How to Brief a Web Designer So You Get the Website You Paid For
Most disappointing websites we see don't fail because the designer lacked talent. They fail because the brief left too much to guesswork. We've rebuilt sites where the owner knew exactly what they didn't like about the old site, but had never written down what the new one was supposed to do. So the designer filled in the gaps, the site looked modern, and it still didn't bring in the right enquiries — because nobody had agreed on what "right" meant first.
A brief doesn't need to be long or technical. It needs to be honest and specific, written in your own words before you speak to a designer. That one document will save you revisions, arguments, and the sinking feeling of a finished site that looks nothing like the business you run.
Start with the job, not the look
"We want a modern website" is not a brief. Every designer will nod at that sentence and then build a completely different site from the one you pictured. Start instead with the one job the site has to do: for a plumber, getting a phone call from someone with a burst pipe; for a café, getting people through the door on a quiet weekday; for a shop, getting a customer to finish a purchase without ringing to ask a question the site should have answered.
Write that job down in one sentence, then add a second job if there is one — a booking form, a quote request, directions to the shop. Once a designer knows what matters most, the decisions get easier: the phone number goes where people can find it, the booking button doesn't get buried under a photo gallery, and the homepage stops trying to say everything at once.
Show examples, and say what you like about each
Designers love examples. What they can't use is a link with no explanation attached. Send two or three sites you like — they don't have to be in your industry — and write a line beside each one about what caught your eye. "The menu on this one is easy to follow on my phone." "This homepage says what they do in the first line." "This booking form only asks for what it needs."
That last point matters: a designer who knows you liked a short form won't hand you one with a dozen fields, and one who knows you liked plain language won't fill your homepage with jargon. Be just as specific about what you don't want. If you hate pop-ups, say so. If you don't want stock photos of people pretending to be your staff, say so — much better now than after the designer has built around it.
Describe your customer in plain words
"We target everyone" is the brief equivalent of no brief at all. A site written for everyone ends up speaking to no one in particular, and visitors can tell within seconds that it wasn't made for them. Describe the person you actually want to hear from — not a marketing persona with a name and a backstory, just the real customer you deal with most weeks. A mum booking a kids' party venue. A homeowner comparing quotes for a renovation. A local checking whether you're open on a public holiday.
Then write down what that person worries about before they contact you. Price? Trust? Whether you service their suburb? Whether they need to book ahead? Those worries are the content your site needs. A trades business that answers "do you come to my area?" clearly on the homepage will get better enquiries than one with a beautiful photo and no service-area information at all.
List every page, and what each one must do
Too many briefs say "about five pages" and leave it there. Then the build starts, and the owner remembers the gallery, the testimonials page, the page for the second location, and the page for the service that brings in half their work. List the pages you need, one by one, and give each a job. Home: explain what you do and get people to call or book. Services: explain each service in plain language, with a clear next step. About: show the people behind the business, so a stranger feels comfortable ringing. Contact: address, hours, phone, and a form that doesn't ask for a life story.
This list also stops arguments later. If a page isn't on it, it can still be added — but everyone knows it's an addition, not something "obviously included". And keep the list honest: a page you can't supply content for yet will sit half-finished and hold up the launch. Fewer strong pages beat a full menu of thin ones.
Get your words and photos ready before the build
This is where most small-business builds stall. The design is ready, the pages are structured, and then everything waits — for the "about us" paragraph, for the logo file, for photos that aren't screenshots from social media. Gather the basics before you brief, not after: your logo in a usable file, not a photo of a business card; real photos of your work, your premises and your team, even if they're taken on a phone in good light; wording for your services in the words your customers actually use.
You don't need final copy — a rough paragraph per page is enough for a good designer, and far better than placeholder text that everyone starts treating as real content. Placeholder text has a habit of going live because nobody noticed it was still there. And if you genuinely don't have photos yet, say so at the brief stage, so your designer can plan around it instead of designing around photos that never arrive.
A good brief ends with a clear next step
Agree how feedback will work before the first draft lands. Who gives feedback on your side — one person, or a committee? How will you give it — marked-up screenshots, a short list, a quick call? And who signs off each stage, so the build doesn't drift while everyone waits for someone else's opinion? One decision-maker with a clear list beats five people sending separate emails, every time. We've seen builds drag on not because the work was hard, but because feedback arrived in dribs and drabs and contradicted itself.
Put all of this in one document, even if it's just an email: the job the site must do, the examples you like and why, the customer you're talking to, the page list, the content you can supply, and how you'll give feedback. Hand that to your designer, and you've already done the hardest part of the project. If you'd like help turning that brief into a site that brings in the right enquiries, Book a free discovery call or Chat on WhatsApp — we'll talk through what your business actually needs before we talk about building anything.
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Email: info@codepacesolutions.com
