Same as your business, starting a website project is like embarking on an adventure. It’s the beginning of creating something new, learning about a subject you may be unfamiliar with or need to brush upon. Learning how to write a website brief will help guide your journey and make it easier for those involved in the process to understand what, why and how they are doing it.
Even though it can be a complex process, it’s always worth taking the time to write a website brief. It can help avoid any potential misunderstandings and ensure that everyone involved in the project is on the same page.
If you are in the position of learning how to write a website brief, you’re in luck!
This article has all the information you need to provide the web designer with a successful web design project brief.
What is a website brief?
A website brief is a document that conveys information about the purpose, requirements and timelines of your future website. It’s a vital document for both the design agency and the client, as it ensures that everyone is on the same page before any work begins.
How to Write a Website Brief: The Do’s
Many people don’t realise that it’s best to know all the requirements beforehand to avoid misunderstandings or missed expectations. This way, both parties can create an optimal website design that meets all the necessary requirements!
1. Have a Clear Understanding of Your New Website Goal
-to ensure that expected deliverables are on point.
A clear understanding of your website goal will usually be in the form of a mission statement. To ensure that your website is effective, you need to know what you’re trying to achieve. After all, if your website doesn’t do what you want it to do, then it’s not going to be very useful.
Set SMART goals for your website in addition to a thorough grasp of your site’s objective. SMART aims to define goals as specific, measurable, and achievable as possible. Make sure the goal you’re giving your site is time-bound; and realistic in terms of what you want to accomplish.
Your goals, plans and objectives may be things like:
- Improve rankings on SERPs
- Growing brand awareness
- Increasing sales
- Lead generation
- Become trustworthy in your industry
- Gain authority
- Target a specific audience
- Grow your email database
Key phrase: Think of a goal and how you can achieve it in 2 years.
2. Identify key points about your site’s audience and purpose
When writing a website brief, it’s essential to keep your target audience in mind. After all, if you don’t know whom you’re trying to reach, how can you expect to engage them? Start by identifying key points about your target audience – things like their age, location, gender, interests and what kind of content they’re likely to be interested in.
Once you have a good understanding of who your target audience is, you can start thinking about the purpose of your website.
What do you want them to do when visiting your site? Do you want them to buy something or sign up for a mailing list? Or maybe you want them to learn more about your company or product.
Whatever it is, make sure to keep your site brief focused on this one goal.
Key phrase: Give your audience its purpose!
3. Know how Content Will be Delivered and how Users will Interact with It
For the best content quality and site effectiveness, you need to know how content will be delivered and how site users will interact with it.
The website content brief needs to outline how the site will be navigated from a user’s perspective and the designer’s perspective.
Once you’ve outlined this, you can move on to explain how users interact with your website content. Is it static text? If so, what visual aids will help users understand it better – images or video, perhaps?
Visual aids, such as images or video, can be beneficial when it comes to understanding website content. They can help break up text-heavy pages and make it easier for users to understand what they’re reading.
If you include video on your website, make sure to keep the file size low so that it doesn’t take too long to load. And always use high-quality images that are relevant to your content.
Key phrase: You got to know what type of content you want to produce.
4. Do a competitor analysis
It is beneficial to identify your competitors and what they’re doing right or bad. For a great website design brief, your digital agency should find what your competitors are missing that could create an opportunity for you.
A good website design brief can help give you a competitive edge over existing players in the market. This can help a new website get off the ground by providing a clearer picture of what needs to be done.
Understanding your competition and how they are currently positioned will give you an idea of what product categories or unique selling points might work best for your business goals!
Key phrase: Know your industry.
5. Provide clear and concise requirements for your website brief.
Web design is an art, but it’s also a science. And like any scientific endeavour, there are rules to follow if you want your new site to succeed.
To get a perfect solution that meets your expectations, you must provide a clear list of requirements. For example, your webmaster should know if you want to produce an optimal website for mobile users.
Key phrase: There are rules; follow them.
6. Prioritise key information (such as main navigation, your brand identity) and steps in the buying process
It is essential to prioritise key information. The reader should know the most important aspects of your business, and they should easily access them. Ensure that you include information about each step in the buying process. For example, if you want users to create an account before choosing a product or service, then mention this point in your web design brief.
Consider how many pages you need and think about future growth and what key functionalities you want your site to have. You should avoid failing or pitfalls with a new website design process.
Key phrase: Identify and prioritise key information.
7. Have a list of main keywords
Organic or local? Only one or both? You might think that these questions are beside the point – after all, isn’t ranking first on Google’s results page what we’re all shooting for?
Well, yes and no. Organic results are not just about rankings – they’re also about relevance. If you want your website to be found by people looking for what you offer, Google must see you relevant to their search terms. So make sure to include your main keywords in brief.
Key phrase: High search engine ranking = good business.
8. Be sure the website brief is up to date, complete, and everyone agrees on it.
Ensuring that your website design brief is up-to-date, complete, and agreed upon by all parties is critical.
Moreover, creating a clear image in everyone’s mind about what your new site will look like, how it will function, and why it should exist is the goal of this document.
Key phrase: Make sure everyone is aware of what’s going on.
9. Include hosting arrangements
Many digital agencies offer hosting services, and they know how to get the most out of any site. Make sure that you detail what hosting arrangements will be made.
But if they don’t, there are many things to consider when choosing a hosting provider, including pricing, uptime and specs.
A good hosting service will also offer support so that you can get help with problems as they arise. It’s important to find a company that provides maintenance on their servers because you may have issues along the way without it.
A good web hosting provider should offer at least:
- Good speed
- High-performance infrastructure
- Good support
- No long term contract
- DDoS attack protection
- Bandwidth quality
- Scalability
- Transparency
You should make sure that any potential host has all of these features before deciding on where to go for hosting services.
Key phrase: Good web hosting provides fast website speed.
10. Think of maintenance and support plans
When it comes to website maintenance, it’s important to have a plan in place so that you can keep your website running smoothly.
This includes making sure that all of your files are updated regularly, checking for broken links and making sure that your website is accessible from anywhere.
An ongoing support plan will also include helping troubleshoot any problems that may arise. Most hosting services will offer a support package, but you should ensure that your host can meet your individual needs.
Key phrase: Webhosting maintenance provides peace of mind.
11. Define a Web Design Budget
Why is it good to define a budget when planning a website?
Designing a website is an extensive process and can be very costly. Defining a budget for your project will help the site designer estimate how much it will cost with your site’s requirements.
One of the most common pitfalls people fall into when designing their website is not defining a budget upfront.
It is important to remember that a website is an investment. The site will need to be updated and maintained regularly, so it is vital to have a budget that allows for these additions and upkeep.
A new website should be designed with optimal performance, keeping the budget in mind.
Key phrase: Your business website is an investment.
12. Discuss a deadline
Your new website is an investment, so you need to have a deadline from the beginning. Based on this deadline, the web developer will estimate how long it takes to complete your project.
You should also know that a larger web design project is time-consuming and takes longer than expected. It’s essential to commit extra time if necessary and work with your web design team throughout the process.
Key phrase: Set a realistic deadline for your website project.
How to Write a Website Brief: Don’ts
The internet is a fantastic resource for carrying a project forward, but it can also be a breeding ground for mistakes. Carefully writing a design brief will help you avoid common mistakes and ensure that your website is effective.
Below are some of the most common mistakes to avoid if you want to write a great website brief.
13. Don’t neglect SEO
Basic SEO (search engine optimisation) should be included in the website package price and should be considered in every stage of the website creation process.
Many websites fail because they don’t include specific SEO elements such as meta titles, meta descriptions, alt tags and more. Keywords are also important, not only for search engines but also for your users.
In order to gain more high-quality visitors for your business, you’ll need to implement a strategy that will increase the visibility of your website in organic searches.
Gaining more visitors can be done by setting up a blog with optimised content for keywords within your industry.
Key phrase: Include Search Engine Optimisation
14. Don’t neglect digital marketing
– it’s crucial to your success.
It would be best if you promote your brand as a business on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You get more targeted traffic to your website by implementing adequate pay per click campaigns on platforms that fit your project.
It’s no secret that digital marketing is huge – in fact, it’s predicted to be a $982 billion industry by 2025. That’s a staggering amount of money, and it’s only going to continue to grow. If you’re not taking advantage of online marketing, you’re missing out on a major opportunity to reach new customers and grow your business.
Key phrase: There’s no business without online marketing.
15. Don’t make assumptions
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming that the designer knows what you need. You should prioritise important information and provide a detailed description of what’s required, as well as explain why it’s important to include it in your existing website brief. It could be easy for them to miss some details, which is why it’s crucial to communicate all expectations.
Key phrase: Don’t assume the designer knows your needs.
16. Don’t be vague
Don’t assume that the designer will fill in gaps during the design phase. When discussing the structure, layout and appearance of a website, you should be as specific as possible. Always keep in mind that good design comes from detailed planning and preparation. Any changes made during the design phase will only slow down the process and result in additional costs.
Key phrase: Being vague will slow down the process.
17. Don’t include irrelevant information
Relevant content is the key to a successful website. As well as describing what’s needed for your site, you should also focus on what kind of information readers will find valuable and interesting. All this information should be relevant and aim to fulfil specific search intent. Otherwise, there is no point in including it.
Key phrase: Focus on relevant content.
18. Don’t ignore current trends
And finally, you should never ignore current trends. The most important thing is that your website should be an attractive and useful tool for both you and your customers, so it needs to meet the expectations of today’s consumers. Trends are constantly changing, but they will never go away completely. Keep track of the latest developments and how they might affect your business or target audience in the future.
Key phrase: Keeping up with trends matters!
In conclusion, always remember that a website brief is your chance to make sure the project you invest in will deliver a return.
It’s also essential that you clearly communicate all expectations to avoid misunderstandings between a digital agency like us and yourself. A website brief is a great way to ensure that the project will be successful and that all expectations are clear.
By following the steps of how to write a website brief, you’re sure to have a website that meets your expected outcome.
Here at Optim SEO, we are proud of the service we provide and stand by every product we carry. Contact us today to discuss your future website!