Whenever web designers are hired by business clients, one of the first things that they request is a website design brief. A website design brief is what clients need to create so that the web designer knows what the client is looking for and expects from their new website. However, given that a website design brief is something that a business owner might only ever consider once or twice at most, it is fair to say not every website design brief achieves its objective.

By that, we do not mean that the website fails, but rather that the website design brief fails to properly outline the client’s wishes. It is akin to a construction company being given the job of designing and building a house but the specifications for that house are vague and give them little upon which to base the house’s dimensions, features, or construction materials.

As for designing and creating a website, a web designer could quite easily do so with zero guidelines and simply build a website that suits them. However, the website in question here is for a business and thus it needs to align with that business’s objectives.

For that to occur the business owner needs to create a website design brief so that the web designer has a conceptual foundation and is aware of what the website’s objectives should be. Below we have outlined five simple steps to ensure that the website design brief you provide to your web designer is sufficiently effective that it allows the web designer to design and create the desired website.

Give Plenty Of Insights Into Your Business

Designing and creating websites is about more than just code and programming, so when web designers build websites for businesses the more they know about a business’s history, its owners, its employees, its challenges, and achievements, the better their feel will be for exactly what the website should look like.

Explain What Audience You Want To Target

Remember, the website is built for a business’s audience, not its owners and staff. So, give your web designer as much information and analysis as you can about your target audience, tell them who you want the website to appeal to the most, and why it should appeal to them.

Outline In Detail What The Main Goals Of Your New Website Are

Each business sector and each business within that sector will operate differently and so the goals of their respective business websites will differ. Depending on what your business does, let your web designer know what its website’s main objectives and goals should be such as lead generation, email capture, highlighting special offers, making direct sales, and so on.

Identify Successful Websites Of Your Competitors

If you know of websites owned by your competitors and other related businesses that you know are successful, then let your web designer know. Not that they will blatantly copy those websites, but it will give them an indication as to what sorts of features work well in your niche.

Specify The Look, Feel, And Features You Would Like In Your Website

Ultimately, you may want your new website to look as close to how you imagine it as possible but that can only happen if your web designer knows your preferences. This means you need to be specific in your website design brief about features, colours, layout, content, and graphics.