HOW TO WRITE A WEBSITE BRIEF

Whether you are looking to build a website for yourself, and especially if you are wanting someone else to build your website, it is really important that you write a website brief.

Here, we will show you what you need to do and how you can write a fabulous website brief so that you get the website you want and also so that the whole process runs smoothly and there are no nasty surprises waiting for you ahead.

When embarking on a website build, it is essential to create a comprehensive brief to guide the entire process. A brief acts as a roadmap, ensuring that all stakeholders involved in the project are on the same page and have a clear understanding of the objectives, requirements, and desired outcomes. Here are several reasons why you should invest time and effort into writing a comprehensive brief for your website build:

1. Clarity of Vision For A Website Brief

A well-written brief helps you crystallise your vision for the website. It allows you to articulate your goals, target audience, branding guidelines, and desired functionality.

This clarity ensures that everyone involved understands the purpose and direction of the project, reducing the likelihood of miscommunication or misalignment.

2. Alignment with Stakeholders

A comprehensive brief serves as a reference point for all stakeholders, including designers, developers, content creators, and marketers.

It allows everyone to understand their roles and responsibilities, facilitating collaboration and coordination.

By aligning all parties around a shared vision, you increase the chances of achieving a successful outcome.

3. Efficient Project Management

A brief provides a foundation for effective project management. It enables you to establish a realistic timeline, allocate resources appropriately, and set clear milestones and deliverables. With a well-defined plan in place, you can monitor progress more effectively, manage expectations, and address any potential issues or roadblocks proactively.

4. Cost and Time Savings

Investing time in creating a comprehensive brief upfront can save you significant costs and time in the long run.

By clearly defining your requirements and expectations, you reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings or scope creep, which can lead to additional development or redesign work.

A thorough brief also helps developers estimate project timelines more accurately, ensuring that the project stays on track.

5. Quality Control

A detailed brief serves as a quality control tool throughout the website build process. It allows you to evaluate design mock-ups, wireframes, and prototypes against the outlined objectives and requirements.

By referencing the brief, you can identify any deviations or discrepancies early on, ensuring that the final product meets your expectations.

6. Enhanced User Experience

A comprehensive brief allows you to prioritise user experience (UX) from the start. By defining user personas, understanding their needs and preferences, and specifying desired functionalities, you can create a website that resonates with your target audience.

A well-thought-out UX strategy leads to improved engagement, higher conversion rates, and increased customer satisfaction.

7. Scalability and Future Growth

A detailed brief takes into account future scalability and growth considerations. It helps you plan for future updates, enhancements, or integrations by identifying the required infrastructure, extensibility, and flexibility.

This proactive approach allows for smoother future developments and reduces the risk of having to overhaul the website prematurely.

In summary, writing a comprehensive brief for your website build is a crucial step that brings numerous benefits. It provides clarity, alignment, and efficiency throughout the project, saves time and costs, ensures quality control, enhances user experience, and allows for future scalability.

By investing time and effort into creating a thorough brief, you set the stage for a successful website build that aligns with your goals and delivers an exceptional online presence.

How to write a website brief … and why?

Well, a well-thought-out and well-written website design brief is the foundation for any successful website. So, taking the time to write it is very important.

Creating a good brief for your new website has 2 main functions. It helps you map out exactly what you need from the website and its main purpose.

A well-written brief will help your developer, or potential developer, understand exactly what is required and be able to plan your website and quote accordingly.

Spend Time Writing a Good Website Brief

When thinking about how to write a website brief, it is so important to spend some time writing a short ‘list-type’ brief (it doesn’t have to be “War & Peace“!) as this will enable you to plan your site well and make sure you haven’t missed any vital aspect. You even need to consider the name and therefore domain name for your business. We have written a blog about choosing the right domain name here.

It will help you to obtain accurate quotes for the website design and build as well as give potential web developers a clear idea of what you and your business are all about.

IT’S NOT AS HARD AS YOU MIGHT THINK!

It really isn’t hard understanding how to write a website brief, a single page laying out what you think you need is sufficient.

Think about what pages you might need, a HOME page obviously, maybe an ABOUT US page, a few pages about what you do and who you do it for, and, importantly, a CONTACT US page.

By the way, the terminology for naming various pages can be different to what you may be used to seeing.

For example, ABOUT US could be called OUR STORY, or CONTACT US could be GET IN TOUCH! This is one way to reflect your company’s personality on the new website.

MAKE IT EASY TO GET IN TOUCH!

Do you want to sell anything from your website?
Do you need a great Portfolio page to show off your work, or your products?
How about Testimonials, reviews from past clients or customers that sing your praises and add an element of trust for those new website visitors who are checking you out?

Think about what “Calls To Action” (CTA’s) you want, how, and where, you prompt visitors to the site to call you or e-mail you.

It’s important that we make it easy for people to get in touch with us, it’s what we want most from the site after all!

Consider Your Website “Look & Feel”

Have a think about design elements and add to your brief, maybe note down what colour scheme you like, what sort of typeface you like or what type of imagery you want to see.

All of this will really help your designer, but don’t worry if you don’t know any of these things, a good web designer will help you choose the right “look” for the site.

Check Out The Competition!

Finally, have a good look at other websites from businesses in your industry. See what you like, and don’t like, about other websites and jot down a couple of examples on your website brief.

Also jot down some things that you DON’T like about websites that you visit, that can also be a really big help to your designer.
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…. and Finally

Finally, have a good look at other websites from businesses in your industry. See what you like, and don’t like, about other websites and jot down a couple of examples on your website brief.

Here are a few things to consider and to help you start writing your website brief:

1. Identify the purpose of your website

What products or services are you promoting?
Who is your target audience?
How do you want to portray your business?
How do you want website visitors to interact with the site?

2. Define your typical customer

Think about the following:

Who is your typical client or customer?
Are they local to your business?
Are they male, female or a mix of both?
Age range?
What is their typical occupation or income level?
What are their interests or hobbies?

Of course, not all of these will be relevant to your business, but it gives you an idea of what to consider.

3. Design & Mood

Jot down how you think your website should look.
What colours do you want?
Do you want a simple layout or something busier?
Is your site going to be very visual or will it be mainly copy and text?

Give examples of some websites you have seen that you like and explain which bits you like, and why.

4. Site map and layout

This can be quite simple. Just an idea as to what pages you want and how they will appear in a Menu or Sub-menu. Consider all possible pages and, if appropriate, how many products you want to sell and how you may want to categorise them (E-Commerce). Call We Get Digital NOW for an informal chat about YOUR website brief! 020 3730 1785 or e-mail at general@wegetdigital.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a website brief?

A website brief is simply a short document that lays out all the things that your website needs to have and to do. It should contain all of your ideas for pages and structure as well as how you want the site to look and feel to visitors.

Can We Get Digital help me write a website brief?

Yes, absolutely! Just give us a call on 020 3730 1735 and we will be happy to help. Alternatively, drop us an e-mail to general@wegetdigital.co.uk