How to Brief a Web Design Agency: What to Prepare Before You Start

The quality of what an agency delivers is directly proportional to the quality of the brief they receive. A vague brief produces a generic website. A focused brief produces something that actually works for your business.

Before you write anything: be clear on the goal

A website is not a goal. A goal is:

• "Generate 20 qualified consultation requests per month"
• "Reduce support calls by making key information easy to find"
• "Establish credibility with enterprise procurement teams"

Every design decision in a well-run project flows from a goal like this. If you cannot state your goal in one sentence, spend time on that before doing anything else.

1. Define your target audience

Who is the website actually for? Be specific:

• Not "SMEs" — but "Operations managers at manufacturing companies with 50–200 employees in Germany"
• Not "anyone who needs a website" — but "Independent consultants transitioning from employment who need to attract their first clients"

The more specific your audience definition, the more precisely the agency can design the user journey.

2. Describe your current situation

• What does your current website do well and badly?
• What is your conversion rate, and what actions do you want visitors to take?
• What has been tried before (and what were the results)?
• What platforms are you currently using?

This context prevents the agency from rebuilding what already works.

3. List the pages and content you need

You do not need a complete sitemap, but think through the key sections:

Note which content you already have (text, photography, case studies) and what needs to be created. Content production is the most commonly underestimated cost in web projects.

4. Define your budget range

Give a range: "Our budget is €4,000–6,000 for the build, excluding content creation." This:

• Prevents wasted time on proposals that do not fit
• Allows the agency to prioritise what delivers the most value within your constraints
• Signals that you are a serious buyer, not a time-waster

5. Set a realistic timeline

State your hard deadlines (e.g. a product launch, trade fair, or funding round) and your ideal timeline. A well-scoped custom website takes 6–10 weeks from kick-off to launch. If you need it faster, scope needs to shrink.

6. Gather reference examples

Collect 3–5 websites you admire — from any industry. For each, note specifically what you like: the visual tone, the clarity of messaging, the navigation structure, or the conversion flow. These references give the agency a design direction without constraining their creativity.

7. Define success

How will you know the project worked? Specify:

• Primary conversion action (form submission, call booking, purchase)
• Target volume (e.g. 15 leads per month within 3 months of launch)
• Any technical KPIs (load time under 2.5 seconds, mobile-first)

Success criteria set during the brief prevent subjective disputes at delivery.

What not to include in a brief

• Specific design solutions ("I want a full-screen video hero")
• Exact colours unless you have brand guidelines
• Technology stack preferences unless you have a specific technical reason

Describe what you need to achieve. Let the agency propose how.

A one-page brief template

Company: [name]
Goal: [one sentence]
Audience: [specific description]
Pages needed: [list]
Content status: [what exists, what needs creating]
Budget range: [€ X,000 – €Y,000]
Hard deadline: [date or "none"]
Reference sites: [3–5 URLs with notes]
Success looks like: [measurable outcome]
Current platform: [WordPress / Framer / other / none]

Fill this in and you will be better prepared than 80% of prospective clients an agency speaks with.