One of the most common causes of web design projects going over budget, over time, or simply delivering the wrong result is a poorly defined brief. A website requirements document — sometimes called a website brief or specification — is the document that aligns you and your agency before a single line of code is written.
Start with your business context. Before describing what you want the website to do, describe your business: what you do, who your customers are, what makes you different from competitors, and what your business goals are for the next 12 months. A good agency uses this context to make better design and technical decisions throughout the project.
Define your target audience specifically. 'Small businesses' is not a target audience. 'UK-based service businesses with 1–10 employees, typically in the trades or professional services sector, who are looking to replace a DIY website with something more professional' is a target audience. The more specific you are, the better the design decisions will be.
List the pages you need. Write out every page you want on the site, with a brief description of what each page needs to achieve. Don't worry about the exact content yet — just the structure. Homepage, Services, About, Blog, Contact is a typical starting point for a service business.
Describe the functionality you need. Does the site need a contact form? A booking system? An e-commerce store? A client portal? A live chat widget? List every functional requirement, even if you're not sure how it would be implemented. This is what separates a brochure site from a digital tool.
Provide examples of sites you like — and explain why. Sharing three or four websites you admire, with notes on what specifically you like about each one (the layout, the colour scheme, the tone of voice, the navigation structure), gives your designer invaluable direction. Be specific: 'I like how this site uses white space' is more useful than 'I like this site'.
Set your budget and timeline. Being upfront about your budget isn't a weakness — it helps your agency propose the right solution rather than over-engineering or under-delivering. Similarly, if you have a hard deadline (a product launch, a trade show, a seasonal campaign), say so upfront.
