How To Write A Website Brief For Your Small Business

Start with the job the website needs to do

“I need a better website” is a starting point, not a brief. Better might mean more relevant enquiries, less time answering the same questions, easier bookings or a clearer explanation of a specialist service. Those are different projects. Pick the main problem first and describe what happens today. For example: people ask whether you cover their area because the site does not say, or customers cannot tell which hire package includes the equipment they need.

Then describe a successful visit in one sentence. A homeowner understands your plumbing service and sends enough information for a useful reply. A business owner sees your software workflow and asks for a demonstration. A customer checks availability before requesting a hire quote. This sentence helps a designer decide what belongs near the top of the page and what can wait. It also gives you something more meaningful to assess than whether the finished site looks fashionable.

Describe real customers and their questions

You do not need an elaborate marketing persona. Say who buys from you, what they are trying to achieve and what makes them hesitate. Include the difference between the person researching and the person approving the purchase. A small company might have an office manager comparing booking systems, with the owner deciding the budget. Both need answers, but not necessarily the same answers.

Use real questions from your inbox, not assumptions about what people ought to ask. Do customers ask about timescales, deposits, travel, maintenance, ownership or what is included? Note the questions that repeatedly delay a quote. For a local business, explain where you actually work. For an online service, explain any country, language or delivery restrictions. Do not claim offices or service coverage you cannot support just to make the brief sound ambitious.

List pages and who will supply the content

A page list gives the quote a workable boundary. Separate services when customers genuinely need different information, rather than demanding one page for every keyword variation. A useful starting structure is home, relevant service pages, about, real work or projects, contact and appropriate policies. An online shop or booking service will need additional screens and operational information. Mark those explicitly instead of assuming they are included in a standard website.

Against each page, write what exists and what is missing. You might have approved photographs but no copy, a logo but no usable source file, or customer feedback without permission to publish it. Agree who writes, checks and approves each item. If a designer is writing the content, that must be included in the scope. If you are writing it, give yourself time. A site cannot responsibly publish invented qualifications, outcomes or testimonials to fill an empty section.

Explain features through the workflow

“Booking form” can mean a simple request that you approve manually, or a live diary connected to staff, payments and reminders. The difference matters. Describe what the customer submits, what happens next, who receives it and what staff do with it. Include exceptions: a cancellation, a failed payment, a date that becomes unavailable, or a visitor who does not yet know which service they need.

Do the same for enquiries. State which details are essential, whether visitors may upload files, and where a saved enquiry should appear. A notification email is useful, but it is not a substitute for keeping a record. Ask how failures will be handled so that a temporary email problem does not silently lose a customer. If the website connects to software you already use, name that software and explain whether the connection is essential or only desirable.

Settle accounts, ownership and ongoing responsibilities

Write down who controls the domain, hosting, email and existing website. You do not need to send passwords in the brief. You do need to know whether access can be provided safely and whether an existing provider must assist. Ask what you will own at handover, what is licensed, which subscriptions continue and what happens if you change supplier. “You own the website” is not enough if all the accounts needed to operate it belong to somebody else.

Maintenance is another separate decision. Who updates content, checks forms, renews services and deals with a broken integration? Ask for the responsibilities in plain English. If you need training or an editing area, include it before the quote. Likewise, explain accessibility needs and the devices customers commonly use. A readable, keyboard-usable enquiry form is part of doing the job properly, not a decorative extra to discuss after launch.

Protect what already works before changing the site

An existing website may have useful search visibility even if you dislike its appearance. Include important page addresses and any available search or enquiry data in the brief. Ask the provider to identify pages that already attract relevant visitors before suggesting removals. Keep good addresses where possible. Where a change is necessary, agree a relevant permanent redirect and check the destination rather than sending every old page to the homepage.

Make launch checks explicit: mobile reading, navigation, enquiry submission and read-back, notification delivery, page titles, indexing rules and agreed measurement. A screenshot of a thank-you message does not prove an enquiry reached the business. A search-ready site also cannot promise a particular position. The brief should describe work and checks within the provider’s control, with an agreed process for reviewing results after launch.

A short website brief you can copy

Keep your first version straightforward. Write a short answer to each prompt below and mark unknown items as questions. You can send this to more than one provider so they are pricing the same requirements. If the quotes differ, ask which assumptions account for the difference. There is no benefit in comparing a design-only quote with a complete writing, build and enquiry-handling project as though they include identical work.

BMR Digital builds websites alongside SEO, apps and business systems, so it helps to describe the whole customer journey even if only part of it is being commissioned now. Start with what you need today, separate future ideas, and send the brief through the contact form. A clear brief makes the conversation useful; it does not commit you to buying anything or mean every requested feature belongs in the first version.

• Business and customers: what we sell, who buys and where we work.
• Main outcome: what a successful visit should lead to.
• Pages and proof: required information, existing assets and who approves them.
• Workflow: enquiries, bookings, payments and any existing software.
• Constraints: budget, deadline, account ownership and ongoing support.
• Acceptance: how we will test the finished site and protect existing visibility.