The short verdict
- Quotes vary wildly mostly because briefs leave too much to guess.
- Eight pieces of information remove most of the guessing.
- If you have a live site, even a generated one, the link is the most useful part of the brief.
01Why briefs matter for price
When a brief says “a modern website for our company, around ten pages”, every studio has to imagine the rest. One imagines a template. Another imagines custom design and motion. Both pad the number to cover what they cannot see. You get three quotes that cannot be compared and a lot of follow-up calls.
A clear brief does not need to be long. One page is plenty.
02The eight things to include
1. What the site is for
One or two sentences on the job: “Get demo bookings from operations managers at logistics companies.” That alone changes what gets prioritised.
2. The current site
The link, and what you like and dislike about it. If it was built with an AI tool, say which. It shows content, structure and scale better than any description.
3. The scope
Which of these you want: move the site as it is, add motion, redesign and rebuild, or not sure. Unsure is a fine answer. Saying so means the quote can include a recommendation.
4. The pages and templates
A list of pages, and which ones share a layout. Ten blog posts on one template are very different from ten unique landing pages.
5. Content
Who writes the copy, whether it exists already, and how much content needs moving: number of posts, case studies, products.
6. Must-have features
Forms and where they go, integrations with a CRM or booking tool, languages, gated content, anything unusual.
7. Brand
Whether you have a logo, colours, fonts and guidelines, or need them. Links to two or three sites you admire, with a line on what you like about each.
8. Timing and budget
Any fixed launch date and a budget range. People hesitate to share a budget, but a range lets a studio tell you what is realistic for it instead of guessing.
03A template you can copy
- Goal: what the site needs to achieve, for whom.
- Current site: link, built with, likes, dislikes.
- Scope: move, motion, rebuild, or not sure.
- Pages: list, and which share a layout.
- Content: who writes it, how much to move.
- Features: forms, integrations, languages.
- Brand: what exists, what is needed, sites you admire.
- Timing and budget: dates, range.
“A clear brief does not get you a cheaper quote. It gets you an accurate one, which is better.”
04What not to include
A long list of features you might want one day. A full sitemap of a site three times bigger than you need. Detailed design instructions before anyone has looked at the problem. Those make quotes bigger and less accurate. Leave room for the people you hire to recommend things.
05Questions people ask
Do I need a brief to contact you?
No. A link and a short note on what feels wrong is enough to start. We ask the rest when we need it.
Should I share my budget?
A range helps a lot. It lets us say what fits, rather than quoting something you cannot use.
How many quotes should I get?
Two or three, from people who do similar work. With the same brief, they are much easier to compare.
What happens after I send a brief?
With us, you get the verdict: what is holding the site back and what it takes to fix. Send the link to start.
