Brief to the Web Agency: What It Should Contain, with Template

The best quote doesn't start with a thick specification - but with a well-written brief.

The difference is important. A specification describes what is to be built. A brief describes why, for whom, and what should improve. It comes first, and it determines whether the agency understands the task or just responds to it.

We receive briefs in all forms: three lines in an email, a thirty-page presentation, a list of features. Those that yield the best results almost always have one thing in common. They are concrete in their brief, they start with the goal, and they are honest about what the client doesn't know yet.

A brief is a short document that describes the task before work begins: background, goals, target audience, conditions, and what is to be delivered. It provides the agency with what is needed to propose the right solution and calculate it.

In a web project, the brief is the first document you send. It can lead directly to a quote for smaller tasks, or to a first meeting and a feasibility study for larger ones.

Both are often needed, but they do different things.

• The Brief answers why and for whom. It is short, one to three pages, and is written before you know exactly what is to be built.
• The Specification answers what and how. It is longer, more detailed, and is written when the goals and flows are known.

Many skip the brief and go straight to the specification. Then the features come before the goals, and the agency has to calculate a solution without knowing what problem it should solve. It doesn't give the agency the opportunity to bring in its expertise and suggest possible solutions.

Eight parts are enough for most web projects.

Who you are, what you sell, and why you are contacting now. Two or three sentences are enough. The agency needs to understand the context, not the entire company history.

The most important section. What should improve when the project is completed? More inquiries, fewer calls to customer service, higher conversion in the store, a website that the marketing department can update themselves?

A goal is measurable. "30 percent more quote requests" is a goal. "A responsive website" is not.

Who will use the website, and what do they want to do there? Describe the two or three most important visitors and what you think they are looking for. It guides structure, content, and design more than anything else.

What on the current website should be preserved? Pages that rank well on Google, forms that convert, features that users appreciate. This is often forgotten, and it is costly to lose.

What should happen when a visitor does something? Where does an inquiry go, which systems should the website potentially communicate with? CRM, business systems, booking, newsletters? Integrations are often the most costly in a web project, but they are also what can create significantly more efficient processes for you internally. A simple sketch is enough, but it needs to exist if you use external systems.

Budget, desired launch date, legal requirements such as accessibility and GDPR, and any technical frameworks from IT. Be honest about the budget. An approximate range allows the agency to propose what fits, instead of guessing.

Who is the contact person, who makes the decisions, and who else should be involved? A project with a clear owner goes faster and turns out better than one where everyone contributes and no one decides.

The most underestimated section. Write plainly what is unclear: we don't know if we need e-commerce, we haven't decided on CMS, we are unsure how inquiries should be handled, we haven't decided which CRM system we should switch to, etc.

It's not a weakness. It makes it clearer for the agency where they can help, and where a feasibility study may be needed before a fixed price can be set.

• A list of features without purpose. "Slider, chat, news feed" says nothing about what the website should achieve.
• Detailed Design. References to websites you like are good, preferably with a sentence about why. Finished sketches lock the agency before they understand the task.
• Everything You Can Think Of. A brief that tries to cover everything becomes as difficult to read as a specification. What doesn't affect goals, target audience, or budget can wait.

Copy and fill in. Keep each section short.

Brief: [project name]
Background
We are … We are contacting you now to …
Goals
When the project is completed, we want … We measure it by …
Target Audience
The most important visitors are … They come to the website to …
What Works Today
We want to keep this: …
Flows and Systems
When a visitor … it should happen … The website should be connected to …
Conditions
Budget: approximately … · Launch: … · Legal requirements: … · Technical frameworks: …
Who Decides
Contact person: … · Decision maker: … · Others in the project: …
What We Don't Know Yet
…

A good brief does three things for you.

1. It provides comparable answers. When all agencies start from the same goals and conditions, it's possible to compare the proposals properly, not just the prices.
2. It provides better questions back. An agency that understands the task asks questions about your needs. One that doesn't sends a standard quote.
3. And it shows when a feasibility study is needed. If the section what we don't know yet is long, it's usually cheaper to sort it out first than to ask for a fixed price directly.

What is a brief?
A short document that describes the task before work begins: background, goals, target audience, conditions, and what is to be delivered. In a web project, it is usually the first document sent to the agency.

How long should a brief be?
One to three pages are enough for most web projects. The important thing is that goals, target audience, and conditions are clear.

What is the difference between a brief and a specification?
The brief describes why and for whom. The specification describes what is to be built and how. The brief comes first.

Should the budget be in the brief?
Yes, preferably as an approximate range. Without a budget, the agency has to guess what level you have in mind, and the proposals become difficult to compare.

What if you don't know what you need?
Write it in the brief. An honest section about what you don't know yet helps the agency propose the right next step, often a feasibility study before any fixed price is set.

Are you procuring a new website? Our guide Website Procurement goes from the brief to the specification, with a checklist of ten areas. Download the guide