A website brief that makes a useful first conversation possible.

Describe the job the website has to do

Name what a visitor should understand, decide or complete after landing on the site — book a table, request a quote, find your opening hours. A brief built around a page count instead of an outcome tends to produce a site that looks finished but doesn't convert.

Name your real constraints

List your launch date, required languages, any existing tools that must connect — a booking system, CRM, payment provider — who needs to approve copy, and what material already exists. Constraints are what turn a vague idea into a scoped, quotable project.

• Target launch date or event
• Languages required at launch
• Existing tools that must integrate
• Who signs off on copy and design
• Existing material: photos, logo, brand guidelines, past copy

Bring three reference sites, not zero and not thirty

One site you like the tone of, one you like the structure of, and one you specifically want to avoid resembling gives a designer more useful signal than an open-ended "make it modern."

Say what a 'no' looks like

A brief is more useful when it also states what's explicitly out of scope for this phase — an online shop, a booking system, a fourth language. That single sentence prevents the most common source of scope creep on both sides.