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What is a redesign brief for?
A brief describes what your website should become, and why. It does three things: it aligns the people in your company on the goals, it gets you quotes you can actually compare, and it gives everyone a shared reference for the whole project.
It doesn’t need to be long. A clear document of a few pages beats a fifty‑page file nobody reads. What matters: what is wrong today, what you expect tomorrow, and what must not be lost.
1. Context and goals
Describe your business in a few lines, then why you need a redesign: a dated site, too slow, hard to update, or one that brings no enquiries. Then set two or three measurable goals, for example more quote requests, a site you can edit without a provider, or an English version.
A precise goal guides every choice that follows: structure, design, features.
2. Audit of the current site
List what works and what gets in the way. If you have statistics (Google Search Console, an analytics tool), note the most visited pages and the searches that bring visitors: those are the ones to protect.
- Pages that bring visits or enquiries
- Content to keep, rewrite or remove
- Known problems: speed, mobile display, forms, updates
3. Audiences and their journeys
Who needs to find what? Describe your typical visitors (clients, partners, candidates) and the action you expect from each: request a quote, book a meeting, download a document. A good journey takes few steps.
4. Site structure
The site structure is the list of pages and where they sit in the menu. Start from what exists, group, simplify, and note the pages to create or merge. It is also the basis of SEO: every important page should answer a specific search.
5. Content
Who writes the copy, who provides the photos? This is often what delays a redesign. Say whether content is kept as is, reorganised or rewritten, and who handles it.
6. Features
List what the site must do, separating the essential from the nice to have:
- Contact or quote forms
- Content you can edit yourself (pages, news)
- Client area, booking
- Bilingual site
- Links with your existing tools (customer management, calendar, invoicing)
7. Design and brand
Attach your brand guidelines if you have them (logo, colours, typefaces), and a few websites you like, explaining why. Also say what you no longer want to see. These examples save a lot of time.
8. SEO and migration
This is the most often forgotten point, and the riskiest. A redesign often changes page addresses: without redirects, the pages already on Google disappear and traffic drops.
- The list of current addresses and their new address (301 redirects)
- Keeping the titles and descriptions of the pages that work
- Checks after launch, in Google Search Console
9. Technical constraints
Domain name, hosting, tools to keep, accessibility, security requirements: note what is imposed. If you are not sure, just say so. It is the provider’s job to suggest solutions and explain them clearly.
10. Budget and timeline
Give a budget range, even a wide one: it makes it possible to propose the right scope instead of an off‑target quote. Also give the launch date you have in mind, and whether it is tied to an event. With a fixed date, launch keeps what really matters, and the rest follows.
An outline you can copy
Here is a simple outline to reuse and complete:
- Company overview and reason for the redesign
- Measurable goals, two or three
- Audit: what works, what doesn’t, statistics
- Audiences and expected actions
- Proposed site structure
- Content: kept, rewritten, to create
- Features: essential, nice to have
- Design: guidelines, examples you like, things to avoid
- SEO: pages to protect, redirects
- Technical constraints
- Budget, launch date, contact person
Mistakes to avoid
- Describing solutions instead of needs: say what the site must allow, not which tool to use.
- Forgetting redirects for old pages.
- Wanting everything at launch: a redesign can happen in stages.
- Not naming a decision maker: approvals drag on, and so does the project.
What next?
With this document, you can ask for quotes. At KODAPT, the initial analysis is there to choose between a partial or full website redesign, before any quote. You can also estimate the cost of your redesign by describing your project in 2 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Who should write a website redesign brief?
You, with the people who use the site day to day. The provider can help you complete it, as they know which questions to ask. What matters is that the goals come from you.
How long should a brief be?
There is no rule. For a showcase site, a few pages are often enough. A short, precise document beats a long, vague one.
Do you need a brief for a partial redesign?
Yes, even a short one: it says what changes and what stays, so the redesign doesn’t spill over.