How to write a website brief or RFP
What to put in a website brief or request for proposals so agencies and freelancers can quote accurately and you can compare their answers fairly.
A website brief is a short document that explains what you need, why and by when. An RFP (request for proposals) is the same thing with a formal process around it: deadlines, a format for responses and how you'll choose. Either way, a good brief gets you better proposals, more accurate prices and quotes you can actually compare.
Why a brief matters
Without a brief, each agency fills the gaps with its own assumptions. One quotes a five-page site, another a fifty-page site with a shop, and you can't compare them. A brief also forces useful decisions inside your own business before you spend money.
What to include
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1. Your business in a paragraph
What you sell, who buys it, where you operate and what makes you different. Write it the way you'd explain it to a smart friend.
2. Your customers
Who visits the site and what they want to know before they act. If you have more than one audience (buyers and job seekers, patients and referrers), list them in order of importance.
3. The goal
The single most useful line in a brief. What should the site achieve, and how will you know? For example:
- "Generate 20 qualified consultation requests a month."
- "Let distributors find spec sheets without calling us."
- "Sell our product range online, with subscriptions."
If you only write one thing, write this.
4. What exists today
- Current website address and platform, if you know it.
- What works and what doesn't.
- Your analytics, if you have them. Traffic and enquiry numbers help agencies size the job.
- Brand assets: logo, colors, fonts, photography, brand guidelines.
5. What the site needs to do
List features, not designs. Contact forms, booking, online payments, a resource library, a members' area, integrations with your CRM or email tool. Mark each as must have or nice to have.
6. Content
Roughly how many pages, who will write the copy and whether you have photography. Be honest. Content is often the biggest hidden piece of work in a project.
7. Budget range
Give a range. Agencies scope very differently at different budgets, and a range lets them propose the best version that fits. Not sharing one usually leads to proposals that are far too big or far too small. What a website actually costs helps you set a realistic range.
8. Timeline
When you want to launch, and why. A trade show, a product launch or a funding round is a real deadline. "As soon as possible" is not, and it makes it hard for agencies to plan.
9. Who decides
Name the decision-maker and anyone who must approve the work. Projects slow down most when approvers appear late.
10. What you want back (for an RFP)
If you are running a formal process, say what you want in each response so they're comparable:
- Approach and process.
- Team and who does what.
- Relevant work and references.
- Timeline with your responsibilities shown.
- Price, payment terms and exclusions.
- What happens after launch.
Also give a deadline for questions, a deadline for proposals and the date you'll decide.
How to write it
Start from a template. Copy our Project intake form for the logistics and scope, and add answers from the Discovery brief template if you want to share your audience and competitors too.
Talk to your team. Ask sales and customer service what customers ask before they buy. Those questions should shape the site.
Collect examples. List two or three sites you like and say what you like about each. "The way they explain pricing" is more useful than "clean design".
Keep it short. Two to five pages. Agencies will ask follow-up questions; that is a good sign.
Send the same brief to everyone. Then compare proposals using Red flags in a website proposal.
Common mistakes
- Specifying the design instead of the goal. "A big video header" is a solution. "Show visitors our process in under a minute" is a goal, and an agency may have a better answer.
- Listing every possible feature as essential. It inflates every quote. Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves.
- Hiding the budget. You will get proposals you can't use.
- Skipping the "who decides" section. A late approver can undo weeks of work.
- Leaving out what's not working. Agencies need to know what to fix.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a formal RFP?
Only if your organization requires one, such as a public body or a non-profit with a board policy. For most small and mid-sized businesses, a clear brief and two or three conversations is faster and gets better results.
Should I ask agencies for free design samples?
We'd advise against it. Good design comes from understanding your business, which takes discovery work. Free mock-ups are usually guesses, and they reward the agency willing to work for free rather than the one that would do your project best. Ask to see past work instead.
What if I don't know the answers to some sections?
Say so. "We don't know whether we need online booking" is useful. A good agency will help you work it out in discovery. See What happens in discovery and strategy.
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