With all the websites in the public domain, it’s not too difficult for some to get lost in the mix. It’s fairly normal and even common for a website to be good and interactive but left behind and go unnoticed by as many people as needed for that website and/or business to succeed. Thus, it is safe to say that building a website is no easy task. In fact, because so many businesses out there opt to just have their website as their main store, the pressure of creating a good one is just up its stakes. This is why someone who creates a website - whether for themselves or their clients, needs all the help and information they can get. A website brief is one of the most valuable tools to help them - you gather all that. So in this article, we will talk about writing your website brief and its importance to your endeavor as a business owner and/or website creator.
What is a Website Brief?
To start off, let’s first define exactly what we are doing here. A website brief contains information about the business you are creating the website for and details to be included. Basically, writing your website brief is essentially and basically creating a roadmap. It will help you create the best website for your business, your personal use, or your client. A website brief contains all the elements and information that one would need to create a website that is not only appropriate but entirely suitable for the needs of the website. Its main function is to have a reliable guide for website creation. It is an excellent tool to avoid miscommunication, misunderstandings, and mistakes in general. Writing your website brief will also help you manage your time, resources, and even the budget to create the website.
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Why do You need to Know How to Write a Website Brief?
While you can start from scratch when writing your website brief, you can also find a specific website brief template online that you can use as your basis. Both are valid ways how to create a website brief. The important thing is that you actually write one. A website brief is vital because it will help the whole process go smoothly and without any problems. It will also allow you and/or your client to probably plan and manage the budget and other resources that would go into creating the website. This would also allow for easy collaboration between those who need to participate in the process. Finally, a website brief also acts as a barrier. It gives you the proper scope, so you would not go over what is genuinely required and wanted - and end up wasting time and money in the process.
How to Create a Website Brief?
Now that you know what is a website brief and what its importance is, you must now get familiar with the things or parts of a website brief. This is what you will usually see in a website brief template, which should guide you as you learn to write a website brief. Here are the seven things you should consider when writing a website brief.
1. Business Description
First things first, your website brief should contain an introduction to what the business or company is all about. Whether you are creating a website brief for your own business or for a client, it is vital that you first understand what their business stands for and what it has to offer. This does not only mean knowing what kinds of products and services they have for customers. It also means getting acquainted with what their whole brand is - their brand logo, brand colors, brand value, etc. In addition, a website brief should also have the main proponents or the managers of the business as they will also serve as the contact person for different requirements for the website brief and the website itself. This portion of the website brief would ensure that all the other parts would be aligned with what the business or company believes in.
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2. Website Purpose
When writing a website brief, another thing that you have to know and establish at the very start is the purpose of why a specific website is being created in the first place. One needs to know all about what would make that website a successful one. This would also define whether the website is a redesign, an overhaul, or a start-up. But in essence, knowing the purpose of the website means that you would see the scope of what the website is supposed to accomplish. This would define and enumerate the features, elements, and deliverables the website requires. The purpose of this part of the website brief is to define the scope of the website creation process and for you to properly come up with the right plan.
3. Goals and Targets
The goals and targets you would specify on your website brief are connected to the purpose of the website you are creating. Because once you have already started writing your website brief and established the scope and coverage of the website, you now must properly enumerate what exactly it is you want to accomplish with your website. This may include improving the business's online presence, increasing awareness, boosting sales, or specifying what customers would get from your website. This would help you properly address the concerns and goals of your business or your client’s business and create the website brief that would appropriately guide you through creating the perfect website.
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4. Target Audience and Competitors
This part of your journey of learning how to write a website brief is where you start to look beyond what you or your client - or what the internal information from the business can provide. This is because this part of writing your website brief involves doing marketing research, customer research, and competitor research. This is an integral part of your website brief because it allows you to get an idea of what kind of people you will both be creating the website for and against. This part would help you define what kind of approach you need to take regarding the content and design of your website. Knowing the preferences of your target audience and knowing your competitors’ offers would help narrow down what you can do for your website to really connect with your target market while at the same time giving you an edge against your competitors.
5. Website Design and Specifications
After you have defined the content part of your website brief, the next step towards learning how to create a website brief is to focus on the design and technical requirements of the website you are creating. Your research and the information you have about the business would help you to decide the best kind of design that would fit best for the website. This would include the colors and layout. This part of your website brief would also specify the kinds of features that are required or wanted. This might pertain to logins, online stores, blogs, social media feeds, and the likes. In this section, you may also find the agreement about the hosting and maintenance of the website.
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6. Deliverables.
While we already mentioned a lot about what would be needed for your website that is to be included when writing your website brief, you need to emphasize and specifically identify the kinds of final content that you or your client expects from this website. Knowing how to write a website brief includes enumerating the desired final products. The list could include the site, posts, images, design sections, etc. It might also have specifications about SEO and other optimization and marketing strategies.
7. Timeline
Finally, perhaps the most crucial section you would have to know about writing a website brief is creating a timeline. This means discussing with your team and your client the timeframe that the whole process of creating your website would take. This means that each process step would be allotted a specific time. This would allow you to properly budget your time and resources. This part of your website brief ensures that you work efficiently and effectively.
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As we’ve talked about before, your website brief is one of the most useful tools you can use to ensure that the website you are creating is at par or is actually better than most websites you would find today. While writing a website brief is no easy process, it most definitely will make the process of creating the actual website easier and more efficient. Don’t be afraid to explore and find website brief templates and even actual website templates to get inspiration from. But, in the process, don’t forget that originality is one of the key factors for a successful website to stand out. Believe it or not, you already have good ideas for your business and your website - it just takes finding and using the right tools to help you bring that dream into the real and tangible world.
Strikingly is a website builder that does not only help you build the most amazing websites, but also provides you with website templates that can act as your own website brief template - guiding you and inspiring you while you go on to decide what you want and what you need your website to contain. You not only get a useful and helpful tool, but you also get a reliable partner that will help you through this journey of yours. Sign up or log in with Strikingly now!
