Website Redesign Brief: A Template and Worked Example
A website redesign brief should let a supplier answer three questions: what needs to change, who will do the work, and how will you decide it is finished?
The gaps usually sit between teams. Marketing expects enquiries to reach the CRM. IT expects the agency to arrange hosting. Communications expects someone to rewrite the old pages. Put those responsibilities in the brief before asking for a price.
Open the brief worksheet, or use the sections below in your own document.
Describe the problem with examples
Replace “modernise the website” with something a team can investigate:
- Staff cannot find referral forms on their phones.
- Editors copy the same event into three pages.
- Enquiries arrive without the information needed to allocate them.
- Customers call to ask questions the service pages should answer.
For each problem, name the audience, the task and the evidence. Support emails, site searches and conversations with users can all help.
Choose the priorities. If recruitment, sales and a resource library all need attention, say which matters most for this project.
Separate fixed constraints from assumptions. An expiring hosting contract may be fixed; keeping an awkward approval process may be negotiable. GOV.UK's discovery guidance makes this distinction so teams can test the assumptions that affect whether a project is workable.
Allocate the content work
Page count alone tells a supplier little. Forty pages needing new copy and several approvals can involve more work than migrating 200 existing pages.
Start a content inventory:
| Content | Work required | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Service pages | Rewrite and check eligibility details | Communications and service leads |
| Resource library | Remove obsolete files and organise current documents | Resource owners |
| News archive | Import the agreed years and assets | Delivery team |
| Team profiles | Supply approved biographies and photos | Internal coordinator |
Specify who writes, edits, enters and approves each type of content. “Client to supply content” leaves too much open if the agency also needs to restructure pages and upload hundreds of files.
Flag repeated information. Office details used across the site should be editable in one place.
Explain what each feature must do
For an enquiry form, describe the full task: a visitor selects a service, submits their details, receives confirmation and reaches the correct team in the CRM.
Name the system involved, who provides access and what should happen if delivery fails. Identify any unknowns the supplier needs to investigate.
Separate launch requirements from later work. “Event details link to our booking platform” is a different scope from “build a booking system with payments and cancellations.”
Three of our projects show why those details matter:
| Project requirement | Decision the brief needs to cover |
|---|---|
| WorkUP Queensland: import events from Humanitix and embed Dynamics forms | Which system owns each record? Which fields are imported, and where are enquiries handled? |
| AMA Group: combine two corporate websites | Which content survives, which version takes priority, and what happens to both sets of URLs? |
| ROH Wheels: send verified quote requests to dealers | What must happen before a dealer is notified, and which product and vehicle details accompany the request? |
An “events page,” “redesign” or “contact form” line item would miss much of that work.
Define the checks and handover
Give the team specific tasks to demonstrate:
- An editor can publish a resource, assign its topic and preview it.
- The form reaches the correct team, including when optional fields are empty.
- Important old URLs reach their replacements.
- Agreed mobile and accessibility checks have been completed.
- Your organisation receives the accounts, files and documentation it needs.
State any required accessibility standard and assessment scope. W3C's planning guidance can help allocate that work.
Include the budget range, fixed dates, approval periods and the person who can authorise launch. List hosting, maintenance and support responsibilities.
Price the review work too. WorkUP's published scope included a one-day content workshop and up to three rounds of content review. A brief should similarly name the reviewers, number of rounds and deadline for consolidated feedback.
A worked brief
This fictional training organisation shows the level of detail to aim for.
Problem: visitors ask for resources already on the site, and staff maintain duplicate event information.
Main tasks: find a resource, check eligibility and register for training.
Scope: review 90 pages and 180 documents; build five page templates; create editable event and resource records; migrate approved content; redirect changed URLs.
Content: the organisation supplies and approves the copy. The delivery team advises on structure and imports agreed records. Copywriting is priced separately.
Booking: registrations stay in the existing booking system. The website displays event details and links to registration.
Acceptance: an editor publishes each event once; filters return the agreed sample resources; test enquiries reach the right team; priority tasks pass the agreed checks.
Send suppliers the same brief
Ask each supplier to identify included work, assumptions, exclusions and optional items. That makes the prices easier to compare. Our website cost guide explains the main scope factors.
If you need help working through the brief, our Brisbane web design team can review the content, design and development requirements with you.