How to Write a Website Brief: Nine Questions Before You Request a Quote
“We’d like a new website.” Most projects begin with that sentence, and that is precisely why they stall. It is not a request; it is a title. Agencies price the title, scope then expands, the schedule slips, and everyone feels justified. 📄
A brief closes that gap. Two pages of text can save three months of project time, and you don’t need agency experience to produce it. You need the answers to nine questions.
This article offers a template: the three sections of a brief, what belongs in each and why, and how to bring incoming quotes onto the same footing.
Three Sections, In This Order
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- Section 1: Business context
- Section 2: Scope
- Section 3: Preferences and constraints
- Why sharing a budget band helps you
A brief is not a wish list. 🧭 A wish list pushes the agency into guessing; a brief lets them decide. The difference is sequence: business first, scope second, preferences last.
Section 1: Business context
What the company does, who it sells to, what it expects from the site. State one measurable goal: quote requests, calls, dealer applications, catalogue downloads. “A corporate presence” is not a goal because it cannot be measured. Without a written goal, nobody can say whether the project succeeded.
Section 2: Scope
Page list, number of languages, integration needs and who produces the content. This section is the backbone of price. A rough page list is enough; the agency converts it into architecture. 🧩
Section 3: Preferences and constraints
Three sites you like, two you dislike, brand guidelines, timing constraints and a budget band. Give reasons for the examples: instead of “clean”, say “single-line navigation, large product cards”. An example without a reason sends the agency back to guessing.
Why sharing a budget band helps you
Hiding the budget feels like negotiating leverage; in practice it does the opposite. Without a band, agencies quote at different scales and nothing is comparable. With one, you see who offers the most scope for the same money. 💡
The Nine Questions
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- Business: goal, audience, measurement
- Scope: pages, languages, integrations
- Process: decision maker, timeline, content owner
- Attachments that strengthen a brief
They fall into three groups of three: business, scope, process. 📝 One or two sentences each; the whole brief should not exceed two pages.
Business: goal, audience, measurement
What do you expect, who will use it, how will you judge success? Define the audience by role: procurement manager, technical team, end consumer. Pick a single number for measurement. A project with three goals moves as slowly as one with none.
Scope: pages, languages, integrations
How many pages, how many languages, which systems must it talk to. Declare integrations up front — a connection added later forces the architecture to be rebuilt. 🌍
Process: decision maker, timeline, content owner
Who approves, what date must be met, who writes the copy. Name one decision maker; approvals by committee are the greatest enemy of any schedule. If no content owner is named, you have already marked where the project will stop. ⏱️
Attachments that strengthen a brief
Three attachments add more than ten extra pages of text: brand guidelines, the current URL inventory and one sample piece of content. For a rebuild, the URL list is the single most valuable attachment — without it, pages that have ranked for years disappear during migration. 📊
Bringing Quotes Onto the Same Footing
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- Compare template counts
- Look for the content line
- Request a staged timeline
- Check ownership and support
Three quotes arrive and still look different. 🧮 That is normal; agencies propose different solutions to the same brief. What matters is separating differences of scope from differences of approach.
Compare template counts
How many unique templates does each quote include? If page counts match but template counts differ, the price gap is explained. If the line is missing, ask.
Look for the content line
Who produces copy, photography and icons? The absence of this line is the most common cause of delay. If it sits with you, put it in the schedule; if with the agency, define how many pages are included. 📸
Request a staged timeline
“Eight weeks” is not a schedule. Ask for stage-by-stage timing with approval points: brief, architecture, prototype, design, build, test, launch.
Check ownership and support
Are domain, hosting and code in the company’s name, and how long does post-launch support run? These two clauses determine your position three years out. The cheapest quote missing them is the most expensive one. 🔐
Quick Summary
- Three sections: business context, scope, preferences.
- One measurable goal — “corporate presence” is not one.
- Share a budget band; it makes comparison possible.
- Nine questions, two pages — long briefs go unread.
- Send the identical brief to all three agencies.
- Grid the quotes: templates, content, timeline, ownership.
Frequently Asked Questions
Next Step
Write the brief, send it unchanged to three agencies, and grid the responses item by item. 🎯 Identical questions produce comparable answers.
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Two pages is ideal. Longer goes unread; shorter leaves room for guesswork. Supporting material can be attached separately.
Quotes arrive at different scales and become incomparable. A band does not weaken your position; it reveals who offers more for the same money.
Write it roughly. Naming the main sections is enough; the agency converts it into architecture, and the final list settles at prototype stage.
No, as long as you give reasons. Say “navigation structured like this”, not “make it look like that”.
They can assist, but the business goal must come from you. An agency-written brief describes that agency’s solution.
Build the item grid. Empty cells explain the gap; if they don’t, ask about the missing lines.