Deft Creative Articles

Selecting a Web Design Firm Part 1, Preparing a Helpful Brief

November 13th, 2006

Having received some pretty vague briefs for web projects in the past I thought it might be useful to give some pointers for those that have been tasked with creating a brief to put out to web design companies.

It can be daunting having to manage your company’s website design project. The following article discusses what you need to think about before looking for designers, so that the quotes you receive will be as accurate and meaningful as possible. If you are unsure about any of the points mentioned below, get in touch and we’ll help you out.

Target market

You will undoubtedly know details about this more than anyone else. If your business caters to a particular audience it is important to stress this to the designer. Think demographics. Age ranges, sex, geographical location, income ranges, marital status etc could all apply, and therefore SHOULD affect the way the site is designed from the outset, so include this in your brief.

Is there a particular niche that you are known for, or want to be known for?

Branding

Closely related to your target market is the image you want your company to portray on the web. A website should compliment any existing branding that you have in place (such as logo, colour schemes, brochures and stationary) but can also be taken in different directions. Perhaps one of these keywords best describes your company:

Professional, corporate, unique, innovative, conservative, friendly, personal, technological, artistic, efficient, clean, fashionable, small, fast…

Note down any other key phrases that describe your company and include these in the brief.

Your budget

If this is the first time you have got involved in a web project for your company then this might be a difficult question to answer yourself. There is always something that can be done to almost any budget, even if it is just a temporary measure. As we’ll see later on, quotes from web designers can vary considerably. It is not unreasonable to get quotes that range from £600 to £6,000 given the same brief. I’ll discuss the reasons why this is the case in part 2 of this guide.

Website goals

Every website needs a purpose, and it is important to think carefully about what this purpose is. Getting a website just because someone said you need one isn’t good enough, but this is often how the ball starts rolling. A website is there to work for you, so what would you like it to do for you? Remember, it isn’t just about generating new business, think about tasks that could be automated, or that clients could solve themselves through a feature on your website;

• Produce new, qualified leads
• Leverage other advertising, e.g. a landing site for a direct mail campaign
• Improve customer service
• Build an email subscriber list
• Provide detailed product info/specs
• Answer FAQs to save taking calls from customers
• Provide testimonials
• Keep customers current on changing info in your industry
• Increase the image/prestige of your business
• Reduce your overheads (postage, printing, etc.)
• Educate about your company, service or product
• Provide articles to visitors
• Provide maps or directions
• Provide an online booking/tracking system for your service

The ideal visitor

When a visitor arrives at your website, what is the one single most important thing you want them to do? See below for some possible options. An ideal visitor would…

• Pick up the phone and call us
• Buy one of our products online
• Complete an online form to request more information about us
• Sign up to our newsletter or mailing list
• Request literature by post
• Choose our company over our competitors
• Make a booking/appointment online

Site size and structure

Decide what sections you want your site to have. Start with the most common ones, as listed below….

• Home Page
• About us/company profile
• Our services
• Our staff
• Contact Us

Then see if there are any more that could add value to the site, without bloating it out unnecessarily, perhaps some of these would apply….

• Client list
• Testimonials
• Case Studies
• Purchase products online
• Password protected area for members
• Article downloads
• Industry Tools / Resources

How often will you want content to change?

Perhaps a large proportion of your website will be filled with articles that you write regularly, or maybe you sell products which change regularly. If this is the case then it is important that this is understood from the very beginning. It may be necessary for a Content Management System (CMS) to be integrated with your site to enable you to make adjustments yourself.

These can be very simple, such as a simple updateable “latest news” page, or extremely complex, where you are able to update any part of the site, assign other users permissions to work on certain pages, upload images, alter the menu system etc. Obviously you will need to be prepared to pay for functionality like this, but if you feel you don’t need it, don’t get talked into it.

Make it clear how much you would like control of, as paying for features you will never use will inflate the costs unnecessarily.

Competitors

The best way to see what is done well, and what is done badly is to look at your competitor’s sites, or any website relating to your industry. Note down any good ideas you see AND bad ideas. These are the mistakes to avoid.

Look at what your competitors are doing well, and ask yourself if you can better it. What do they do badly, can you do it properly? What sets you apart from them – this could be a good point of focus. Is there a niche that could be explored that these competitors don’t currently cover? Make sure all this is put in the brief.

Pick out websites you like, both in design and function, and ones that you definitely don’t, as examples.

Conclusion

It would be good if all quotation requests arrived with all of the points above included in detail, but understandably it may not always be possible. Often though there is the need for some initial consultancy to help nail down some of these answers, so a proposal can be put together.

If you do need help with any of the points discussed in this article, or need advice about how a website can benefit your business, then I’d be happy to discuss this with you. Please use the contact form here

Entry Filed under: Deft Touch