A website design brief is a short document that tells an agency what the site must achieve, for whom, by when, within what budget and who signs it off. A good one fits on two pages and answers twelve questions. Get those answers down before you contact agencies and you will get quotes you can actually compare, instead of five proposals for five different projects.
Here are the twelve questions, a template you can copy, and the red flags to watch for in what comes back.
How to write a website brief: the 12 questions
Goals and audience
- What should the site achieve in its first year? One primary goal, measurable. "Double demo requests" beats "modernize our brand."
- Who is it for? Name two or three visitor types and what each needs to do. Include devices: if 80% of your traffic is mobile, say so.
- Why now? A launch, a rebrand, a funding round, a site that breaks. The reason sets the priorities.
Content and scope
- Who owns the content? Name a person for copy, images and approvals. Missing content is the most common cause of delay.
- What exists already? Brand guidelines, photography, film, 3D models, CAD files, copy. Existing assets cut cost.
- What pages and features are must-haves? List them. Separate must-have from nice-to-have.
- What should move? For a motion-first site, say where you want motion, 3D or film, and why. "A 3D product the visitor can turn" is a brief. "Make it dynamic" is not.
References
- Which three to five sites do you like, and why exactly? The "why" matters more than the link. "The way the product rotates on scroll" tells an agency far more than a URL.
Constraints
- What's the budget range? A range, even a rough one. Without it, agencies guess, and guesses vary wildly.
- What's the deadline, and is it fixed? A trade show date is fixed. "Before summer" is not.
- What tech must it fit? CMS preference, e-commerce, CRM, languages, hosting rules, accessibility targets.
- Who decides? One name with final sign-off, plus who else gives feedback. Committees without a decider stall projects.
These map closely to what Utsubo's 2026 budget guide recommends putting in a brief for accurate quotes: goals, audience and devices, content readiness, reference sites, CMS and integrations, multilingual needs, timeline, budget range and who manages content after launch.
Web design brief template
Copy this, fill it in, send it.
WEBSITE BRIEF: [Company name] Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
1. PRIMARY GOAL (first 12 months)
[One measurable outcome, e.g. "+50% qualified enquiries"]
2. AUDIENCE
Visitor types: [who] / [what they need to do]
Devices: [% mobile / desktop, if known]
3. WHY NOW
[Launch, rebrand, problem with current site]
4. CONTENT OWNER
Name: [ ] Copy ready by: [date] Images ready by: [date]
5. EXISTING ASSETS
[Brand guide / photography / film / 3D / CAD / copy]
6. PAGES AND FEATURES
Must-have: [ ]
Nice-to-have: [ ]
7. MOTION, 3D, FILM
Where: [hero / product / scroll story / none]
Why: [what it should explain or sell]
8. REFERENCES (3-5)
[URL] - what we like: [specific element]
[URL] - what we like: [specific element]
9. BUDGET RANGE
[from - to], including / excluding [hosting, content, 3D]
10. DEADLINE
Launch: [date] Fixed or flexible: [ ] Reason: [ ]
11. TECH AND CONSTRAINTS
CMS: [ ] E-commerce: [ ] Integrations: [ ]
Languages: [ ] Accessibility target: [ ]
12. DECISIONS
Final sign-off: [name, role]
Feedback from: [names]
SUCCESS IN ONE SENTENCE:
[What would make you call this project a success?]
Setting the budget range
If you don't know what's realistic, look at published ranges first. Hon Tran's 2026 breakdown puts a freelance custom landing page at $3k-5k and an award-level WebGL flagship at $8k and up, with agencies typically 2-4x higher. Utsubo lists Standard sites at $20K-50K and Premium at $50K-100K, and notes custom 3D/WebGL can add $15K-80K. Our guides on animated website cost and 3D website cost go deeper.
What happens after the brief
A good agency turns your brief into a phased plan. Expect something like this for a motion-first site:
We walk through each phase, and what you do each week, in our website redesign process.
Red flags in proposals
When the proposals arrive, look for these:
| Red flag | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| One lump sum, no phases | Scope isn't understood, or changes will be billed later |
| No discovery or audit phase | They'll design before understanding the problem |
| No mention of hosting or maintenance | Hidden running costs after launch |
| A timeline far shorter than others | Missing scope, or corners cut |
| A price far below the others | Missing scope, unnamed subcontractors, or lower quality |
| Motion shown only as video mockups | Nobody has tested it in a browser yet |
| No named team | You don't know who does the work |
Several of these come straight from Utsubo's list, which also suggests adding 10-15% contingency and comparing quotes on three-year cost of ownership, not launch price.
