What to brief before a website project starts

This is not a creative brief template. It is the minimum context that makes early advice sharper and scope decisions less fuzzy.

Without it, agencies price different versions of the problem and you end up comparing proposals on unstable ground.

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1. The business change you want

Start with the business effect, not the website wish list.

Examples:

• better-quality enquiries
• clearer positioning
• fewer repeated support questions
• faster publishing for campaigns

The clearer the outcome, the easier it is to scope sensible work around it.

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2. The people the site has to serve

Name the audiences that matter most and put them in priority order. If you are serving more than one audience, say how their needs differ.

That gives the project somewhere real to aim, instead of forcing the site to be equally useful to everyone.

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3. What material already exists

Share links, documents, old copy, FAQs, campaign pages, or sales notes. Even messy material helps.

You do not need polished content before scope starts. You do need enough raw material to understand what already exists and what needs reshaping.

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4. Where the current site is weak

Be specific. Is the problem:

• message clarity
• page structure
• mobile usability
• trust and proof
• publishing and maintenance

Specific frustrations are much more useful than "the site feels old".

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5. Constraints, approvals, and timing

Let the project start in reality.

Include:

• any fixed dates
• internal approval structure
• legal or compliance constraints
• platform or integration limits

These often shape the project more than teams expect.

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6. What good would look like

Define success in ordinary language. What should be easier after the work is done?

If success cannot be described clearly, scope tends to sprawl because nobody knows what the project is trying to improve first.

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The aim of a good brief

A good brief does not answer everything. It gives enough clarity that:

• agencies respond to the same problem
• internal teams can compare proposals sensibly
• discovery starts from something grounded

If you want the shorter prep version, use discovery call checklist for decision makers. If you want to see how that input gets used, review our process.