Website brief template: nine parts and a worked example

It exists so that the quotes you receive can be compared. Without one, each supplier prices a different project and you end up comparing figures that have nothing in common. It also forces agreement inside the company before any money is spent: the board, sales, the sales office and IT rarely expect the same thing from the site.

The examples below describe a fictional company: Example Valves Ltd, a maker of industrial valves with 80 staff and 3,200 part numbers, selling through distributors in the UK, Ireland and Germany.

• What does the company sell, to whom, through which channels?
• What is wrong with the current site? Give facts: unqualified enquiries, out-of-date product pages, slow pages.
• What are the two or three results you expect, and how will you measure them?
• Who visits the site, and to do what? Buyer, design engineer, distributor, job applicant.
• What should each audience be able to do without ringing you?

• Which sections, and how many different page types: home, range, product page, sector, article, contact?
• Who writes the copy, who supplies photos and drawings, who translates, into which languages?
• How many products, and where does their data come from?
• Which functions: search by specification, quote request, downloads, a log-in area, vacancies?
• Who updates the site after launch, and how often?

Separate what is essential from what would be nice to have. A serious supplier will price the two lists separately, and you can then decide. If the catalogue is the heart of the project, read our product catalogue and PIM page; for what a manufacturer’s site has to carry, see manufacturing web design.

This part is easy to rush, and it moves the price a great deal. For each system, answer four questions.

• Which system, which version, hosted where?
• Which data must move, and in which direction: does the site only read, or does it write as well?
• By what route: API, file export, an existing connector?
• How often: in real time, every night, on request?

If you do not know the answer, say so. "We do not know whether our ERP has an API" is useful information: the supplier will plan to check before pricing.

• Who will own the code, the domain and the hosting account?
• Where must the data be hosted?
• Which editing tool do you expect, and who will use it?
• What are the requirements for speed and accessibility?
• How many pages does the old site have, and which ones receive visits?
• Who draws up the redirect plan, and who tracks rankings after go-live?

For speed, ask for measurable thresholds instead of a "fast" site. Google publishes three (web.dev).

State a range. A supplier who knows your budget proposes the best scope for that sum; one who does not has to guess. To set yours, here are published UK benchmarks.

Give your fixed dates too (a trade show, a range launch) and your internal availability: who signs off, and within how many days. The detail of prices is in our guide to website redesign cost.

Announce your criteria and their weight. Suppliers will answer what matters to you, and your choice will be easier to defend internally.

• Understanding of the need: does the proposal restate your goals, or recite a standard offer?
• Method: stages, interim deliveries, what is expected of you.
• Price: fixed or estimated, itemised, cost of years two and three.
• Ownership and handover: code, accounts, documentation.
• References you can check on comparable projects.
• After launch: fixes, maintenance, response times.

Finally, set out the form of the reply: deadline, contact for questions, number of suppliers consulted. Three or four are enough. Before you send the document, the quote estimator gives you a first idea of price.