How To Write A Killer Website Design Brief

The success of your web design project depends not only on the designer’s skills but also on how precisely you can present your expectations. If you don’t provide a clear explanation of what design you want to get, you will likely be disappointed with the results.

Don’t expect that web designers will read your thoughts. They don’t have such supernatural power (yet!🦸🏻‍♂️). Write a website design brief to ensure that everyone who is working on the project is on the same page.

Here are some useful tips on how to craft a killer website design brief from scratch.

Familiarise the web designer with your business

In the first section of your website design brief, you should provide the following information:

  • Description of your product and your value proposition
  • The key information about your industry and current trends
  • The key aspects of your marketing strategy
  • The key information about your target audience
  • Information about your main competitors and their marketing strategies
  • The major issues you face when promoting your brand
  • Your short-term and long-term goals

Thanks to this information, web designers will understand what specific design will fit your brand. They will get an idea of what website they should build to boost your business growth.

Describe your ideal website

In the next section, you should outline your expectation as clearly as possible. You should illustrate how exactly you want your website to look.

Firstly, you need to explain what you like and don’t like about your current site. You should specify all the elements you want to keep, and all the elements you want to change. For instance, you may write that you “want to keep using the current sign-up form but want to change the search box”.

How To Write A Web Design Brief From Scratch

Secondly, you should give some relevant website examples from the web to your freelancer. You should do a little research, pick a few sites that appeal to you and attach active links to these sites to your web design brief.
What should you do if you can’t find one ‘perfect’ example? Browse different websites, choose separate web design elements you like, make screenshots, and add them to your brief. Write the explanatory guidelines to clarify your vision of the project:
“My website should have the same menu as the website X has. Also, it should have the same colour palette as the website Z.”

Here are a few options of how you can describe the desired website design with words:

  • Serious or friendly
  • Traditional or modern
  • Professional or personal
  • Educational or entertaining
  • Simple or sophisticated

Explain who will visit your website and why

Now you need to answer two important questions. The first question is: who will use your website?

  • Males or females
  • Kids, young adults, adults, or seniors
  • Citizens of one specific country or people from all over the world
  • Users who speak English or other languages

The second question is: why do these users will visit your website?

  • To find useful information
  • To compare prices
  • To make a purchase
  • To download files
  • To find entertainment content
  • To get contact details

Web designers should have a good idea of who your target audience is to create a high-converting website.

Share your content marketing plan

Here, you need to explain how much content you are going to add to your website and how you want this content to be displayed.

Do you plan to publish blog posts daily? Are you going to release new videos weekly? Get web designers aware of your content marketing plan so that they will adjust your website to your needs.

You can also mention who will create and curate content at your websites: in-house content creator, freelancer, or an expert writing service provider like TrustMyPaper. This information will help designers to understand whether you will need to integrate your website with popular content marketing platforms.

Discuss a project budget

How much money are you ready to spend on a new web design project? What return on investments do you expect to get? Make calculations and state your budget in your website design brief. If you don’t do it, the chances are your project will cost you more than you can afford.

Set a deadline for your web design project

When do you want to start using your website? Do you need to get your site ready before the product launch?

Specify the day and hour when you want the project ready, and the website live. Yep, even hours are essential. If you hire freelancers who live abroad, make sure that they will not miss the deadlines because of the time zone difference.

Set the objectives of this project

Why have you decided to redesign your website? What specific results do you want to achieve with the help of a new site?
Set project objectives and define the steps that both you and your web designer should take to accomplish these objectives.

Let’s say you aim to minimise the cart abandonment rate and increase sales. How should web designers tweak your current website to hit this objective? They should add a guest checkout option, reduce page load times, and make other improvements that they find necessary.

Follow the basic rules of good writing

Here a few more writing tips for you:

  • Make sure that your document has a clear, logical structure. Create sections. Use subheadings. Don’t jump from topic to topic.
  • Don’t repeat the same ideas twice.
  • Try to keep your document short. Don’t add any details that are irrelevant to the project.
  • Proofread document meticulously. Get rid of grammar mistakes and typos.

Wrapping up

A website design brief is not an ‘optional thing’. If you want your web designer to create the website of your dreams, you should do your best to explain how your ‘dream’ looks like.

A well-written web design brief will benefit your project a lot. So don’t hesitate to use the tips given above and start crafting this vital document right now.

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Freelance Web Designer

By Tiago Lavis-Fernandes

Tiago is a Portuguese freelance web designer living and working in Manchester for over ten years. Fascinated by WordPress and the Divi Builder, he helps clients achieve success through UX/UI website design and search engine optimisation. If you're looking for someone to help with your online marketing, look no further.

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Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. This website is run by Tiago Lavis-Fernandes and not associated, or act on behalf of Elegant Themes. Divi is a registered trademark of Elegant Themes, inc.

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