Website project brief
A website brief sets out what the site must achieve, who it is for and what it has to do, so the structure, design and build all follow from the same page.
Answer what you can. Gaps are useful too: they show what to decide first.
The project
- Current site
- Address, what works today and what does not.
- Type of project
- New site, redesign or platform migration.
- Why now
- What has changed in the business.
Goals
- Primary goal
- Sales, leads, bookings, sign-ups or information.
- Key actions
- What a visitor should do before leaving.
- Measuring success
- The numbers you will watch after launch, and where they come from.
Audience and journeys
- Visitors
- Who comes to the site and what they already know.
- Top tasks
- The few things most visitors come to do.
- User journeys
- How someone moves from arriving to the key action.
Structure and content
- Main pages
- The site structure you have in mind.
- Content
- What exists, what needs writing, and who writes it.
- Languages
- Which languages, and whether every page is translated.
- Search
- Pages that rank today and must keep their address or be redirected.
Features and integrations
- Features
- Forms, search, booking, accounts, a store, a blog.
- Platform
- Any preference or constraint, such as Shopify or WordPress.
- Integrations
- Payments, CRM, email, analytics, stock or ERP systems.
- Accessibility
- Standards the site has to meet.
Practicalities
- Design direction
- Brand guidelines, and sites you like with the reason why.
- Decision makers
- Who approves design and content.
- Timeline and budget
- Launch date, any fixed dates, and a budget range.
- Access
- Domain, hosting, current CMS and analytics accounts.