Start with the decision your customer needs to make
A useful brief explains who the website is for and what those people should do. “We need a modern website” leaves too much open. “We need purchasing managers to understand our inspection service and request a quote” gives the project a direction.
Describe your main audience, the problem you solve, and the action you want visitors to take. If several audiences matter, put them in order. A first launch rarely needs to give every audience equal space.
Separate the first release from later ideas
List the pages and functions needed for launch. For each function, describe what a visitor or staff member does: choose a service, upload a file, receive a confirmation, or update a product. Name the systems already involved.
Keep a second list for ideas that can wait. An account portal, multilingual content, or a CRM connection may be useful later without belonging in the first release. This separation makes proposals easier to compare.
Make the practical constraints visible
Include your preferred launch date, budget range, existing platform, and who can approve the work. Say whether photography, brand files, page copy, and product information are ready. If a launch date is tied to an event, explain that dependency.
You do not need to share passwords in a brief. Name the services you use and agree a secure access process after the project is confirmed.
Ask for a proposal you can check
Request a page list, deliverables, exclusions, review stages, and handover details. Ask who supplies content and who enters it. Confirm how additional requests will affect the price and schedule.
Before sending, read your brief as someone meeting your business for the first time. Replace unexplained internal terms and add links to two or three examples with a sentence about what you like. Our brief builder gives you a starting document you can edit and share.