Website Design Brief Checklist: What to Send Before Requesting a Quote

Author : sameer verma | Published On : 12 Nov 2026

“We need a new five-page website” sounds like a clear request. But it leaves an agency guessing about who will write the copy, how enquiries should reach you and whether anything needs to move from your old site. Those assumptions can make two quotes look comparable when they cover different work.

You don’t need a long document to fix that. A one-page website design brief is a good starting point if it answers these five questions.

1. What should visitors do?

Choose the action that matters most to your business: request a quote, call, book an appointment or buy a product. Instead of writing “we need a modern website,” write “we want mobile visitors to request a quote without having to call.” That gives the agency a specific outcome to design and test for.

2. What needs to be ready at launch?

List the must-have pages and features. Put anything that can wait in a separate list. For example, a local repair business might need a homepage, service pages and a quote form at launch, while a blog or online booking system can wait. Ask the agency to price those extras separately.

3. Who is supplying the content?

Say which copy, images, logos and brand guidelines are ready. If you’re providing rough notes rather than finished copy, say so. Writing a service page from scratch is different from formatting text you’ve already approved, and the quote should reflect that.

4. What needs to carry over from the old site?

If this is a redesign, share the current website address and flag important pages, forms and integrations. If any page addresses will change, ask who will map and test redirects. Describe the accounts involved, but leave passwords and other credentials out of the brief.

5. What should your team be able to do after launch?

Name one or two routine tasks your team needs to handle. For example, “Our office manager should be able to update opening hours and add a project photo without developer help.” Ask what access, training and post-launch support the quote includes.

A short example you can adapt

We run a local repair business. Our priority is getting quote requests from mobile visitors. At launch, we need a homepage, three service pages and an enquiry form that sends submissions to our shared inbox. We can supply project photos and rough service notes, but we need help writing the final copy. Please price online booking separately and show us how to edit opening hours after handover.

Send the same brief to every agency. Ask each one to mark each requirement as included, excluded or optional. Then compare the cost of getting the site you actually need live, rather than comparing the headline prices alone.

For a fuller version you can adapt to your project, see Webcurry’s website design brief template.