A clearer brief makes a better website
By Ameen Abdul RahmanMarketer & creative developer
Define the visitor’s next step before deciding on a layout. A useful brief explains who the site serves, what those people need to understand and the action they should be able to take.
Map your essential pages. Give each page a clear purpose, a useful title and links that help the visitor continue. Content and navigation should be planned together.
Start with a real visitor
Picture one person arriving on the site. What brought them here? What do they need to understand before they feel comfortable taking the next step? A useful brief answers those questions before it chooses a layout.
Write the primary action in one sentence. “Request a quote” is different from “understand the service” or “compare a product range”. A page can support more than one action, but it helps to know which one matters most.
Give every page a job
List the pages you actually need, then describe the role of each one. The homepage introduces the whole story. A service page answers a particular need. A work page provides context and evidence. A contact page makes the next step feel easy.
Plan the content before treating the design as finished. Real headlines, real image proportions and realistic amounts of text reveal problems that neat placeholder content tends to hide.
Make feedback useful
Review a page against the original goal. Is the next step clear? Does the content answer the visitor’s likely questions? Is the important information easy to find on a small screen?
A specific observation is easier to act on than a general reaction. “I can’t find what happens after an enquiry” gives the next revision a purpose. “Make it pop” leaves everyone guessing.
A useful question to take away
What is the one decision that would make your next piece of work clearer for the person it is meant to reach?
