Want a free copy of my web design brief document?
I give it away FREE to all my existing clients, and now I’m making it available to subscribers of the Design Hero business blog.
Download my free Web Design Brief
Write your own design quote
If you can work your way through these questions, by the end you’ll have a complete web design brief, which you can take to any web designer for an accurate quote.
Why am I giving this information away for free, you ask?
Because the market is full of digital villains who will swoop in with rock-bottom prices without considering what your business actually needs!
My business model is built on honest advice which benefits your business.
That’s why at Design Hero I offer a detailed design proposal in writing for every project:
My design brief document teases out what your business really needs.
So when I provide a design quote it’s a realistic price, not just what you want to hear at the time to close a sale!
That’s how I like to do business:
No tricks, no surprises down the line.
If your web designer isn’t asking these questions, then they don’t have your best interests in mind.
Before you read any further...
My web design brief document is available online below but let me save you some time:
You can download my brief document template for FREE, and fill it out for your business.
Want a free copy of my web design brief document?
I give it away FREE to all my existing clients, and now I’m making it available to subscribers of the Design Hero business blog.
Download my free Web Design Brief
My Web Design Brief document starts here
👇
Your Business
Company information is often overlooked in design briefs – but I like to get to know all about you & your business so that I can show your customers the value you can bring to them.
Tell me about your business?
Example
- company history,
- brand,
- size,
- staff
- Locations
What is your mission statement?
Example
Design Hero provides design & creative services to help business owners take their businesses to the next level
What are your main business services?
Example
- Web design
- Graphic design
- Branding & Marketing
Are there any awards or memberships you are proud of?
Example
- As featured on “Site Inspire”
- Registered member of Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce
- 5-star verified Google Business
your Brand
Tell me about your brand, what defines your business, and makes your business different from your competitors?
How would you describe your brand?
Example
- Logo?
- Fonts?
- Colours?
- Tone?
- Personality?
Not sure what the difference is between your brand vs your logo?
This page explains the difference between branding and logos.
If your business does not have branding in place, you can read my guide about the importance of having a defined brand for your business, and the focus a branding project can bring to your business.
Design Hero provides branding services in a number of packages, from budget brands to full corporate identities.
Your Customers
Here we look at who will be using the site. After all, the website is for your customers NOT for you. It is your customer’s likes and preferences which we must consider when designing the site.
Try observing your current customers, or even asking them if needed.
Describe your target audience as if they were a single person?
Example
- Age-
- Sex (if applicable)-
- Occupation-
- Income-
- Interests-
- Personality-
- Likes / Dislikes –
Can you provide x3 testimonials from your customers?
Not sure what the difference is between your brand vs your logo?
This page explains the difference between branding and logos.
If your business does not have branding in place, you can read my guide about the importance of having a defined brand for your business, and the focus a branding project can bring to your business.
Design Hero provides branding services in a number of packages, from budget brands to full corporate identities.
Your Competition
Think about who your competition is; we can observe what they are doing right, and where they could improve, and learn from this!
Who are your 3 main competitors?
List x3 websites that you like.
Example
Look at their websites, and analyse things like layout, colour schemes, typography, photography, and unique tools or features.
List 3 business features that set you apart from your competition?
Example
- Overnight Delivery
- Fitting included
- Unique product
- 5 year guarantee
Your Goals
Think about what you want to achieve from your website:
Do you have a website that is up to date?
What do you like about your current website?
What don't you like about your current website?
What are your overall goals?
Example
- Improve online presence.
- Increase sales.
- Generate leads and enquiries.
- Provide information
Your Sitemap
So that I know how the site will be structured, dry to list any pages you think the site will need, and if possible note their relationship and/or hierarchy
List any pages you think you will need:
Example
- About
- Services
- Web Design
- Branding
- Graphics
- News/Blog
- Portfolio
- Team Page
- Contact
Your Style
Everyone has personal preferences and Biases.
Some people like modern, some like traditional. Some people like cats, others dogs.
Remember that your style needs to be aimed at your customers preferences, not yours!
Describe the style you're aiming for?
Example
- Modern or Traditional
- Corporate or casual
- Bright or muted
- Calming or exciting?
Your Technical Requirements
This section is important for larger projects. The more I know about your project; the more accurate your quote will be. To avoid expanding the scope and budget of your project beyond your budget, be as thorough as you can here.
What functions are important to you?
Examples
- Blogging and Posts
- Testimonials
- Search Functionality
- Newsletter Signup
- Basic Contact Forms
- Advanced enquiry form with conditional logic
- Online Bookings
- Event Management
- Ecommerce online shop
- Online Payments
- Member Areas
- Directories
- Downloads sections
- Calendars
- Interactive Maps
- Social Media Feeds
Describe in detail any bespoke functionality you'd like on your website?
Example for E-Commerce site
- How many products?
- Describe product categories?
- Payment/checkout methods required?
- Describe how you calculate shipping methods and costs?
Your Content
Updates and Expertise
So that I can gauge how much interactivity and control you need for your website back end please indicate how much you’d like to be in control of managing your own website, and how much you want Design Hero do for you.
How much input would you like during the design & build?
- I’m not fussy. I don’t want to be involved too much; I just want you to build it for me!
- I’d like to have input and feedback at critical stages of the project.
- I need a high level of control, & would like feedback and input throughout the project.
How much of the website do you want to manage after launch?
- I don’t want to touch that thing, get it away from me!
- I want to be able to make basic changes, like creating blog posts or swapping text and images.
- I want to be able to make most changes and maintain the site myself.
How often do you think you will update content?
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Yearly
Bulk Content
Design Hero will build your site based on a small sample of the products or services you provide. This does not include entering bulk data such as products, blog posts, bookable items.
Some clients prefer Design Hero to do this for them, while others prefer not to. The time this takes depends on the quantity and complexity of your content and can be worked into your design proposal if you desire.
Bulk content includes things such as:
- Products
- Events
- Locations
- News Posts
Do you wish Design Hero to handle adding bulk content such as products & posts after the build is complete?
Now we know what pages you will have, we also need to think about what is going on all of your pages. This means copy (writing), photography, video, testimonials, downloads, files and any other media which makes up the site.
Do you have content from an existing site, or from printed graphics that we can use?
Content is King
Your website pages will be laid out, structured and designed around the images and text that goes on that page. That’s why they say that content is King.
After all, how can you start to build a house without having the plans?
You could just start building, but your house might end up a bit wonky, and you’ll need to go back and rebuild parts of it. This can be a costly way of doing things.
Supply of content is the most common delay in web design projects and needs to be the number one priority for starting any website.
Budgeting Time for Copy
Good copy defines your brand’s tone and informs your user.
Professional copywriting is also essential for SEO..
Please bear in mind that writing copy is very time-intensive and is best started early to avoid delays! As a rule of thumb:
- If you have experience of creative writing, you should budget around 1 hour per 500 words to research, write, edit and proofread.
- If you aren’t comfortable with copywriting you should allow between 2 – 3 hours per 500 words.
If you’d like to keep to try your hand at copywriting…
It’s not for everyone. But to help my clients, I’ve prepared a handy guide to help you develop this unique skill.
For tips on writing copy for your website visit my blog post how to write copy for your website.
On the other hand, If that sounds far too much like hard work…
Design Hero can supply a Copywriter at £5 per 100 words to create content for whatever areas of the site you need, and can complement or adapt any copy you already have.
*please note this does not include Keyword research, which is covered by my SEO services
Photography
Similarly, good photography can make or break a site.
Blurry, obscured or amateur photos is akin to wearing a crumpled old suite to work, and your customers will not be impressed!
Many modern phones are capable of taking high-quality imagery suitable for websites, but aside from image quality, good photography takes a discerning eye for composition, colour and context.
If you’re not confident in your eye for photography Design Hero can supply professional photography, to be quoted separately depending on your requirements.
Videography
While not essential, a quality video can make a massive impression on your users, and…
data shows that video sends user conversion through the roof, and reduces bounce rate.
That means users are more likely to stay on your site, and users are more likely to turn into customers. Some businesses are more naturally suited to video than others.
Many social or casual brands can create low budget, amateur style videos which resonate with their target customers for use on your website and social media.
But Beware!
In the wrong context, this style of video can come across as tacky and destroy your business’s trust and reputation, so professional or corporate brands should avoid amateur video at all costs, and should invest only in a high-quality video, or not at all.
If you’d like Design Hero can supply a videographer, to be quoted separately depending on your requirements.
Launch Preparation
After the site is complete, you will need several things to get your site live:
It may help to imagine your website as a physical shop on the high street.
A Domain name
Think of this as an address for your business store on the street. You only ever rent a domain on a yearly basis. A domain name example: www.google.com
Hosting
Imagine this as the space where you store contents of your business.
This is where the pages, code and iimages that make up your website are kept.
An SSL Certificate
Imagine an SSL as roller shutters for your store.
An SSL gives you the secure padlock in your browsers nav bar, and without an SSL Google will penalise your site in its search rankings
Are you confused by “domains”, “hosting” and “SSL”?
Don’t worry. You’re not the only one!
I have a handy guide explaining domains, hosting And SSLs.
Do you have any domain names?
Do you have hosting?
Do you have an SSL Certificate on your chosen main domain?
Hosting & Support
Every business is different, and my clients often prefer not to be involved with the technical process of site setup and install, or management of hosting and domains.
That’s why I offer a range of options for hosting, support and aftercare.
Can I host the site yourself or with a 3rd Party?
Many businesses already have hosting, or wish to host the site themselves.
In this instance, when the site is complete, I will hand over all site files and databases so you can install the site on your chosen host and domain.
If I Host with a 3rd Party can Design Hero help Set up the Website?
Of course. If you wish to host the site yourself, I still offer my clients a site install service, to get your site up and running for a one-off fee of £90, just to cover my time and involvement.
What if I don’t know how to Host or install the site?
I would advise that setting up a site can be highly technical. Every host is different and on 3rd party hosting, I often encounter unforeseen roadblocks such as server issues, file size limits, permission errors which must be resolved in order to launch the site.
That’s why Unless you are familiar with hosting,
I strongly recommend my clients to take out a hosting and support package with Design Hero.
For a small monthly fee:
- I take care of everything on your behalf,
- Your site benefits from my Premium business hosting,
- I’m on call if your site goes down, or you need to make changes to your hosting.
What does Design Hero Maintenance and support include?
All of my hosting packages cover:
- Renewal of your domains.
- Business hosting.
- Installation of SSL certificates
- Creation of emails.
- Telephone support for your website.
- Website monitoring and alerts of any downtime.
Aftercare
Training
As part of your package, Design Hero includes walkthrough tutorials on updating and using your website.
These instructions will include how to make basic edits to images and text, as well as any advanced functionality on your site.
Phone Support
As part of your Design Hero design package, I will also make myself available by phone for at least a month following launch to provide support and help on operating the site where required.
Digital Marketing & SEO
So you finally set your amazing new website live, but here are some questions to ask:
- How many visitors are you getting?
- How many of them are calling or emailing you?
- Why are they leaving the site?
Data & Tracking
Google Analytics is the best way to track your site’s traffic, and user behaviour.
Yoast lets you control how your business will appear in the Google search results.
It typically takes a few months after launch of a website to gather meaningful data to analyse and form an SEO strategy.
Even if you don’t currently have SEO planned, you should track your website traffic data with Google Analytics.
If you want to do SEO later, you will have months of data gathered and ready to go.
Do you have Google Analytics set up on your website?
SEO & Lead Generation
So you’ve launched your website, but it’s a month later;
you can’t find it on the first page of Google and hardly anybody is visiting the site?
There’s nothing more disheartening than investing time and money in your brand new website, and no one notices it’s there.
Why does this happen?
- Google takes time to find your site and display it on the search results page.
- There are thousands of competing businesses working hard to appear higher up the search page.
- Your site’s content doesn’t match the user’s search terms or intent on Google.
Just because you open a restaurant, doesn’t mean anyone will walk in the door.
Unless you market your new website, there’s a chance nobody even knows it’s there.
Any new website requires a well thought out and planned online strategy. Also, don’t forget traditional forms of advertising such as print, and don’t forget word of mouth.
Digital marketing can be vital to the success of your new website and your business. If you already have marketing plans in place, it can be helpful to summarise them, and I will design your website around them.
You can drive more traffic to your site, and help turn users into customers with SEO (search engine optimisation), pay-per-click, social media, email marketing and blogging.
Off-page SEO techniques bolster your site’s authority & rank on Google, increasing your traffic.
On-page SEO can improve your site’s appearance on Google, and turn your site traffic into paying customers.
What are your plans for post-launch marketing?
Your Deadline
Sometimes a timescale might not be of importance – and the project can take as much time as it needs to get right. In other cases, there might be an absolutely vital deadline which you can’t miss, such as tying into a marketing campaign launch.
Let me know your expectations in terms of deadlines, and I will do my best to structure the project to meet them!
Note any important deadlines you have.
Your Budget
Yes, your budget!
Why do I want to know this?
The amount I charge is set by the scope of your brief NOT your budget.
Your budget determines the amount of design time I have to play with.
budget = time
If you are on a budget, I will spend your time wisely & ensure you get a robust website which performs the way you need, without breaking the bank.
If you want a website which will set you apart from the competition, and rock your customer’s socks off? You may want to stretch your budget to allow for more design time for killer graphics and slick animations.
So remember to be honest and frank about your budget, so that the results match your expectations.
What is your budget range?
Example
£ – I have a very limited budget so I don’t want to invest too much time in this project.
££ – I have a tight budget: I want a decent design, but don’t need to explore many options.
£££ – I need a robust service, and I am interested in a little exploration of ideas.
££££ – I want a premium service, with more contact, and time to explore different ideas so I can set myself above the competition.
£££££ – I expect high level of management and would like creative freedom to explore options & ideas to ensure the result will blow the socks off the competition.
