How to Brief a Web Developer

• Ruby Blessing
• 15 April 2008
• Page 1 of 2 : single page

Whether you’re building a brand spanking new website or revamping your old one, you'll need to brief a web developer or digital agency to design and build it for you.

Getting that brief just so can make the difference between launching the site you want in the time frames you’ve agreed, and a long, drawn-out process that blows your budget, tries your patience and completely misses the mark.

Armed with a good brief, an experienced developer will be able to design a website that is a digital interpretation of you and your business and, most importantly, come up with a workable budget. Your budget will determine the size of the website, speed of development and the scope of the technology. With web developing companies encompassing everything from one-man bands to large digital agencies, your budget will also help to determine who you can afford to use. Whoever you choose, you’ll still need to write a great web brief that conveys what you want, what you need and how much you can afford to spend. Here are five key steps to writing the brief right.

Step 1: Do your research:

Gather information

In order for your web developer to understand what you want and need, provide as much relevant information as possible. If you haven’t already done so, think through who you hope will use your website, and how you want them to use it.

This will affect not only what content you put on your site, but also how it is presented (for example, written content only, audio-visual, interactive or any other format). If you know who you want to attract to your site and how you want them to use it, your web developer can suggest the most appropriate approach to ensure you get the response you want.

You’ll also need to have a good understanding of your own brand in the context of your online business. Having a brand or style will help the designer to create an appropriate visual interpretation of your business. The look and feel of your brand will set the tone of your website, enhancing the user experience and enticing your visitors to stay.

A good web developer will talk you through functionality and technology, but will still need as much information about your target market as possible.

Here are some points to consider:

• What is your story?

• What are your unique selling propositions (USPs)?

• How will the site visitor connect emotionally with your business?

• What level of technology and bandwidth does your market have?

• Will they be using fast or slow connections?

Do you need:

• to cater for visitors with disabilities?

• to conform to government standards?

• ecommerce or a shopping cart?

• contact or order forms?

Do you want:

• to hook into an existing customer database?

• to be able to update the content yourself?

• (a sedative yet?)

Ask partners and employees for their point of view, too. Gavin Gorazdowski, from digital agency Newgency (newgency.com.au), says, “Clients come to us with grand ideas about what a website will achieve, often based on lack of research and misconceptions. It’s often hard for clients to accept that they’re not as unique as they thought. But that’s just one of the challenges in getting the strategy right.”

Step 2: Define your immediate and long-term goals

An immediate goal for your website might be to launch a new product or brand online. If you want it to be the first thing your website visitors see, then try to have as little clutter on the homepage as possible. Don’t distract visitors from your key message.

It’s worth knowing that, on average, you have no more than four seconds to capture your visitor’s attention. A Flash intro might dazzle them for a moment, but will they remember the cool graphics or you? Make sure they stay focused on your product.

Your next goal might be to leverage your happy customers to generate more happy customers. Using Web2.0 and community-based features with add-ons, such as forums, product ratings, comments and loyalty clubs, will enable your customers to become advocates for your brand or product.

You may want to energise your content by adding video, podcasts or interactive demos. Over time, you may want to recruit distributors, or make bulk ordering easier. Other long-term goals may include global sales and (naturally) world domination.

If you have the budget to launch with all this, well and good, but for most businesses, keeping it simple is the best way to get a relevant and functioning website off the ground.

To help define your goals, divide them into what you want, and what you need. There’s a big difference between the two.

1. What you want

This could include video, podcasts, community and social networking tools (Facebook-style), a shopping cart with product comments and ratings, a B2B extranet? I could go on and on…

2. What you need

This could include brand and product awareness, direct communication with customers, increased sales and/or leads. Above all, you will need to be able to maintain the site’s content easily.

Finally, give some thought to how you plan to measure the success of your site.

• By increased visitor traffic to the site?

• More calls and sales?

• Lots of PR and buzz about your product?

List some realistic key performance indicators (KPIs) so your web development team has tangible targets to aim for.