actually invest.

If you have £2,000 to spend and don't say so, an agency might come back with a £12,000 proposal that wastes everyone's time. If you share your budget, they can either tell you what's achievable within it or tell you honestly that they're not the right fit.

Our guide to how much a website costs in the UK gives a clear picture of realistic ranges. Our own pricing starts at £1,200 for a 7 Day Website and from £2,500 for a custom build. For a custom website with more complex requirements, budgets typically run £4,000–£8,000+.

If you don't have a specific figure, give a range. Even "£2,000–£4,000" is more useful than nothing.

Section 8: Timeline

Do you have a hard deadline? A soft one? No preference?

If you have an event, a product launch, or a campaign that the website needs to support — say so. A fixed deadline changes how a project is resourced and scoped.

If there's no particular urgency, say that too. Some agencies have waiting lists. Knowing you're flexible gives them more options.

Common Brief Mistakes

Writing a brief by committee. If six people have to approve the brief before it goes to an agency, it usually ends up vague and contradictory because everyone's trying to please everyone else. One person should own it.

Leaving out the hard stuff. "We have a very small budget" or "the previous agency left us in a mess" or "we have no content ready" — these are things you need to say upfront. Surprises mid-project are expensive.

Not sharing your current site. Always link to your current website. Even if you hate it. It tells an agency a lot.

Asking for "something like Apple's website." Reference sites are useful. But be realistic about scale and budget. Pointing at a Fortune 500 company's site with a £3,000 budget creates a mismatch in expectations.

Forgetting about maintenance. Who will update the site after it launches? Do you need training? Ongoing support? A hosting and maintenance package? Think about the ongoing arrangement, not just the build.

A Simple Brief Template

Here's a stripped-down version you can copy and fill in:

COMPANY OVERVIEW
What we do:
Who our customers are:
Where we operate:
Size of business:

PROJECT GOALS Primary goal: Secondary goals: How we'll measure success:

TARGET AUDIENCE Who they are: What they care about: What questions they have:

DESIGN Existing brand assets: [Yes/No — describe] Sites we like (and why): Adjectives that describe the tone:

FUNCTIONALITY Approx. number of pages: CMS needed: [Yes/No] Key features: Third-party integrations:

CONTENT Who writes the copy: [Us/Agency/Mix] Photography: [We have it/Need to source/Need photography]

BUDGET Approximate range:

TIMELINE Hard deadline: [Yes/No] If yes, date: If no, preferred timeframe:

CURRENT WEBSITE URL (if applicable): What we want to keep: What we want to change: ```

The Easier Option

If this feels like a lot — it's worth saying that our Start a Project form covers all of this in a structured, guided format. It takes about ten minutes to fill in and gives us everything we need to come back to you with a sensible proposal.

You don't need to write a formal document. Just work through the form honestly and we'll take it from there.

If you'd rather have a conversation first before committing anything to paper, get in touch — that works too. Sometimes it's easier to talk through what you need and have someone else help you shape the brief.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a web design brief?

A web design brief is a document outlining your project goals, target audience, design preferences, required functionality, content plan, budget, and timeline — everything a designer needs to give you an accurate quote. It does not need to be formal or polished. Our project brief form covers all the essential questions in a guided format that takes about ten minutes.

How long should a web design brief be?

A good brief can be as short as one page. Quality matters more than length. Cover: what your business does, what the website needs to achieve, who your customers are, what features you need, your budget range, and your timeline. For a comprehensive overview of the full process, see our Complete Guide to Web Design for Small Businesses.

Do I need to include a budget in my brief?

Yes — this is the most common thing people leave out, and it costs everyone time. Knowing your budget range lets the agency recommend the right approach. There is a significant difference between a 7 Day Website from £1,200 and a custom build from £2,500. Without a budget, you will receive proposals that may not match your expectations. See our pricing page for guidance.

Related Reading

• Bespoke Website Design: What It Means and What It Costs
• The Complete Guide to Web Design for Small Businesses
• B2B Website Design Guide
• Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Web Designer
• The Complete Website Redesign Checklist
• **Complete Guide:** The Small Business Branding Guide: From Logo to Brand Identity