How long should a web design brief be?

A good brief is typically 2 to 4 pages. It should be detailed enough that a designer can understand your business, your audience, and your goals without a lengthy discovery meeting, but not so long that it becomes a novel nobody reads. Focus on the information that will actually influence design decisions. If you find yourself writing more than 5 pages, you are probably including information that belongs in a later conversation rather than the initial brief.

Should I include design examples in my brief?

Absolutely. Visual references save enormous amounts of time and miscommunication. Include 3 to 5 websites you like, with specific notes about what you like about each one. Is it the layout? The colour scheme? The way they present their services? Be specific because "I like this website" tells us very little, while "I like how they use a dark background with bold typography for their hero section" is incredibly useful.

What happens if I do not have a clear budget?

If you genuinely have no idea what web design costs, say so in the brief. A good agency will give you a range based on what you have described. What you should avoid is pretending you have no budget when you actually have a ceiling in mind. If your absolute maximum is five thousand pounds, telling the agency up front saves everyone time. Without a budget indication, the agency may propose a solution that is three times what you can afford.

Can I write a brief after the first meeting with the agency?

You can, but writing one before the first meeting is more effective. A written brief forces you to organise your thoughts and ensures you cover all the important points. It also means the first meeting can be a discussion about the brief rather than a discovery session where you explain your business from scratch. The agency can come prepared with initial ideas and questions rather than spending the first meeting just gathering basic information.

Do I need separate briefs for design and development?

No. For most business websites, a single brief covering your goals, audience, content, functionality, and design preferences is sufficient. The agency will handle the separation between design and development internally. If you have very specific technical requirements, like integration with a particular CRM or a custom booking system, include those in a technical requirements section within the same brief.

How to Brief a Web Designer: A Practical Guide

Why a good brief saves time and money

A web design brief is the single most important document in your website project, yet most clients skip it entirely. They book a meeting, explain their business verbally, and hope the designer understood. Three weeks later, they see a design that misses the mark, and the revision cycle begins. That cycle costs time, money, and goodwill on both sides.

In our experience running website design projects for over a hundred clients, the projects with a clear written brief take 20% to 30% less time to complete than those without one. They also require fewer revision rounds, because the designer starts with a proper understanding of what is needed rather than making assumptions.

A brief does not need to be a formal document. It does not need to be beautifully designed or use any particular template. What it needs to do is answer the key questions that your designer will have before they start work. If you answer those questions clearly and honestly, you will get better design work, faster.

Here is what those questions are and how to answer them.

What information to include in your web design brief

Every web design brief should cover seven core areas. You do not need to write an essay for each one, but you do need to address all of them. Missing even one can lead to assumptions that derail the project.

1. Your business and what you do

Start with a clear description of your business. This sounds obvious, but we regularly receive briefs that assume we already know what the company does. Write it as if the designer has never heard of you, because often, they have not.

Include:

What your business does in plain English. Not your mission statement or corporate jargon. A simple explanation of what you sell or provide.
How long you have been operating. A 20-year-old firm and a startup have very different credibility needs.
Your unique selling points. What makes you different from competitors? This directly influences the design messaging.
Your geographic focus. Local, regional, national, or international? This affects everything from language to imagery.

Bad example: "We are a market-leading, customer-centric solutions provider in the B2B space." That tells a designer nothing useful.

Good example: "We manufacture custom aluminium windows and doors for commercial buildings across the East Midlands. We have been operating for 15 years and our main advantage is that we handle everything in-house, from design to installation, which means faster lead times than competitors who outsource fabrication."

See the difference? The second example gives a designer specific material to work with.

2. The purpose of the website

What do you want the website to achieve? This is not the same as what you want it to look like. A website's purpose drives every design decision, from layout to content to calls to action.

Common website purposes:

Lead generation: You want visitors to fill in a form, call you, or request a quote.
Ecommerce: You want visitors to buy products online.
Information and credibility: You want to establish your expertise and give potential clients confidence to engage with you offline.
Recruitment: You want to attract job applicants alongside (or instead of) customers.
Portfolio showcase: You want to display your work to potential clients.

Most business websites have a primary purpose and one or two secondary purposes. Be clear about which is which. If lead generation is the priority, the design should optimise for that. If your designer thinks the primary purpose is showcasing your portfolio when you actually need enquiry forms front and centre, the result will disappoint you.

3. The pages you need

List every page you want on the website. This does not need to be a final sitemap, but it gives the designer a sense of scope. A 5-page brochure site is a very different project from a 50-page site with a blog, resource section, and client portal.

For each page, write one sentence about what it should contain or achieve. For example:

Homepage: Overview of services, trust signals, clear CTA to contact us.
About: Company story, team bios, values. Should build trust and credibility.
Services (x3): Individual page for each service with detailed descriptions and case examples.
Case Studies: 4 to 6 project examples with images and results.
Contact: Form, phone, email, map, opening hours.
Blog: Regular articles about our industry, updated twice monthly.

If you are not sure what pages you need, that is fine. Say so, and ask the agency to recommend a structure. But if you have strong opinions about what should and should not be included, state them now rather than halfway through the design phase.

4. Functionality requirements

Does your website need to do anything beyond displaying information? Common functional requirements include:

Contact forms with CRM integration
Online booking or appointment scheduling
Ecommerce (product listings, basket, checkout, payment)
Client login area or portal
Blog or news section you can update yourself
Search functionality
Multi-language support
Integration with third-party tools (accounting software, email marketing platforms, etc.)

Be specific about integrations. "We use Mailchimp for email marketing and need the website signup form to add contacts to our mailing list" is far more useful than "it needs to connect to our email thing."

How to describe your audience

Your website is not for you. It is for the people you want to reach. The better you can describe those people, the better your designer can create something that resonates with them.

Who are your ideal customers?

Describe 2 to 3 types of people who visit your website. For each one, cover:

Who they are: Job title, industry, age range, location.
What they need: What problem are they trying to solve when they find your website?
What concerns them: What objections or worries might stop them from choosing you?
How they found you: Google search, referral, social media, trade directory?

Example: "Our primary audience is facilities managers at commercial buildings, typically aged 35 to 55, based in the East Midlands. They are looking for a reliable window manufacturer who can meet tight deadlines on refurbishment projects. Their main concerns are lead times, product certification, and whether we can handle the scale of their projects. They usually find us through Google or industry referrals."

This kind of detail directly influences design decisions. A website for facilities managers looks very different from one targeting residential homeowners, even if the products are similar. The language, imagery, trust signals, and calls to action all change based on who you are speaking to.

What stage of the buying process are they at?

Are visitors arriving at your website ready to buy, or are they still researching options? This matters because it determines how aggressive your calls to action should be and how much educational content the site needs.

If most visitors are in early research mode, the site needs more content that demonstrates expertise and helps them understand their options. If they are ready to make a decision, the site needs clear pricing (or a quote process), social proof, and frictionless contact options.

Setting realistic budget expectations

Budget is the topic everyone finds uncomfortable, but it is essential to address it in your brief. Without a budget indication, the agency is guessing at the scope of what they can deliver.

Why you should share your budget

We understand the reluctance. You worry that if you say your budget is ten thousand pounds, the agency will propose a solution that costs exactly ten thousand, even if they could have done it for seven. This is a valid concern with less scrupulous providers, but a good agency will tailor the solution to your budget, not inflate the price to match it.

Here is what happens when you do not share a budget: the agency spends time creating a proposal based on what they think you need, which might cost fifteen thousand. You come back and say your maximum is eight thousand. Now the agency has to go back, strip out features, and rework the proposal. That is wasted time on both sides.

If you genuinely do not know what websites cost, here are some rough guidelines for UK business websites in 2026:

Simple brochure site (5 to 8 pages): Three thousand to six thousand pounds.
Mid-range business site (10 to 20 pages with custom design): Five thousand to twelve thousand pounds.
Complex site with integrations, ecommerce, or custom functionality: Ten thousand to thirty thousand pounds, depending on complexity.

These are ranges, not fixed prices. Every project is different. But if your budget is two thousand pounds and you want a 30-page custom-designed website with ecommerce and CRM integration, you need to adjust either your expectations or your budget.

What is included (and what is not)

When comparing quotes, make sure you are comparing like for like. Ask whether the quote includes:

Content writing or just design and development
Photography or stock images
SEO setup (titles, descriptions, technical optimisation)
Training on how to update the site
Hosting for the first year
Ongoing maintenance and support

A quote of five thousand that includes content writing and SEO setup is very different from one that covers design and development only, with everything else charged extra.

Explaining what you do and do not like

Design is subjective, and every designer needs direction. Telling your designer "make it look good" is like telling a chef "make something tasty." You will get their interpretation, which may not match yours.

Visual references

The most effective way to communicate design preferences is through examples. Find 3 to 5 websites you admire and, crucially, explain what you like about each one. Be specific:

"I like the clean layout and the way they use whitespace on the homepage."
"I like their dark colour scheme. It feels premium."
"I like how their service pages use icons and short descriptions. It makes complex services easy to understand."
"I do not like websites that use sliders. They feel dated."
"I do not want stock photos of people in suits shaking hands. We want to look approachable, not corporate."

Equally useful is telling us what you do not want. If there is a design trend you hate, say so. If a specific competitor's website makes you cringe, show us and explain why. This negative guidance is just as valuable as positive direction.

Brand assets

If you have existing brand assets, include them or reference them in the brief:

Logo files: Provide vector format (SVG, AI, or EPS) if possible. PNG is acceptable but less flexible.
Brand colours: Hex codes if you have them. If not, point to where your current colours are used.
Fonts: If you have brand fonts specified in a brand guideline, share them.
Photography: Any existing professional photos of your team, premises, or products.
Brand guidelines: If you have a formal brand guide, attach it.

If you do not have any of these, that is completely fine. Many businesses come to us without established brand assets, and we develop the visual identity as part of the website design process. But if you do have them, sharing them upfront prevents the designer from creating something that clashes with your existing materials.

Tone of voice

How do you want to sound? This influences not just the written content but also the design. A friendly, conversational brand looks different from a corporate, authoritative one. Describe your preferred tone using simple comparisons:

"Professional but not stuffy."
"Friendly and approachable, like talking to a knowledgeable friend."
"Authoritative and data-driven. We want to be the experts in our field."
"Modern and bold. We are a young company and want to stand out."

Timeline and deadlines

If you have a deadline, state it clearly and explain why. "We need the site live by 1 September because we are exhibiting at a trade show" is much more useful than "as soon as possible", which means different things to different people.

Be realistic about timelines. A custom-designed business website typically takes 6 to 12 weeks from signed proposal to launch, depending on complexity and how quickly you can provide feedback and content. If you need it in 3 weeks, that is possible for a simpler site, but it limits what can be achieved and may affect cost.

Include any milestones or external deadlines: product launch dates, seasonal peaks, marketing campaign start dates, or investor presentations where the new site needs to be live.

A downloadable brief template

To make this as easy as possible, here is a summary of everything your brief should contain, organised into sections you can fill in.

Section 1: About Your Business

What does your business do? (2 to 3 sentences)
How long have you been operating?
What makes you different from competitors?
Where do you operate? (Local, regional, national, international)

Section 2: Website Purpose

What is the primary goal of the website?
What does success look like? (Number of enquiries, online sales, etc.)
What is the single most important action a visitor should take?

Section 3: Your Audience

Describe 2 to 3 types of ideal visitors.
What problems are they trying to solve?
What concerns might stop them from choosing you?

Section 4: Pages and Content

List every page you want, with a one-sentence description of each.
Who will write the content? You, or do you need the agency to do it?
Do you have existing content that can be reused?

Section 5: Functionality

What does the site need to do beyond displaying information?
Any integrations with existing tools or platforms?
Do you need the ability to update content yourself?

Section 6: Design Preferences

3 to 5 websites you like, with notes on what you like about each.
Anything you specifically do not want.
Existing brand assets (logo, colours, fonts).
Preferred tone of voice.

Section 7: Budget and Timeline

Budget range or maximum budget.
Target launch date and reason for the deadline.
Any external milestones.

If you would like to discuss your project with us before or after writing your brief, we are always happy to have an initial conversation. Get in touch and we will give you honest advice about scope, budget, and timeline, whether you end up working with us or not.

What happens after you submit the brief

Once you have sent your brief to a web design agency, here is what a good process looks like. If the agency you are talking to skips any of these steps, that is a warning sign.

1. Review and questions. The agency should read the brief thoroughly and come back with questions. If they have zero questions, they either did not read it or are making assumptions. In our initial brief reviews, we typically have 10 to 15 clarifying questions.

2. Discovery meeting. A meeting (in person or video call) to discuss the brief, clarify details, and explore any areas that need more depth. This is where the agency starts to form their approach.

3. Proposal or scope of work. The agency produces a formal proposal outlining what they will deliver, the timeline, and the cost. This should directly reference your brief and explain how they plan to meet your requirements.

4. Design phase. With a signed proposal, the agency begins design work, using your brief as the foundation for every decision.

The brief does not guarantee a perfect first draft, but it dramatically increases the chances. And when revisions are needed, they tend to be smaller adjustments rather than fundamental rethinks, because the designer started with a genuine understanding of what you need.

How to brief a web designer: Everything you need to include