How to Write a Website Brief (RFP): Structure, Examples and Ready Wording

Short answer: a brief isn’t “I want a pretty website” — it’s the document by which a studio can give an exact price and timeline, and you can accept the work. A good brief answers 8 blocks: goals and metrics, an audit of the current site, page structure, functionality, content, design expectations, integrations and technical requirements (speed, SEO, accessibility), plus acceptance criteria. Here’s how to write one yourself.

Block 1. Goals and metrics, not “pretty”

Start from the business, not pictures. Write down:

• Why the site exists: collect leads, sell products, inform, enter a new market/language.
• One main metric: leads/month, conversion, revenue, organic share.
• Who the customer is and what they must do on the site (the target action).

Block 2. Audit of the current site (if any)

What to keep, fix, remove: rankings and traffic from Search Console, weak pages, speed (Lighthouse), mobile usability, what’s broken in the lead inbox. This protects against “rebuild everything from scratch” when 70% can be saved. Related — redesign without losing SEO.

Block 3. Page structure

Map the site and give each page one goal:

Page	Job	Required elements
Home	hook + route into a service	offer, benefits, cases, CTA
Service / product	convert	scope, “from” prices, FAQ, form
Cases	prove	challenge → solution → number
About	trust	team, details, certifications
Blog	traffic	categories, search, subscription
Contact	lead	map, tap-to-call, messengers

Block 4. Functionality: what must work

List it item by item, not “and everything”:

• forms (which fields, where they go, spam protection), live chat, callback;
• cost calculator, catalogue filters/search, client dashboard;
• multilingual and locales (languages, currencies);
• payment and delivery (for a store);
• admin roles and permissions — who edits what.

Block 5. Content and CMS

• Who writes text and where photos come from — you, the studio, or copywriting in the package.
• What you edit yourself — then you need a headless CMS: edit pages and blocks without a developer. Why it matters — in the headless vs WordPress guide and on the content platforms page.
• Migrating old content (page count, products, articles) — on its own line.

Block 6. Design: expectations and references

• 3–5 reference sites “like / don’t like” and why.
• Brand: is there a guide, logo, brand colors.
• Style: minimal/premium/dark; do you need animation and 3D (this affects price and speed — see animations that convert).
• Design concept before code: lock that you approve it.

Block 7. Technical requirements

Block 8. Integrations (as a separate table)

System	Why	Data
CRM (HubSpot/Pipedrive/custom)	no lost leads	contact, deal, source
ERP	live stock and prices	catalogue, warehouse
Telephony	call recording in the record	number, duration
Payment/delivery	order intake	status, receipt
GA4 + Search Console	measure results	events, queries

How it’s built under the hood — connecting your site to a CRM and ERP.

Block 9. Acceptance criteria and deadlines

Write directly in the brief what counts as “done”:

• pages built to the approved design, cross-browser;
• Lighthouse ≥ 90 on 3 key pages (attach the report);
• forms deliver the lead to the CRM, goals fire in GA4;
• content migrated, meta filled, sitemap returns 200;
• the team trained to edit, access and source code handed over;
• a bug warranty (e.g. 6–12 months).

A mini brief template (copy and fill)

1. Project: company X website. Goal: ≥ N leads/month, conversion ≥ Y%. 2. Audit: current site — rankings, speed, issues. 3. Structure: home, 4 services, cases, about, blog, contacts. 4. Functionality: forms → CRM, calculator, multilingual (EN/UK), search. 5. Content: copy by studio, photos by client, migrate 12 pages. 6. Design: references A/B/C, dark theme, GSAP animations, concept before code. 7. Technical: Lighthouse 90+, green CWV, hreflang, GA4+goals, structured data. 8. Integrations: CRM, telephony, payments. 9. Acceptance: Lighthouse report, form test, access and source handover, 12-month warranty. 10. Budget and stages: fixed quote, weekly demos.

Bottom line

A good brief translates a business goal into the language of pages, functions and acceptance criteria. Fill in the 9 blocks above — and you get an accurate quote, a predictable timeline and a site that solves the job, not just “exists”.

Get a brief and quote for your site → — in a free brief we’ll turn your goals into a spec and give a fixed price. Read next: how to choose a web studio and landing vs multi-page site.