The brief we send every client before we build
Ten questions. Around 20 minutes. This is the main thing we need from you — everything else is handled by us.
Why we use a structured brief
The single biggest cause of slow projects and disappointing results is undefined requirements. When the brief is vague, the build is vague. When the brief is specific, the site is specific — and the outcome is predictable.
These ten questions give us everything we need to design, write, and build your site without needing to go back and forth ten times. Most clients complete the brief in 20 minutes. After that, your involvement until the site is delivered for review is typically one 30-minute call.
The ten questions
What do you do, and who do you primarily serve?
Describe your business as you would to a new client. Include: what you do, the type of customer you work with (domestic, commercial, trade, professional), and anything that makes your service distinctive.
What areas do you cover?
Be specific — town names, not just regions. For example: "Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, and Wolverhampton — we do not travel beyond a 30-mile radius of Birmingham city centre." This directly determines how your site ranks in local search.
What are your three most important services?
The services that account for the most revenue, the ones you most want to be found for, or the ones where demand is highest. These become your primary service pages.
What do most customers contact you about first?
What question do you answer most often on the phone? What problem prompts the call? This shapes the language we use on your homepage and service pages.
Which competitors do you respect? (Two or three examples.)
Not necessarily direct local competitors — any business in your sector whose website you think is good, or who you know is generating a lot of work from Google. We will study what they are doing well.
Do you have a logo and brand colours, or do we need to establish these?
If you have a logo, send it as a PNG or SVG file. If you have brand colours, provide the hex codes or describe them. If you have neither, tell us what feel you want: professional and corporate, warm and approachable, minimal, bold, etc.
Do you have photos of your work, your team, or your premises?
Real photos build more trust than stock images. If you have phone photos of completed jobs, your team, your vehicle, or your workspace — send them. If not, tell us and we will source appropriate stock photography.
Are there any websites you like the look and feel of?
Not necessarily in your sector. Any websites — a restaurant, a consultancy, a product brand — where you think "I like how that feels." Helps us understand your aesthetic instincts before we start designing.
What does success look like in six months?
What would the site need to do for you to consider it a success? More phone calls? Appearing for specific search terms? A certain number of new enquiries per month? Being specific here means we can build toward a measurable outcome.
Is there anything you specifically want us to avoid?
Design styles, colours, phrases, or types of content that you dislike or that would not represent your business well. Also: any regulatory or professional body constraints on what your website can claim (relevant for accountants, solicitors, financial advisers, healthcare professionals).
What happens after you complete the brief
- 1 We review your answers and confirm we have everything we need (usually within one working day).
- 2 If anything needs clarification, we ask — one email, not a back-and-forth.
- 3 We begin the build. You receive an update at day 3, day 10, and day 14.
- 4 The completed site is shared with you for review. One structured revision round is included.
- 5 Site launches. All credentials are transferred to you on the same day.
The discovery brief is sent after the free review, once we have confirmed we are a good fit.