Website brief: what it should include
A website brief describes your business, the site’s goal, your visitors, the pages, the content available, the features, the style you want, the budget and the schedule. For a small business, one or two pages are enough. It helps you receive comparable estimates and start on the right foot.
What a brief is for
It helps you get your ideas straight before talking about them. It lets you compare estimates on the same basis, and it avoids bad surprises mid-project. It doesn’t need to be long or technical: above all, it should say what you want to achieve.
The 8 sections to fill in
- Your business. What do you sell, and to whom? What sets you apart from your competitors?
- The site’s goal. What should a visitor do on your site: call you, request a quote, buy? How will you know the site is working?
- Your visitors. Who are they, and what are they looking for when they arrive? What questions do they ask you most often?
- The pages. What pages do you have in mind? Do you need a blog, a store, a members’ area?
- The content. Do you already have your copy, photos and logo? Does your site need to be bilingual?
- The features. Forms, appointment booking, newsletter, payments? Which tools does the site need to connect with: CRM, newsletter tool, calendar?
- The style. Do you have a visual identity? Which websites do you like, and why? Which ones don’t you like?
- Budget and schedule. What budget range do you have in mind? Is there a deadline to meet?
Common mistakes
- Describing the solution rather than the need. “I want a carousel” says less than “I want to show my recent work”.
- Forgetting the content. Who writes the copy? Who provides the photos? That’s often what delays a project.
- Wanting everything in the first version. Better to have a simpler site live quickly, then build on it.
- Keeping the budget secret. Without a range, estimates can’t be compared.
What comes next?
Send it before the first call: we save time and get to the point faster. If some answers are missing, that’s fine, we’ll find them together during scoping. To size your budget, you can read how much a website costs in Montreal, and for the schedule, how long a project takes.
