Is your core asset in your brand’s communication and marketing mix actually doing its job?
Ask yourself – is my website easy to find, mobile responsive, user friendly?
Does it actually serve its desired purpose?
No!
mmmm maybe your website has passed its’ use-by date and now is the time for a redesign or a new website.
But where to start?
Rather than wasting valuable time and resources, why not start drafting a website design brief to help you through the next phase.
Spending time up front establishing objectives, conducting research and considering long term functionality will ensure a more effective outcome.
What is a Website Design Brief?
A website design brief is a document that a business owner or marketer puts together to clearly define their brand’s website design and development needs.
A brief guides the entire website design and development process. So it should be as comprehensive and detailed as possible to communicate outcomes, expectations and ideas to the designer as well as serve as a common point of reference for all parties involved.
The purpose of a Website Brief is threefold:
- Allows you as the business owner or marketer to deep dive into your website vision and confidently manage the website build process.
- Enables website designers to quote more accurately. Therefore, you are able to source quotes that are comparable.
- Gives clear direction to the website designer thus avoiding miscommunication and possible costly scope creep.
What’s not to like about that?
Clearly communicating your requirements to a website designer is critical to getting a website you love [CLICK TO TWEET]
All you need to do is nail the design brief upfront.
Below are 10 core areas to cover when writing a website brief. Each section will guide you and make the writing process more manageable.
Disclaimer: This is not a definitive guide, but it’s a good starting point and will serve as food for thought.
1. Introduction
Start by covering what you’re after – content management system (CMS), proposed launch date and budget.
Also, cover the bid timeline (what date they need to have the quote back to you by).
Be realistic!
A proper quotation and proposal from a website designer can take a number of days to research and prepare, so don’t ask for it back in 2 days.
This information will quickly serve to give the web designer the opportunity to know if they wish to even offer a quotation.
No point wasting your valuable time and a web designers if you want a WordPress website for under $5,000 and they only work with $10,000 plus customised in-house CMS builds.
And don’t forget to include your contact details, so they can give you a quick call to clarify points.
Include:
- Preference, if any of Content Management System
- Your budget – take read of What to
- Bid timeline
- Your contact details
2. Background
Before you jump into describing what you want your website to do. First give the website designer insight into your business.
Write a few paragraphs about your business on when founded, what services you provide or products you sell, size, are you selling globally or a local business – are you thinking of exporting (ensure you cover the countries).
No need to write War and Peace though! A few paragraphs will suffice.
Also include what best describes your business – are you young, fresh, artisan, established, traditional etc.
Offering insight in your business enables a website designer to gain a feel for how they should design your website.
Include:
- When founded
- What products / services you provide
- Where do you sell these products / services
- Size of your business – there is a lot of difference in a global business and a family run business
- A few words to describe your business
3. Target Audience
We see this so often omitted in a website brief. Please don’t do that!
If the words – target audience don’t sit well with you – think of it as who you would like to visit and interact with on your website.
When you define your target audience in a website brief, a good web developer can help you focus your marketing efforts and offer ways to do this.
You may have a number of target audiences depending on your products and services, so list each.
Include:
- Who is the target audience?
- Will this be changing with the new website i.e. are you adding new products / services?
- What are the demographics (e.g. children, adults, social class, income levels, location, etc.)
- How are your target audience accessing your site and how would you like them to access it in future i.e. via their mobiles, laptops or pcs.
4. Assets
Do you have imagery, logos, brand style guide, testimonials, search optimised copy all ready to go?
Will you need assistance with any of these areas i.e. writing search optimised copy, choosing imagery or creating a brand style guide?
These are all important components of your website, but they are not usually offered by a website designer in a website quote. Many website design agencies can offer these services at an added cost.
TIP: Resist the urge to duplicate existing content into your new website – if your current website is letting your down in some way, chances are the content is partly to blame.
Checklist:
- Logos
- Brand style guide – fonts, colours etc
- Imagery
- Videoes
- Testimonials
- Awards
- Search optimised copy
- Other items
5. The Old Website
Start with the url – the web address. In order to meet your requirements, the website designer will need to know why your website is no longer suitable.
Quite possibly, if it was built in the mid-00s it is long due for an upgrade. Let the website designer know that – detail anything else that could be relevant.
This is where your understanding of Google Analytics will come in very handy!
Include:
- Why are you replacing the website?
- What do you like or feel is good about the website?
- What don’t you like about the website?
- How long ago was it built?
- Have you made upgrades in that time? If so, what types of upgrades.
- Who built it?
- What levels of traffic is it currently receiving and what were historically the best traffic levels received?
- What percentage of the traffic is from smart phones & tablets?
- Which countries are visitors from?
- What are the top 5 web browsers and platforms (Mac/PC/Android/iOS) visiting your website?
- How often do you get a genuine sales lead through the website?
- Who is responsible for updating and maintaining the website?
Now before you go and read Part 2 – please note this is a general guide and not specific to any industry. If you’re looking for further advice for wineries, tourism, restaurants and hospitality, please feel free to contact us. We run workshops on How to Write a Website Brief in Adelaide, as well as work with businesses to assist them through the website brief and indeed build process.
Read Part 2 – 10 points to cover when writing a website brief
Please note this is a general guide and not specific to any industry. Download our Website Brief free ebook and take a read through our website services.
Until next time…..
