Where to start when writing a website brief

Questions to answer before preparing a website brief:

Vision and Purpose

• What is the mission, vision and purpose of the organisation?
• What are your strategic ambitions and goals for the next three years?

Background

• Why are you commissioning a new website?
• Has anything changed in your organisation or in the activities or services that you provide?
• What are the issues with your current website?

Goals and Objectives

• What is the primary purpose of the website?
• What organisational challenges does the new website need to address?
• What would be the outcomes of a successful website?

Target Audience

• Who are the main audience cohorts for the new website?
• Why would they come to the website and what do they need when they visit?
• What pain points do they experience with the current website?

Brand Identity

• Does the organisation have brand identity guidelines?
• Are you looking for the web agency to refresh your brand as part of the project?
• Are there additional branded assets to be designed as part of the project?

Content

• What content do your website visitors need to fulfil their needs and deepen engagement with your brand?
• Does this content already exist?
• Do you require the web agency to help you create new content for the website?
• How much content will be required and what types (such as, text, video, images)?

Functionality

• What functionality is required?
• What features are needed, such as forms, search, newsletter sign-up, member login areas, online payments, ticket booking, and third-party integrations?

Timeline

• What is the timeline and deadline for the website?
• Is there a specific reason for this timeline?

Keep in mind that a typical website project will take around six months from engaging a web agency to launching the new site.

Budget

• What budget has been allocated for the project?

Setting a budget will save you time and effort when shortlisting web design agencies to approach for a proposal.

Competitors

• Who are your industry peers and competitors?

Review their websites and make a list of ones you like. Analyse what works well about each site and note their strengths and weaknesses.

Legal Requirements – GDPR

• Will you be collecting personally identifiable information via the website? Is all this data necessary for your activities?
• How will this personal information be managed and kept secure in compliance with GDPR?
• Have you written an up-to-date Privacy Policy?
• What essential analytics reports will you require, and are there GDPR implications?
• Will you be running digital marketing or advertising that relies on users consenting to tracking cookies?

Legal Requirements – Accessibility

From 2025, all websites must comply with the EU Web Accessibility Directive, which requires sites to meet WCAG level AA standards. This covers both design and coding, as well as the content you add — including text, images, video, audio, and PDFs.

• Will you require training for your team on how to create accessible web content?
• Will you require the help of the web agency to remediate your content before adding it to the website?
• Do you require your website to be audited at the time of launch?

Sustainability

• Are you open to considering ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the website?
• For example: smaller images, less video content, or hosting powered by certified Guarantees of Origin (GOs) renewable energy sources.

Maintenance and Support

• What level of maintenance and support will you need?
• Who will be responsible for website updates, and how many of your team will require CMS training?
• Who will be responsible for hosting, software updates, backups, and security?

What does success look like?

• What is the one thing you absolutely have to get right to make this website project a success?