A website project can go wrong long before anyone chooses a colour palette or writes a line of code. It usually starts with a vague instruction such as, “We need a new website.” Knowing how to brief a website project properly gives your designer or agency the information needed to build something that supports your business – not simply something that looks newer than the old site.
For a Devon business, school, charity or independent retailer, the brief does not need to be packed with technical language. It does need to be clear about what you want the website to achieve, who it is for and what needs to happen once somebody lands on it. A good brief saves time, avoids costly changes later and gives you a much better chance of getting online and noticed.
Start with the business result, not the website features
The most useful website briefs begin with the commercial or organisational problem. Perhaps your current site is difficult to update, looks poor on mobile phones or is not appearing for the local services you offer. Perhaps you need more quote requests, more bookings, online payments or a clearer way to show your work.
State the result in plain terms. For example: “We want to generate more enquiries for commercial plumbing work across Exeter and East Devon,” or “We need parents to find school admissions information quickly on a mobile.” This gives the project a direction that “make it modern” never can.
Be realistic about what a website can do on its own. A well-built site can make it easier for the right people to find you, understand your offer and get in touch. It cannot fix unclear pricing, a slow response to enquiries or a service that is not competitive in the local market. The strongest projects connect the website to the way the business already operates.
Define who the website needs to help
Many local businesses serve more than one audience. A farm shop may need to reach regular local customers, holiday visitors and wholesale buyers. An accountant may serve start-ups, established businesses and individuals. These groups may need different information and take different routes through the site.
Your brief should explain who matters most and what each person is trying to do. Include useful details such as the services they are likely to need, the questions they ask before contacting you and whether they are usually searching on a phone while out and about or researching carefully from a desk.
You do not need formal marketing personas. A straightforward description is more valuable: “Our main customers are homeowners in Torbay who need urgent boiler repairs and want a fast call-back,” tells a web team far more than “people aged 35-65”.
It also helps to identify who you do not want to attract. If you only take on larger commercial projects, or only deliver within Devon and the South West, say so. Clear positioning reduces irrelevant enquiries and helps the site speak more directly to the people you can serve well.
Explain the actions that matter most
Every page should have a job. For some organisations, that job is an enquiry form or telephone call. For others, it may be a booking, donation, newsletter sign-up, downloadable prospectus or online sale.
Set out the priority actions in order. If telephone calls are your best source of business, the number needs to be easy to find, particularly on mobile. If online sales are the goal, explain the products, delivery arrangements, stock management and payment methods involved. If the site needs to support event bookings, clarify whether spaces are limited, whether confirmation emails are required and who will manage the booking list.
A website can offer several routes, but trying to give every action equal prominence can leave visitors unsure what to do next. Your brief should make the primary conversion clear. That decision influences page layouts, navigation, calls to action and the technical setup behind the scenes.
Give an honest picture of the current site and brand
If you already have a website, explain what is working and what is causing frustration. Be specific. “Customers cannot find our opening hours” is actionable. “The site feels old” is a useful starting point, but it needs further explanation. Is the issue dated photography, cluttered pages, poor mobile usability, slow loading or content that no longer reflects the business?
Include your existing logo, brand colours, brochures, signage, social media profiles and any brand guidelines. A good website does not need to copy every design choice from printed materials, but it should feel recognisably yours.
Examples of other websites can help too, provided you explain what you like about them. You may like one site because its service pages are clear, another because its product filters are easy to use and another because it feels calm and professional. Simply saying “we want one like this” can be misleading, as different organisations have different audiences, budgets and technical requirements.
Plan the pages and content before the build
Content is often the part that holds a website project up. A designer can create a page structure, but they cannot reliably invent your service details, prices, case studies, qualifications, policies or local knowledge. Leaving all content until the end tends to lead to rushed copy and incomplete pages.
In your brief, outline the pages you expect to need. A typical local service business may need a home page, service pages, an about page, areas covered, case studies or testimonials, a contact page and essential legal information. An online shop will also need product categories, product pages, delivery and returns information, and customer account arrangements where relevant.
Then establish who is responsible for supplying each item. This includes:
- written information about services, products and FAQs
- photographs, videos, logos and team biographies
- testimonials, accreditations, awards and case studies
- legal pages, policies and consent wording
- product data, prices, stock details and delivery rules for e-commerce sites
Professional copywriting and photography can be part of a project where needed, but they should be discussed at the outset. Good imagery and clear writing often make a greater difference to trust than decorative design elements.
Build SEO into the brief from the outset
Search visibility should not be treated as a job for after launch. If people need to find you through Google, SEO needs to shape the site structure, page topics, local information and technical setup from the beginning.
Tell your web partner what services you want to be found for and where you provide them. For instance, a dentist in Plymouth, a holiday cottage provider near Dartmoor and an engineering firm serving the South West will each need a different approach. List your core services, the towns or areas that are genuinely relevant, and any specialist work that sets you apart.
Avoid asking for dozens of near-identical location pages just to mention every village in the county. That sort of approach can create weak content and cause problems later. Useful local SEO is based on genuine service areas, helpful service information and evidence that your business is credible.
You should also flag any existing search assets. These might include a current domain, Google Business Profile, analytics access, old website pages that receive traffic, or email addresses that must continue working. A website refresh can affect search rankings if redirects, page structure and existing content are not handled carefully.
Cover the technical and operational details
This is where a short conversation early on prevents significant disruption later. Your website brief should record who owns the domain name, where the site is hosted, what email accounts are in use and whether there are existing systems that need to connect with the new site.
For e-commerce, this could include payment gateways, accounting software, booking tools, inventory systems or mailing lists. For a membership organisation, it may involve protected content and recurring payments. For a school or charity, accessibility, document management and safeguarding considerations may carry particular weight.
Also agree how the website will be managed after launch. Do you want to update news, products or staff profiles yourself? Do you need training? Or would you rather have an agency handle ongoing maintenance, hosting, security updates and content support? There is no single right answer. It depends on your available time, internal confidence and how often the site changes.
Set a workable budget, timeline and approval process
A budget range is more helpful than no budget at all. It lets your web partner recommend the right level of design, functionality, content support and ongoing service. A simple brochure site, a complex booking platform and a large e-commerce catalogue are very different projects, even if all three are described as “a website”.
Be clear about any non-negotiable dates, such as a new business opening, event, seasonal campaign or expiring contract. Allow time for content gathering, feedback and testing. Launching too quickly with missing information or untested payment journeys is rarely a saving.
Finally, name the people who can approve designs, content and costs. Too many decision-makers without a final sign-off process can slow a project considerably. One main contact, supported by the right internal contributors, usually keeps things moving.
A better website brief leads to a better working relationship
The best brief is not a rigid document that tries to solve every detail before the first conversation. It is a clear starting point for practical decisions. It tells your web partner where the business is now, where you want it to go and what success should look like.
At Devon Media, we find that the most successful website projects are built collaboratively: the client brings real knowledge of their customers and business, while the web team turns that knowledge into a site that is clear, searchable and easy to use. Start with the outcomes you need, be open about the constraints, and give the project enough information to make good decisions from the first page onwards.
