“We want a modern website” leaves a designer with almost everything still to decide. Two businesses can want the same clean layout and need very different sites. One wants people to book a visit. The other needs to see photographs of a job before quoting.
A useful brief explains those differences. You can write it in ordinary language. Start with the last few enquiries you handled and the ones you would like to receive next.
Describe the work you want
Be specific about your services and the work you would rather pass on. “Domestic electrical work” is broad. “We want more full rewires and consumer-unit replacements within our normal travel area” gives the site a much clearer job.
Describe who usually makes the decision, too. A homeowner arranging their first renovation needs different explanations from a facilities manager comparing maintenance contractors. If you serve both, the website needs to help each find the relevant route.
Write down the questions you answer twice
Look through recent enquiries, removing names and private details before sharing examples. What do people ask before they will book or accept a quote? Those questions are often more useful than a list of desired pages.
A physiotherapy practice might keep explaining what happens at a first appointment. An accountant might keep being asked whether bookkeeping is included. A restaurant might receive calls about step-free access or bringing children. Give the designer your actual answers, including the exceptions.
Do not turn this into a transcript of every call. Choose the questions that change someone’s decision or repeatedly take up your time. Explain where an answer varies rather than smoothing it into a promise you cannot keep.
Explain what should happen next
Choose the next step for each important service. Does someone book directly, request a quote, call you or send a short description? Say what your team needs before it can respond.
For a fitted-kitchen enquiry, room dimensions and a few photos may help. For a first appointment, an existing booking system may already collect what is needed. Tell the designer which tools you use and who looks after them, so the website can point people to the right place.
Also explain what happens after submission. Who receives the message? When do you normally reply? Is anything confirmed at that point? The wording on the button and the confirmation should match that process.
Supply facts separately from ideas
Keep a small facts sheet: trading name, contact details, services, opening hours, locations and any fees you want displayed. Mark uncertain information so it can be checked before publication. Include the exact professional credentials you are entitled to use.
Put design preferences in a separate note. That makes it easier to explore a bold visual idea without accidentally changing a price, inventing a qualification or turning an aspiration into a claim about the business.
Show what is distinctive
Send photographs of your actual work, team and premises where you have permission to use them. Add a sentence about each: what the job involved, what mattered to the customer, or what a visitor should notice.
A photograph of a finished room becomes more useful when the designer knows you fitted storage into an awkward alcove. A picture of the entrance matters when customers regularly walk past it. Context helps decide which images deserve space.
When you share a website you like, say why. Perhaps the type is easy to read, the work takes centre stage or the booking route feels simple. That gives the designer something to interpret without copying another business’s identity.
Keep the brief short enough to use
Your first version can be a page with six headings: the work we want; who it is for; questions people ask; what happens next; confirmed facts; photos and references. Attach the supporting material separately.
Then read it as though you know nothing about the business. Could someone explain what you do and how to become a customer? If they still need to guess, add the missing detail.
A clear brief gives the design room to be distinctive. The essential information is settled, so the creative work can focus on how best to show it.
Explore website guides for your business, or read more from the blog.