Template
Most website quotes are wrong because the brief was missing, not because the supplier guessed badly. This template is the set of questions I ask before pricing any project. Copy it, answer what you can, leave honest blanks, and send it to whoever you are considering. A supplier who quotes without reading it is telling you something.
How to use it
Write “we do not know yet” wherever it is true. The gaps tell a good supplier where discovery is needed, which is a legitimate part of the scope. A brief that fakes certainty produces a quote that assumes it, and the difference surfaces as a change request in week three. Most briefs take an hour; the sections on goals and proof usually take longest, because they are the ones nobody has written down before.
Part 1
One sentence. Enquiries, demo bookings, applications, downloads, phone calls. If there are several, rank them.
The number you will look at six months after launch, and what it is today. If you do not measure it yet, say so.
What changed: a new offer, a rebrand, a site that embarrasses the sales team, a platform that is being switched off. The reason shapes what must be fixed first.
Be specific. “Look modern” is not a requirement; “let the marketing team publish a case study without a developer” is.
Part 2
Role, company type, and the situation they are in when they arrive. “Head of operations at a 50-person logistics firm, comparing three suppliers after a bad experience” is a usable answer.
Recruits, investors, partners, existing customers. Naming who the site is not for is often the fastest way to simplify it.
That you have done this before, that you are the right size, that you are not too expensive, that you will still exist in three years. List the doubts in order.
The questions that come up every time. The site should answer most of them before the call happens.
Part 3
Logos and names you have permission to use, and any you would like to use but have not asked yet.
Numbers, timeframes, before-and-after, with the client’s agreement. If nothing is agreed yet, say what could be asked for.
A quote with a name and company is worth ten without. List what you have and who could be asked.
A process, a sample deliverable, a demo, a walkthrough. Anything that lets a visitor see rather than take your word.
Part 4
List them, including the ones you would rather not have. Mark which have finished text, which have a draft, and which have nothing.
You, a writer, the supplier, or nobody has decided. This is the single most common reason a project runs late.
Team, office, product, work in progress. Stock imagery is a decision, not a default, and should be named as one.
Logo files, colours, typefaces, a brand book. If the identity is also changing, say so now; it changes the sequence of the whole project.
Part 5
CRM, booking tools, newsletter, analytics, a product, a job board. Name each system and whether it is staying.
This decides the platform. A marketing team publishing weekly needs a CMS; a site that changes twice a year may not.
From Google Search Console or analytics. Any page with traffic is a page that has to be protected in the move.
Multiple languages, a public-sector accessibility standard, a market with specific legal pages.
A range, not a number. Suppliers price scope to budget; without one they price the maximum and you negotiate down, which wastes a week.
A trade show, a funding round, a contract. A date without a reason is a preference, and preferences move.
One name for approval. Everyone else is consulted. Projects with committee approval take twice as long, and it is better to know now.
With the previous site or the previous supplier. The answer usually contains the real requirement.
What good answers look like
“We need a modern, professional website that reflects our brand and generates leads. Target audience: businesses. Timeline: ASAP. Budget: to be discussed.” Every supplier will quote this differently and none of them will be wrong.
“We sell fleet insurance to logistics firms with 20 to 200 vehicles. The site should produce quote requests; we get about four a month now and want twelve. Buyers ask first about claims handling time, which the current site never mentions. We have three named clients and one attributed testimonial. Text exists for six of nine pages. Launch by March for the trade show. Budget between X and Y.” A quote against this will be close to the final invoice.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and it is shorter. Parts one to three still apply, because a design does not record what the site is for or what it has to prove. Parts four and five become an inventory of what exists rather than a plan.
Yes, the same brief to each. Comparable quotes are only possible against the same document. If one supplier asks better questions in response, that is information too.
Then the site cannot show proof either, and the project should include collecting it: asking clients for attribution, agreeing which results can be stated. Knowing this before design starts is the point of the question.
A brief describes the project. An RFP adds how suppliers should respond and how they will be compared. If you are running a formal selection, use the brief as the core of the RFP; there is a separate template for that.
Sources and basis
This template is drawn from briefs used on real projects. It cites no external standard because there is none; the questions are the ones that, when left unanswered, cost projects the most time.
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