Website brief template
Write the brief. Improve every proposal.
A structured website brief for Australian businesses that need comparable proposals, clearer responsibilities and fewer expensive assumptions.
The direct answer
What should a website brief include?
A useful website brief defines the business objective, priority audiences, required actions, content and template needs, functionality, integrations, SEO and migration requirements, ownership, budget, timeline and approval process. It should describe the problem clearly without prescribing an untested solution.
Audience and journeys
Content and technology
Budget and governance
Before requesting quotes
Give suppliers the same problem to solve.
Vague briefs produce proposals based on different assumptions. One supplier may include strategy, content and migration while another prices only page assembly. A complete brief makes the differences visible and improves the quality of early recommendations.
Context
Describe the business, current website, change trigger and measurable objective.
Audience
Identify priority customers, stakeholders, questions and desired actions.
Content
List required pages, templates, proof, media and who produces each asset.
Functionality
Define tasks, forms, accounts, ecommerce, search and integration requirements.
Search and migration
Protect valuable URLs, content, analytics and existing organic demand.
Delivery
State budget guidance, timing, internal owners, approvals and ongoing responsibility.
Better inputs
A strong brief creates room for better thinking.
The brief should set the commercial problem and constraints while allowing the delivery team to challenge assumptions about pages, platforms and features.
Inspect selected workComparable
Suppliers respond to the same requirements.
Complete
Dependencies and responsibilities become visible early.
Decisive
Stakeholders agree what the website must achieve.
Copy this structure
The twelve-part website brief.
Use the headings below in a shared document. Concise, specific answers are more useful than a long brand story that never defines the website's job.
Where information is unknown, label it as a decision the supplier should help resolve. That is better than presenting an assumption as a fixed requirement.
1–3 / Foundation
Business context, reason for change and measurable objectives.
4–6 / Customers
Priority audiences, customer questions and desired actions.
7–9 / Delivery
Pages and templates, functionality and integrations, content responsibility.
10–12 / Control
SEO and migration, budget and timeline, stakeholders and approvals.
Requirements prompts
Describe tasks before requesting features.
Instead of asking for a portal, explain who needs to sign in and what they must complete. Instead of asking for advanced search, describe the catalogue and the decisions customers need to make.
User task
Who is trying to do what, on which device and with what information?
Business process
Where does the submitted information go and who acts on it?
System dependency
Which existing platform owns products, customers, bookings or reporting?
Success measure
What event or operational improvement would demonstrate value?
Free online tool
Build a brief your team can use.
Capture the business objective, customer tasks, page scope, products, content ownership, systems, migration requirements and measures of success in one editable record. Use the online brief builder to turn your answers into a plan you can review and copy for your team.
Decisions
Record the owner and approval status for each requirement.
Evidence
Link supporting content, source systems and examples.
Explore the portfolio
See the work behind the approach.
Selected examples from Simpli’s portfolio. Each project explains its scope, design approach and visual direction.
The Dress Destination
Editorial ecommerce design connected to clear product discovery and mobile shopping.
The Part Store
A complex catalogue and marketplace shaped around practical buyer tasks.
Padaley Lodge
Brand and website direction designed around accommodation research and booking confidence.
Google-reviewed
Proof lives outside the pitch.
Independent Google reviews help prospective clients assess the experience behind the work—communication, delivery and the quality of the finished result.
5.0 ★★★★★ on Google
Five published Google reviews support the client experience. Rating and count verified September 2026; check Google for the current total.
Real project evidence
Pair the reviews with case studies showing the brief, approach and delivered work.
No invented proof
Only published client feedback and demonstrable project outcomes are used.
Why the answer is credible
Evidence before assertion.
120+ websites
Planning experience across service, ecommerce, marketplace and content-rich websites.
Established 2013
Commercial website and search experience applied to scope, platform and migration decisions.
Transparent guidance
Ranges and recommendations are explained without pretending every business needs the same solution.
No ranking promises
Search foundations are designed carefully, while outcomes remain dependent on competition, authority and execution.
Straight answers
Practical questions, answered clearly.
Useful questions answered without the agency fog.
01Should a website brief include a budget?
Yes. A range helps suppliers recommend an appropriate solution and prevents effort being spent on proposals that cannot align commercially.
02How detailed should the sitemap be?
List known services, products, resources and key templates, but allow the selected partner to test the hierarchy against audiences and search intent.
03Who should write the website content?
Assign responsibility explicitly. The business holds expertise, while a specialist can structure and edit it for customers, search and the interface.
04Should the brief specify a platform?
Only when there is a genuine organisational constraint. Otherwise document editing, integration, ownership and maintenance needs, then assess the platform recommendation.
05How many suppliers should receive the brief?
A small shortlist is usually more productive than a broad tender. Compare relevant work, thinking, team, scope and delivery—not price alone.
Brief the problem well. Get a better website.
Startthe brief