How to write a web design brief.

What is a website design brief?

Whether you’re planning to launch a brand-new website or redesign an existing one, a comprehensive website design brief acts as the blueprint for a successful project.

A well-crafted website not only supports your brand identity but also engages your target audience and ultimately drives conversions. Your website should reflect your values, showcase your offerings, and deliver a seamless user experience. It is, in essence, an extension of your business—and getting it right is critical.

A detailed website design brief helps align all stakeholders by providing your chosen digital agency with essential information about your business, project objectives, visual preferences, functional requirements, timelines, and budget. This document ensures that everyone involved in the process is working towards a shared vision and reduces the risk of miscommunication or unmet expectations.

To summarise, a clear and thorough website design brief will:

• Give your web design agency a strong understanding of your goals and preferred direction—saving time and budget
• Eliminate ambiguity and reduce the chance of misunderstandings
• Prevent costly revisions or incorrect assumptions during development

What to include in your web design brief?

Before you dive into the project, it’s important to define exactly what services you’re looking for. Not every agency offers the same capabilities. Some may focus solely on branding and visual design, while others offer full-service solutions that include web development, SEO, content creation, marketing, and post-launch maintenance.

Clarifying your requirements from the outset will help you select an agency that aligns with your goals and has the relevant expertise. Whether you need a bespoke CMS, an eCommerce platform, ongoing optimisation, or all of the above—a reputable agency will walk you through your options and tailor their offering to suit your needs.

While your chosen web design agency will certainly conduct their own research, no one understands your business better than you. Sharing honest and insightful details about your company will help the agency craft a website that truly reflects your identity and goals.

Consider answering the following questions in this section of your brief:

• When was your business founded, and what prompted its creation?
• What are you best known for in your industry?
• What is your brand vision and long-term mission?
• What values define your company culture and customer relationships?
• How would you describe your brand personality?
• How are you currently perceived by your customers and competitors—and how would you like to be perceived going forward?

These insights will give your agency a solid foundation for designing a site that is authentic, strategic, and aligned with your brand’s future direction.

Once your agency understands who you are, the next step is explaining what your business actually offers. This section should provide a concise overview of your products, services, and the problems you solve for your customers.

Highlight your unique selling proposition (USP) and what differentiates you from competitors. Do you offer bespoke solutions, faster delivery times, specialist expertise, or unbeatable customer service? These details will help shape the website’s structure, messaging, and calls to action.

It’s also helpful to outline how users currently engage with your business and what you’d like to improve. For example, do you want to increase online purchases, encourage users to book consultations, or boost inbound enquiries through contact forms?

While your web design agency will conduct their own competitor analysis, your personal insight is invaluable. Identifying your key competitors helps your agency better understand your market position and allows them to design a website that not only reflects your brand but helps you stand out.

Include competitors whose websites you admire—whether for design, functionality, content strategy, or user experience—and explain what elements you think work well. You might also want to highlight areas where your competitors are lacking, giving your agency the opportunity to position your business more effectively.

A clear understanding of your target audience is crucial to the success of your new website. Your design and development team need to tailor every element of the site—from messaging to layout—to the needs and behaviours of your ideal users.

To provide a complete picture, you might want to answer questions such as:

• Who are your typical clients or users?
• What are their demographics—age, gender, location, profession?
• Are you currently attracting the right audience, or do you want to reach a new market?
• Are there any specific accessibility or usability considerations that should be factored into the design?

The more detailed your understanding of your audience, the better your agency can create a tailored user experience.

Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your current website is an essential step in the design process. This section helps define what should be retained, what can be improved, and what should be eliminated entirely.

Consider:

• Which design elements and functionality are working well?
• Are there specific layouts, pages, or features that users respond positively to?
• Are there technical limitations, outdated content, or poor performance issues you’d like to fix?

Highlighting these points early will help your design team avoid repeating mistakes and ensure that the new site offers a significantly improved experience.

This section forms the foundation of your website’s sitemap. Listing out the pages you expect to include helps define the structure, navigation, and required content for your website.

At a minimum, most websites include:

• Homepage
• About Us
• Services or Products
• Contact
• Terms and Conditions or Privacy Policy

Depending on your industry and goals, you may also need additional pages such as Case Studies, Testimonials, FAQs, Resources, or a Blog. If you’re unsure, reviewing similar businesses or asking your agency for recommendations can help shape your list.

Beyond standard content pages, your website may require additional functionality. Outlining this in the brief will help your agency estimate the technical requirements and provide a more accurate quote.

Examples of functionality to consider include:

• Blog or news section
• User registration and login
• Online shop or eCommerce system
• Appointment booking or reservation system
• Interactive elements such as maps or calculators
• Custom forms for enquiries or applications

Think about what your users need to do on your website—and what features will support that journey.

Animations, transitions, and interactive elements can elevate your website design and add a dynamic feel to the user experience. However, they also add complexity and development time.

If you envision parallax scrolling, hover animations, sliders, video backgrounds, or other interactive effects, it’s important to mention this up front. Including these details in your brief ensures your agency can assess their feasibility and account for them in their project proposal and timeline.

Content plays a vital role in both design and user engagement. Let your agency know what types of content you already have and what still needs to be created.

For imagery, consider:

• Do you have high-quality photography or graphics ready to use?
• Will you require stock imagery, and if so, do you have a preferred visual style?

For written content:

• Do you want to reuse and refine existing copy?
• Do you require support with copywriting or content strategy?

The more direction you can provide on content, the better your agency can plan around it.

To help your agency better understand your design taste and expectations, include examples of websites you like—and explain why. These examples don’t have to be from your industry; the goal is to identify visual styles, layouts, or features you admire.

This exercise helps your agency get aligned with your preferences and provides a creative reference point to inspire the look and feel of your new site. Remember, this isn’t about copying—it’s about interpreting ideas in a way that’s authentic to your brand.

Your website objectives should be shaped by what you want to improve upon compared to your existing site. Whether your goal is to increase online sales, generate more leads, raise brand awareness, or highlight a portfolio, your agency will need a clear understanding of what you want the website to achieve.

To measure the success of your new website, consider defining SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For instance, a SMART objective might be: “Increase contact form enquiries by 25% within the first three months of launch.”

Understanding and documenting these goals early ensures that both you and your design team remain focused and aligned throughout the project.

Every website needs a web host—a server where all your website’s files are stored. If you already have a website, this is something you likely already have in place. However, if this is your first time launching a site, you’ll need to arrange reliable hosting or consult your agency for a recommendation.

It’s also wise to consider what level of ongoing support you might need once your website goes live. This could include:

• Technical support and maintenance
• CMS training for your internal team
• Security and performance monitoring
• SEO and digital marketing assistance

Including your support requirements in the brief ensures your agency can recommend the best hosting solutions and create a tailored plan for long-term success.

If you have a launch date or deadline in mind—perhaps tied to a product launch, campaign, or event—it’s important to mention this in your brief. Be aware that timelines vary significantly depending on the scope, complexity, and content readiness of the project.

A smaller website might take a few weeks to complete, while larger or more bespoke platforms could take several months. Communicating your timeline from the outset will help your agency plan accordingly and set realistic expectations.

Being open and realistic about your budget is crucial to a successful partnership. If you have high expectations for a fully custom website with advanced features and interactivity, it’s important to understand that this will require a larger investment.

While there are agencies that offer low-cost website packages, these often lack the quality, scalability, and SEO performance needed to compete effectively in search engines or convert users effectively.

By sharing your budget range early, your chosen agency can offer the most appropriate solutions and tailor the project scope accordingly—ensuring you get the best possible results within your financial limits.

Who are Webpop Design?

Webpop Design is a team of expert web designers and developers known for delivering bespoke, high-performing websites. With award-winning creativity and a five-star reputation, we’ve completed hundreds of successful projects for clients across a wide range of industries and locations.

Whether you’re launching a new website or redesigning an existing one, we’re here to guide you through the process from planning to launch—ensuring every detail aligns with your brand and business goals.

Now that you know what to include in your website design brief, why not share yours with us using our project planner? We’d love to hear about your vision.