A website brief checklist you can fill in yourself

A useful website brief explains your business, your customers and the action you want the website to support.

You can write it in ordinary language.

Screenshots and examples help, while the most valuable details are often the answers you give customers every day.

Use this checklist to prepare for an Adelaide website project, or use my project planner to work through the main decisions interactively.

Describe the business as it operates today

Start with the trading name, current website, main contact and the person approving the project.

Then describe what you do in a short paragraph that a new customer could understand.

List your main services separately and explain the kinds of work each includes.

If the business has changed since the existing website was written, make those changes clear.

For an Adelaide business, describe the service area accurately enough that a customer can tell whether you can help.

Use your actual operating area and explain any practical limits through the services you provide.

Explain what customers need to decide

Think about recent enquiries and the questions people asked before choosing you.

List those questions beside the relevant service.

Include practical details such as what a quote covers, what information you need and how a typical project begins.

For specialist services, explain any qualifications or experience customers expect to see and provide evidence for the exact wording.

Your brief should also identify the services you want to give greater prominence.

That helps shape the navigation, homepage and order of information on each page.

Google's SEO Starter Guide describes the value of useful content and descriptive links that help people and search engines understand a website.

Start by making the service understandable to your customer, then organise the pages around those real needs.

Gather the material that can be published

Create a folder for your logo, approved photographs, existing brochures and useful service notes.

For each item, say whether it's ready to publish or needs review.

Include the original logo file where possible, plus any brand colour or typography information you already have.

For photographs, identify what the image shows and confirm the permission to use it.

For testimonials, include the original wording, the public attribution and the source.

For projects, record what your business actually delivered and which details the customer has approved for publication.

Specific evidence helps turn a portfolio into useful decision support.

The website can explain the customer's starting point, the work completed and the relevant features without adding unverified results.

If you're replacing a website, use the redesign checklist to gather existing pages and assets as well.

Describe features through the customer action

You can explain functionality by describing what a visitor should be able to do.

For example, a visitor might request a quote, choose an appointment, upload a project photograph or ask which service suits them.

Then describe what should happen after they complete that action.

Name any existing systems involved, such as your booking provider or customer management software.

Keep passwords and secret keys in the agreed secure access process.

The brief only needs the system name, the required connection and the person who controls access.

A guided quiz should help a visitor reach a useful recommendation before asking them to contact you.

That's the approach I use in the project planner.

Set the design direction with reasons

Choose a small set of websites you like and write down what you find useful about each.

You might prefer the readability, image treatment, page organisation or the way a service is explained.

Describe the reason so the reference can inform an original design that fits your business.

Include brand elements you'd like to retain, such as the logo, an established colour or a recognisable photographic style.

Explain the feeling you want customers to have, using concrete qualities such as approachable, precise or established.

Then connect that direction to the audience and type of work you sell.

Your website scope and pricing should reflect the level of design and content work required.

Define how you'll review the finished website

Write an approval checklist before the build begins.

Include the agreed pages, working features, content accuracy and the devices you'll use to review them.

Nominate 1 person to combine feedback from everyone involved in the business.

That gives the project a clear decision path and keeps each round of feedback consistent.

The W3C's forms tutorial recommends clear labels, instructions and feedback for people using forms.

Include those details when reviewing your enquiry experience, alongside keyboard access and the confirmation a customer sees.

Ask for a controlled check that the enquiry reaches the intended destination.

If the website supports Google Ads, agree how the campaign page and measurement will be reviewed too.

Record the ownership and launch arrangements

List who controls the domain, hosting, website content, analytics and connected services.

Confirm what access your business will receive and what ongoing support you're choosing.

For a website redesign, include the treatment of existing page addresses and the person approving the migration.

Add your preferred launch date, any genuine business deadline and the people needed for approval.

Finally, identify which features belong in the first release and which can follow later.

Your completed brief should make the next conversation more specific and give you a clear basis for reviewing the proposal.

Start with the project planner, and include whichever parts of this checklist you've already completed.