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Planning a new business website? Start with the decisions that make a quote clear: your audience, the pages you need, the content owner and the checks you will use at launch.
What to include in a small business website brief
Before choosing colours or comparing website quotes, write down what your website needs to help a customer do. A useful brief gives everyone the same starting point and makes the finished work easier to review.
Start with the customer and the next action
Describe your main audience in plain language. What are they looking for, what do they need to know, and what should they do next? A local service business might want visitors to request an appointment. A consultancy might need an enquiry that explains the potential client’s situation.
Choose one primary action for each important page. Make it specific enough to design and test: finding a service, comparing options or sending an enquiry is clearer than “improving engagement”.
List the pages and the questions they answer
A page list is more useful when it includes a purpose. For each proposed page, note the customer’s question and the information needed to answer it.
- Home: what does the business do, and who is it for?
- Services: what is included, what is excluded, and how does the process work?
- About: who is responsible for the work?
- Contact: how can a visitor reach the business, and what should they include?
- Privacy: what happens to information submitted through the site?
Keep optional pages separate from the agreed launch scope. This makes later additions easier to discuss without changing the meaning of the original quote.
Decide who supplies and approves content
Name the person responsible for text, images, business details and final approval. List what is ready and what still needs work. Confirm that the business has permission to use supplied photographs, logos and testimonials.
For multilingual sites, identify the languages needed at launch and who checks each version. Translation, local service details and contact information should be reviewed together; a translated headline alone does not make a complete local page.
Describe features through real examples
Instead of asking for “a booking integration”, explain the journey: a visitor selects a service, chooses an available time and receives a confirmation. Identify the booking system you already use and which parts of the journey belong to it.
For every form or integration, record the destination, required information and person who will handle incoming requests. Separate essential features from ideas for later. Do not include passwords or access keys in the brief. Arrange access through an appropriate private method when it is needed.
Agree what acceptance means
Before work starts, make a short checklist for reviewing the result. Include the agreed pages, working navigation, readable mobile layouts, correct contact details and successful form delivery. Check that titles and descriptions match the page content and that private drafts are not publicly accessible.
Also agree how feedback will be collected, who signs off the work and what happens after launch. Domain renewal, hosting, content updates and technical maintenance all need a named owner. Clarify which services are included in the proposal and which are separate.
A brief you can start today
Write one paragraph about your business, one about your customers and a list of the actions your website should support. Add the required pages, available content, essential features and outstanding questions. Share your preferred timing and budget so the proposed scope can be realistic.
A brief does not need to predict every detail. Its job is to make assumptions visible before they become expensive changes. Review it with the person building the site, record the agreed scope and use that same document when checking the result.