Imagine going to a tailor for a new suit. You walk into the shop and say - "I want a suit." The tailor starts asking questions. What color? What fabric? What size? When do you need it? What's your budget? Where will you wear it?
If you don't have answers - you'll either get the wrong suit, or the tailor won't give you a delivery date, or the price will be something you didn't expect.
Exactly the same thing happens when ordering a website. The brief is your "measurements sheet." A well-prepared brief is 80% of a successful project. A poor brief, or the lack of one, means paid money, lost time, and a website that doesn't match what you wanted.
In this article, we'll talk about what a brief is, what it should contain, and give you a ready-to-use template that you can apply directly to your project.
What Is a Brief and Why Is It So Important?
A brief is a written document where you describe in detail what you need. It's the bridge between you and the developers. The idea in your head transfers to paper in a way that, after reading it, any professional gets the same understanding of what needs to be done.
A good brief makes life easier for everyone:
- You clearly formulate your expectations and figure out from the start what you actually want.
- The developer gives you a precise price, not "approximately."
- Timelines become realistic, not fantasy.
- Conflicts decrease - if something is documented in writing, you can't say "well, I never asked for that."
A fair price, a realistic timeline, and the desired outcome - all three only come together when there's a good brief.
What Happens When You Don't Have a Brief?
Let's get real. Here's how the conversation usually goes without a brief:
Client: Hi, I want a website.
Developer: Okay, what type of website?
Client: A good one, beautiful, modern.
Developer: For what business?
Client: A cosmetics store, we sell on Facebook and want a website too.
Developer: So an online store?
Client: Yes, but not too complicated. We want it to work with Facebook too.
Developer: How many products will you have?
Client: A lot... I'm not sure exactly... maybe 200, or more.
This conversation goes on for a month. Eventually a website gets built, then it turns out the client actually wanted something different. It needs to be redone. Money is paid. Time is lost. Trust - eroded.
A brief prevents all of this from the start.
A Good Brief - 8 Essential Sections
1. About the Company
Start with your story. Who are you? What do you do? What do you sell? What sets you apart from competitors? What are your values?
The developer needs to feel the soul of your company to give you appropriate design and tone. A law firm's website shouldn't look like a children's products store. Trust and liveliness speak different languages.
2. Project Goals
People often ask the wrong question here - "What kind of website do you want?" The right question is - "What result do you want the website to deliver?"
For example:
- Find 50 new clients per month
- Convert Facebook ad traffic into buyers
- Increase my brand's credibility for corporate clients
- Add an online store alongside my physical shop
A specific goal helps the developer build the right architecture. "A good website" - that's not a goal, that's a wish.
3. Target Audience
Who will come to your website? Housewives aged 30-45? Businessmen aged 40-60? Students? Mothers with small children? Corporate managers?
Understanding your audience determines:
- Design style (conservative or bold)
- Colors
- Fonts
- Simplicity of visual language
- Functionality
- Even payment methods (older audiences prefer bank transfers, younger ones prefer cards)
4. Required Functionality
List what the website needs to do. The more specific, the better:
- Contact form (which fields?)
- Blog (how many categories?)
- Photo gallery
- Video presentation on the homepage
- Multilingual - English, Georgian, Russian?
- Online payment (which method?)
- Booking system
- Live chat
- Analytics integration
- CRM connection
- Integration with delivery services like Glovo
5. Design and Style
This is a tricky section because "beautiful" means something different to everyone. The right approach - show what you like.
Add to your brief:
- 3-5 websites you like (and explain what you like about them)
- 1-2 websites you do not like (and why)
- Your brand colors (if you have them)
- Your logo
- Fonts you use in other materials
- General feel - minimalist, bold, luxe, vibrant, conservative?
"Beautiful" - no developer or designer will guess what that means to you. "In the style of Apple's website, only with warmer colors" - now that's understandable.
6. Content - Who Will Prepare It?
This question often gets overlooked and then becomes a problem. Who will prepare:
- Text for each page?
- Product photos?
- Team member photos?
- The logo (if you don't have one yet)?
- Video material?
- Blog articles?
- SEO texts?
If you'll provide it - specify deadlines. If the developer needs to prepare it - that's an additional cost that should be fixed in the brief itself.
7. Budget and Timeline
Many clients hesitate to reveal their budget - "If I tell them my budget, they'll give me that exact price." This is the wrong approach.
Developers set the price based on functionality, not on what's in your pocket. If your budget is $1,500 and you ask for $15,000 worth of functionality - that's a bad start for both sides. It's much better to honestly say:
"My budget is approximately $2,500-$3,500. What can be done within that range?"
The developer will either give you realistic options, revise what you're planning, or tell you - "This budget isn't enough, the real price is X, can we adjust the scope?"
The same goes for timelines. "I want it as fast as possible" - that's not a deadline. "I have a Facebook campaign launching in one month, and the website needs to be ready before that" - now that's understandable.
8. Post-Project Maintenance
Briefs often end with website delivery. That's wrong. We need to agree in advance:
- Who will host the website?
- Who will provide updates?
- Who will respond if something breaks?
- How is new content added?
- Who owns the code - me or the developer?
- If I want to switch to a different developer later - can I?
Ready Template - Fill in the Blanks
The template below you can copy directly into your document and fill out. This is the template Wevosoft uses, which works well for projects of any size.
About the Company
Company name: _______________
Industry: _______________
Year founded: _______________
Number of employees: _______________
Facebook page: _______________
Website (existing, if any): _______________
2-3 sentences - what you do: _______________
What sets you apart from competitors: _______________
Project Goals
What result do you want from the website (top 3):
1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________
How will we know the project is successful (specific numbers): _______________
Target Audience
Who will come to your website:
Age: _______________
Gender: _______________
Geography: _______________
Income level: _______________
What matters to them in life: _______________
What problem do you solve for them: _______________
Required Functionality
Check what you need:
- ☐ Contact form
- ☐ Blog
- ☐ Photo gallery
- ☐ Video presentation
- ☐ Multilingual (specify which languages): _______________
- ☐ Online store
- ☐ Online payment
- ☐ Booking system
- ☐ Live chat
- ☐ AI chatbot
- ☐ Newsletter (email marketing)
- ☐ Membership system (registration / login)
- ☐ Personal account
- ☐ CRM integration
- ☐ Google Analytics, Meta Pixel
- ☐ Other: _______________
Design and Style
3 websites you like (URL and what you like):
1. URL: _____________ What I like: _____________
2. URL: _____________ What I like: _____________
3. URL: _____________ What I like: _____________
1-2 websites you don't like (URL and why):
1. URL: _____________ Why I don't like it: _____________
2. URL: _____________ Why I don't like it: _____________
Brand colors (if you have them): _______________
Logo: ☐ We already have one ☐ Need to create one
General feel (choose): ☐ Minimalist ☐ Bold ☐ Luxe ☐ Vibrant ☐ Conservative ☐ Playful
Content
Text: ☐ We will prepare ☐ Wevosoft to prepare
Photos: ☐ We have them ☐ Need to shoot ☐ Use stock photos
Video: ☐ We have it ☐ Need to shoot ☐ Don't need it
SEO text: ☐ We will ☐ Wevosoft will
Budget and Timeline
Budget: $ _______________ - $ _______________
Desired completion date: _______________
Payment terms: ☐ Full payment upfront ☐ Staged (50/50) ☐ Staged (30/40/30)
Additional Information
What do you think is the most challenging part of your project: _______________
What do you think is the most important (priority 1): _______________
Anything else we should know: _______________
Real Example - A Good Brief in Action
Here's what a well-completed brief looks like (a fictional example that resembles real ones):
Company: "White Garden" - a children's products online store, in business for 2 years, currently selling only on Facebook, 200-300 orders per month.
Goal: Move from Facebook to a website. Increase revenue by 50% in 6 months. Better presentation of our catalog - with 500 products on Facebook, browsing is difficult.
Audience: Mothers aged 25-40, from Tbilisi and Batumi, middle income. They're trying to find good quality products at real prices. They trust shopping on Facebook, but a proper website would make us look more professional.
Functionality: 500+ products with catalog, filters (age, price, category), cart, payment by bank card (TBC and BOG), Cash on Delivery, Glovo integration for delivery, live chat connected to Facebook Messenger.
Design: "I want it to look like Mothercare's website, but warmer and in Georgian. I don't want it to be as 'cold' as most stores' sites." Brand colors - light pink and white.
Content: "We have the photos. You write the text, because we have neither the time nor the expertise."
Budget: $3,000-$4,500
Timeline: 2 months (a new Facebook campaign starts in 1 month and the website needs to be ready before launch)
Additional: "We're not leaving Facebook commerce. The website shouldn't replace it, but supplement it."
I can promise you - reading this brief, I clearly understand what needs to be done. I can give a firm price, firm timelines, and we'll align expectations from day one.
Common Mistakes When Preparing a Brief
- Too vague. "Beautiful, modern, flexible" - this means nothing. Be specific.
- Focus on design instead of functionality. "I want a blue background" - this isn't important. "I want a filter that lets the customer choose products by color" - now that's important.
- Hiding the budget. This forces us to price 50% higher because we can't see what budget you have.
- Unrealistic timelines. "I want it in 1 week" - no serious project gets done in 1 week.
- Without competitor analysis. List 3 competitors - the weaknesses of their websites can become your advantages.
- Treating it as one person's decision. If there are multiple decision-makers in your company - prepare the brief together. Don't let the director say at the end "but I wanted it differently."
- "We'll figure it out later." This phrase means - "let's argue after payment." First brief, then contract, then money.
When Should I Prepare the Brief?
Good rule - before you read the first developer's contract, your brief should be ready. Ideally, prepare it at the price research stage:
- Week 1: Prepare the brief
- Week 2: Send it to 3-5 development companies for proposals
- Week 3: Compare prices and plans, have conversations
- Week 4: Make your choice, sign the contract, make initial payment
If you send the same brief to every company - the price comparison will be fair. Otherwise, each of them sets the price based on what they hear, and you'll be comparing apples to oranges.
Conclusion
A brief is 2-3 hours of your time. In exchange, it saves you months of revisions, thousands of dollars on wrong directions, and - most importantly - the stress that comes from receiving a "wrong" site after paying for it.
A well-prepared brief is your protection. It transfers from your head to paper, from paper to code, from code to a working website. Every stage is clear. Every step is understandable. In the end, you get a website that's exactly what you wanted - not because the developer is a mind reader, but because you formulated your thoughts in a way they could understand.
Need help preparing your brief, or are you ready for a project? At Wevosoft, we've delivered 50+ projects and we know how important the right start is. The first consultation is free - let's talk about your project specifics and help you refine your brief. Get a free consultation
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long should a brief be?
2-5 pages is completely enough for a typical project. For complex projects (Enterprise systems), it can be 10-20 pages. What matters is not the volume, but that every important question is answered.
What if I don't really know what I want - should I still write a brief?
Yes, absolutely. The process of preparing the brief is exactly when you figure out what you know and what you don't. You can mark "don't know" and discuss it with the developer. That's much better than going from conversation to conversation without making decisions.
Should the brief include technical details?
No, that's not required and often a bad idea. The brief is a document about your business expectations - "I want the customer to choose by color." What technology accomplishes this - the developer decides. You should know what, not how.
What if I already sent the brief to a developer and want to make changes?
Changes are a normal occurrence. The main thing is that the change is also documented in writing. Note that changes might affect price and timelines - this should be agreed upon in advance.
The developer asks for a brief - is that a good sign?
Yes, that's a very good sign. A developer who doesn't ask for a brief is either inexperienced or doesn't care about quality - they just want payment. Professional agencies always require a brief.
If I have confidential information in the brief - is it safe to send?
If you have doubts, request an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) before sending. Serious agencies don't object to signing one.
Can I send the same brief to multiple companies?
Yes, and you should. This is called a "tender" process. Comparing proposals from 3-5 companies is the best way to make the right decision - not just by price, but by their approach.
What happens if I don't have a brief?
Theoretically, the developer will still build something. Practically - the price will be 30-50% higher (because they're pricing in hidden risks), timelines will slip, and the result will differ from your expectations. A brief isn't bureaucracy - it's the protection of your money and time.
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