So you’ve finally decided to get a web site for your business, or maybe you’re fed up with your clunky old one and want a brand new one that will really impress your customers.

And you’ve also found a good web design company that comes highly recommended and whose work is exactly what you want.But how does the web design company know what you want? And how will you know that you’ve got exactly what you had in mind?

This is where the brief comes in. By thinking about what the web site will do for you, you can make sure that you’re not disappointed with the final result. And the development of your new web site will be a smooth and stress-free process for both parties.

Time and money

As with many things in life, it’s hard to get away from time and money when it comes to web sites.

Ben from web design company Red Ant says that it’s ‘Really important to give some idea of the budget as this will determine the scope of the project. There are not set prices for set things, the price varies with the amount of work required.’

Coupled with the time frame for the project, the web design company will then have the two key factors they need to work with.

Narrow down the focus

Once you’ve worked out the budget and timing, you can then  work out where the web designers on your short list can fit in.

Not all web designers are the same, they tend to specialise in certain areas. For example, some are great at promoting consumer awareness but have little experience in e-commerce.

Sites that I like

There is an incredible variety of web sites out there. It will help your chosen web design company immensely if you have a list of ones that either you like in their entirety or elements of which you think could work for you. This doesn’t mean that your site will be a copy of another company’s site, just that the designer has an idea of how you think and what is important to you.

You might want to look at other companies or organisations that have similar customers or values, or offer similar products or services.

And of course, when you find a company that you feel may be suitable for you, find out what sites they’ve done that are great for the projects you’re after

Who should be involved

A new web site is a major project for any company, but this doesn’t mean that the company owner should keep the project all to themselves.

It’s important that all the appropriate members of the staff have an input. This should even include quite junior people who process orders or add new information to the site. Not only will it affect their work processes, but they may also have some great ideas on how to make it even better.

Marketing objectives

Even of your new website isn’t primarily for e-commerce purposes, it’s important to take account of marketing considerations in the widest possible sense of the word.

For example, how should it contrast with those of your competitors, how will it provide design continuity with any previous website or with other marketing collateral such as brochures and advertisements.

What will the web site actually do

Web sites are so wonderful because they can perform so many functions. However it’s important to be clear as to exactly what you want yours to do.

Ben of Red Ant says that a key question to ask yourself is, ‘What is the one thing that I want my site to do really well?’

For example, do you want the new web site to reduce the number of phone calls that your company is getting from customers, expose the company and/or products, or be a place the customer can go for more information after seeing an advert in other media such as a newspaper ad.

Or do you want it to generate a marketing list/leads, illustrate products or tell a marketing story.

Ben is keen to stress that just saying you want a Web 2.0 site is not sufficient!

From a functional point of view you will want to consider the following roles:

• Provide information: this can include photos of products, catalogues, customer newsletters, press releases, contact details, store locations.
• Process orders: this includes not just the taking of orders, but also processing credit card details and tracking orders.
• Organise events: such as training courses, conferences, appointments with sales consultants
• Community support: offering group email facilities, staff intranet, blogs,

Target audience

Given the global reach of the world wide web, your new site will have to appeal to a very wide demographic range. But your business will have a preferred target audience, so your new site should take the following into account:

• Age
• Gender
• Income
• Families
• Familiarity with the internet

Your target audience should also be designed in terms of whether they are customers, information seekers, employees or stake holders etc.

Design keywords

When it comes to the visual design elements of the web site it’s important to know what themes and keywords are important to you and your customers.

Red Ant has a useful list of keywords that you may consider:

• Helpful (useful)
• Caring
• Interesting
• Approachable (softer, friendly)
• Conversational
• Simple (clean, easy, not complex or confusing)
• Credible (trustworthy)
• Human (real people are behind the content).