Website brief: 20 questions to answer before you order

Most revisions when building a website come not from the developer’s mistakes but from things left unsaid at the start. The developer guesses what you want, you assume it’s obvious, and the difference only shows up in the mockup. A good website brief is a short document that closes these gaps before anyone starts work.

Below are 20 questions worth answering before you order a website. It will take you an hour or two, and you will get a more accurate quote and fewer rounds of revisions. You don’t need to know the answer to everything: “I don’t know” is also information.

Why a brief, and how to use it

A brief serves two purposes. First, it lets the developer quote exactly what you need. Second, it makes you think through things that will have to be decided anyway.

The simplest way is to prepare it as a list of questions with short answers. One or two pages are enough. Copy the questions into a document, fill them in and send them to the developer together with a request for a quote. I prepare quotes within 24 hours of the inquiry, and the fuller the brief, the fewer clarifying questions I need to ask.

Goal and result: questions 1–4

This part is the most important. Without a goal, you can’t judge whether the website has succeeded.

1. What is the website for? Should it bring phone calls, form inquiries, sales, bookings, or just be a business card online?
2. What measurable result do you want to achieve? For example “10 inquiries a month from the form” or “more phone calls than today”. Don’t invent numbers for the sake of it: it’s enough to know what you will count.
3. What is happening today? Do you already have a website? Where do customers come from: word of mouth, Google, Facebook?
4. What should a visitor do after arriving? Call, fill in a form, write, buy. Ideally one main action, because a page with five equal buttons leads nowhere.

Audience and competitors: questions 5–8

A website for everyone is usually a website for no one. Describe who you are talking to.

5. Who is your typical customer? A private person, a company, an investor? From which city or region?
6. What questions do they ask before buying? List the five most common ones. That is a ready-made skeleton for the content and the FAQ section.
7. Who are your competitors? Name 3–5 companies. For local services, preferably the ones Google shows in your city. The free competitor audit in Google Maps can help with this.
8. Which websites do you like, and which don’t you? Two or three links with a short comment (“I like the simple layout”, “this one is too dark”) save hours of discussing taste.

Scope: subpages and features, questions 9–13

This is where most of the differences in the quote come from. A clear list of subpages is the foundation.

9. Which subpages do you need? Usually: home page, offer, about the company, contact. Then come projects, pricing, a blog, separate service pages.
10. Should each service have its own subpage? It usually pays off, because the customer searches for a specific service, not for a company in general.
11. Which features do you need? A form, a price calculator, online booking, payments, chat, a gallery, language versions.
12. Do you want to edit the website yourself? If you want to change the texts and photos on your own, you need an editing panel. Say so right away, because it affects the technology.
13. Is it a new website or a rebuild of the old one? In a rebuild, the subpage addresses and Google rankings matter. Website redesign moves the content and addresses over so that you don’t lose SEO.

Content and materials: questions 14–16

Texts and photos most often delay the start. Decide who is responsible for them.

14. Who writes the texts? You, the developer or a copywriter? With me, texts are a separate service: Texts and graphics from PLN 59 net per 1,000 characters.
15. What photos and logo do you have? Your own photos of completed projects almost always look better than stock photos. If you don’t have a logo, say so plainly.
16. What details have to appear on the website? Company name, address, phone, NIP (Polish tax ID), opening hours, service area, certificates, customer reviews. List them in one place.

Tip: gather the materials in one folder (photos, logo, texts, company details) before the project starts. Missing materials are a common reason why the work takes longer.

Technical matters: questions 17–20

These are the questions business owners usually forget about, and then they come back as surprises.

17. Do you have a domain, and who is it registered to? The domain should be registered to your company, not to the developer. If you don’t have one, decide who will buy it and pay for it.
18. What hosting and email? A website needs a server, and a company needs email on its own domain. With me, the domain, a server in Poland or the EU and SSL make up a separate service from PLN 390 net per year. You can also stay with your current provider.
19. How will you measure results? Phone calls, forms and sales have to be set up in analytics, otherwise after a month you won’t know whether the website works. I price a GA4 and Tag Manager setup from PLN 990 net.
20. What are the deadline and the budget? Give a range. The developer will fit the solution to the money instead of proposing something you would reject anyway. A rush deadline usually costs more, so ask about the surcharge for faster delivery right away.

A ready-made brief template to copy

Copy the text below, fill it in and send it.

Company and industry:
City / service area:
Website goal and measurable result:
Main action of the visitor:
Typical customer:
5 most common customer questions:
3–5 competitors (links):
Websites I like / dislike:
Subpages:
Features (form, calculator, bookings, payments):
Do I want to edit the content myself: yes / no
New website or rebuild (address of the current one):
Who writes the texts:
Materials (photos, logo, details):
Domain and email (I have / I need):
Hosting:
Measuring results:
Deadline and budget:

What a brief won’t do

A brief doesn’t replace a conversation. It shows the direction, but some decisions are only made at the mockup stage. That is why, in my work, after the conversation I make a design in Figma, and you see the website before any code is written. Two rounds of revisions are included in the price.

A brief is not a contract either. The scope, the deadlines and the rights to the website are worth putting in writing separately, as I describe in the guide to the website development contract. This is general guidance, not legal advice. As of 30 October 2026.

How to check your brief before sending it

Before you send it, read it through the eyes of someone who doesn’t know your company. Do they know who the customer is? Do they know how many subpages are to be created? Do they understand what the goal is?

If you struggle with the answers, try the free website builder. The form asks you to describe your business, your offer and your audience. After roughly 10–20 seconds you will see the home page, while the other three subpages are created in the background. Treat it as an exercise and as illustrative material you can show the developer, not as a finished brief. You can estimate the approximate cost of the scope in the calculator on the pricing page.

Summary

A good brief is a goal, an audience, competitors, a list of subpages, a decision on who writes the texts, and clarity about the domain, email and measurement. Thanks to it the quote is more accurate and there are fewer revisions. If you want a website with an editing panel, see the Turnkey business website. Once your brief is filled in, write to me: you will get a quote within 24 hours.