Website Redesign Brief: A Practical Template for Established Businesses

If you are planning a website redesign, a clear brief will help you get more useful proposals, compare suppliers on the same basis and avoid solving the wrong problem.

It does not need to contain every answer. In fact, a brief that prescribes the finished solution too tightly can leave little room for the designer or studio to improve the thinking. Its job is to establish the commercial context, known requirements, unresolved questions and practical boundaries of the project.

For an established business, that matters because a redesign is rarely a blank sheet of paper. The current site already contains search history, content, analytics, proof, technical connections and assumptions about the business. Some of those should change. Some may be valuable and need protecting.

This guide explains what to include and provides a complete copy-and-paste website redesign brief template you can adapt.

What is a website redesign brief?

A website redesign brief is a document that explains why the existing website needs to change and what the new website must help the business achieve. It gives a prospective designer, studio or agency enough context to recommend an approach, define the scope and prepare a realistic proposal.

A good redesign brief should cover:

• the business and what has changed;
• the audiences and work you want to attract;
• the purpose of the new website;
• what is and is not working now;
• positioning and messaging questions;
• content, pages and functionality;
• search visibility and migration requirements;
• roles, decision-makers, budget and timing;
• how success will be judged after launch.

It should not attempt to design the website in advance. You are briefing a problem and an ambition, not drawing the answer.

Why a redesign brief is different from a brief for a first website

A first website begins with very little inherited structure. A redesign has a past.

The existing site may already rank for useful searches, attract links, host downloadable resources, collect data, feed a CRM or support sales conversations. Its weaknesses may be obvious, but its hidden value is easier to overlook.

That means a redesign brief must answer two questions:

1. What needs to become better?
2. What must not be lost in the process?

Changing a URL without a redirect, removing a page that earns relevant traffic or failing to carry analytics into the new site can erase useful value. Equally, preserving every old page simply because it exists can carry outdated positioning and unnecessary complexity into the new structure.

The brief should make both sides visible so the project can distinguish between assets, liabilities and open questions.

Before you write the brief, diagnose the actual problem

“The website feels dated” is a valid concern, but it is not yet a useful project objective.

Try to identify what the dated website is causing:

• Does it make the business appear smaller or less experienced than it is?
• Does it attract enquiries for old services or lower-value work?
• Do prospective clients struggle to understand the offer?
• Does the founder have to explain the business personally every time?
• Is the platform difficult to update?
• Is mobile performance weak?
• Are relevant pages failing to appear in search?
• Does the site lack the proof needed to support higher-value decisions?

The answer determines the work. A visual refresh, messaging project, technical rebuild and full strategic redesign are different projects, even if they can initially feel like the same dissatisfaction.

If the underlying issue is still unclear, use the diagnostic on why a website is not generating the right enquiries before asking suppliers to price a solution.

The 12 parts of a useful website redesign brief

1. A short project summary

Open with the reason for the project in plain English. Two or three paragraphs are enough.

Explain what the business is, why the redesign is happening now and what you hope will be different when the new site is live. This gives every later requirement a common frame.

Example: “The business has moved from delivering individual technical services to advising clients across a more strategic programme. The current website still presents the earlier offer, looks less established than the business now is and attracts enquiries for work we no longer prioritise. We need a clearer, more confident website that supports the next stage of the business.”

2. What has changed in the business

This is often the most important section for an established founder-led business.

Describe the changes the website has not kept up with. These might include:

• a refined or expanded offer;
• a move towards a more valuable audience;
• new sectors or geographic markets;
• stronger experience, proof or credentials;
• a change in leadership or business structure;
• a higher level of pricing or project complexity;
• a clearer point of view;
• plans for the next two to three years.

The new website should reflect where the business is going, not simply reproduce a more polished version of where it has been.

3. The audience and the work you want more of

A broad audience description such as “SMEs” or “decision-makers” gives a designer very little to work with.

Describe the people, organisations and buying situations that matter. Include:

• the kinds of organisations you most want to work with;
• the roles involved in choosing you;
• the problems or changes that bring them to the site;
• what they already understand before they arrive;
• their common doubts, objections and questions;
• the work you want more of;
• the enquiries you would prefer to filter out.

This is not only marketing information. It shapes navigation, page priorities, proof, language and the enquiry journey.

4. Objectives and measures of success

A website cannot guarantee rankings, leads or sales, but the project still needs defined outcomes.

Choose a small number of meaningful objectives, such as:

• make the current offer easier to understand;
• attract better-fit enquiries;
• support a move into a more valuable market;
• provide stronger evidence for referral prospects;
• reduce repeated explanations during sales conversations;
• improve relevant organic visibility;
• make content easier for the team to publish;
• present the business consistently across search and AI discovery.

Then note how you will judge progress. Useful measures might include the quality of enquiries, visibility for priority commercial searches, engagement with service and case-study pages, conversion into conversations, editing time, or feedback from clients and referrers.

5. What works and what fails on the current website

Give the current site an evidence-based review. Avoid limiting this to “I like the colours” or “the homepage feels busy”.

Include:

• pages that attract relevant search traffic;
• content that prospects or clients find useful;
• case studies, testimonials and proof worth retaining;
• pages that generate enquiries;
• content that is outdated, duplicated or rarely used;
• navigation or journeys that cause confusion;
• mobile, speed or accessibility problems;
• platform restrictions and editing frustrations;
• features, forms or integrations that no longer work well.

Share access to Google Analytics and Search Console with the chosen supplier before the structure is finalised. A current sitemap and page-level performance export can prevent commercially useful content being removed by accident.

If you are still deciding whether the existing foundation can be improved, the guide to when you should redesign your website helps distinguish a refresh from a fuller rebuild.

6. Positioning and messaging

Be honest about what is resolved and what is not.

Can the business clearly explain:

• who it is for;
• the problem it is best equipped to solve;
• what makes its approach meaningfully different;
• how the services relate to one another;
• why a prospective client should trust it;
• the tone and impression the website should create?

If these questions produce different answers across the leadership team, the project needs a strategy or messaging phase before detailed copy and design.

Do not hide this uncertainty from prospective suppliers. Ask how they would resolve it and whether that work is included. A new design built around unresolved positioning normally becomes a better-looking version of the same ambiguity.

Amplify’s Brand DNA process brings the audience, value, difference, proof and voice into one coherent foundation. A more focused website messaging project may be enough when the broader business strategy is already clear.

7. Pages, content and proof

You do not need to arrive with a final sitemap, but you should identify the content the website must support.

List:

• essential pages and likely service areas;
• priority audiences that may need dedicated routes;
• case studies, projects or sector evidence;
• insights, resources or downloadable material;
• team, recruitment or partner content;
• legal and policy pages;
• content that must be migrated, rewritten, merged or retired.

Most importantly, state who is responsible for the words.

“Copy to be supplied by the client” can remove a large amount from a proposal, but it also transfers a major piece of work to the business. If copywriting is required, say whether you expect the supplier to interview people, create the messaging structure, write every page, edit existing material, migrate content and upload it into the CMS.

The same applies to imagery, video and case studies. Identify what exists, what can be reused and what needs to be commissioned.

8. Functionality, CMS and integrations

Describe what users and the internal team need to do, not only the feature you think will provide it.

Requirements might include:

• enquiry and qualification forms;
• CRM or email-marketing connections;
• appointment booking;
• gated or ungated resources;
• case-study and insight collections;
• search and filtering;
• team or location directories;
• events, jobs or membership areas;
• multilingual content;
• analytics, consent and tracking;
• accessibility requirements;
• editing permissions and approval workflows.

Separate genuine requirements from ideas. A long feature list can increase cost and complexity without improving the buyer’s experience.

For the CMS, explain who will update the site, how confident they are, what they need to edit and how often. The right system is one the business can realistically maintain after launch.

9. SEO, AEO and migration

A redesign should protect existing search value before trying to improve it.

Ask the proposal to cover:

• a crawl and audit of the current site;
• keyword and search-intent review for priority commercial pages;
• preservation of valuable content and backlinks;
• old-to-new URL mapping;
• 301 redirects for changed or removed URLs;
• page titles, descriptions and heading structure;
• canonical tags, sitemap and robots controls;
• structured data where appropriate;
• image optimisation and meaningful alt text;
• analytics and Search Console continuity;
• post-launch crawl and monitoring.

For AI search readiness, the fundamentals are similar: clear entity information, direct explanations of services and audiences, coherent internal links, substantive proof and structured, crawlable content. It is not a separate layer that can compensate for vague positioning.

If relevant organic traffic already exists, make SEO migration an explicit deliverable rather than accepting the phrase “SEO included”.

10. Design direction and brand assets

Provide current brand guidelines, logos, fonts, photography, video and examples of existing communications.

You can share websites you respond to, but explain why. “I like this site” is less useful than “I like how this consultancy makes a complex offer feel calm and easy to navigate”.

Describe the impression the site should create in human terms. Confident, precise, warm, established and direct are more useful than asking to “make it pop”.

Also note what should be avoided. If the sector is full of the same colours, stock imagery or language, point that out. The designer can then find a distinctive response without treating novelty as the objective.

11. Project team and decision-making

Name the project lead, final decision-maker and people whose input is genuinely required.

Explain:

• who will gather internal information;
• who approves strategy, copy and design;
• how feedback will be consolidated;
• whether a board, partner group or parent company is involved;
• how quickly the team can respond at review points.

Unlimited opinions create more delay than limited revisions. A clear approval structure helps everyone understand whose feedback is advisory and whose is decisive.

12. Budget, timing and supplier selection

A realistic budget range helps a supplier propose the right approach. Without one, proposals may describe entirely different products and become impossible to compare.

State whether the range includes strategy, copywriting, photography, development, hosting, integrations, tax and ongoing support. The guide to what a professional business website costs explains why apparently similar projects can carry very different prices.

For timing, distinguish a genuine deadline from a preference. Mention launches, events, campaigns, funding dates or contractual constraints, and allow time for internal content and approvals.

Finally, explain how the supplier will be chosen. Relevant experience, quality of strategic thinking, direct senior involvement, process, technical capability and working relationship may matter more than the lowest total.

Copy-and-paste website redesign brief template

Use the headings below as a starting document. Short, honest answers are more useful than polished marketing language.

1. Project overview

Business name and current website:
[Insert name and URL]

Why are you redesigning the website now?
[Explain the commercial reason, not only how the site looks.]

In one paragraph, what should the new website help the business achieve?
[Describe the intended change.]

2. Business context

What does the business do?
[Give a clear, concise explanation.]

What has changed since the current website was created?
[Services, audience, positioning, proof, ambition, structure or markets.]

Where is the business heading over the next two to three years?
[Include changes the new site must be able to support.]

3. Audience and enquiries

Who are the priority audiences?
[Describe organisations, roles, needs and buying situations.]

What work do you want more of?
[Name the services, project types, sectors or levels of engagement.]

Which enquiries are currently a poor fit?
[Explain what the new site should help qualify out.]

What questions or objections do prospects regularly raise?
[Include questions the website should answer before a call.]

4. Objectives and success

What are the three main objectives for the new website?
1. [Objective]
2. [Objective]
3. [Objective]

How will success be judged?
[Enquiry quality, search visibility, engagement, sales support, ease of editing or another measure.]

5. Current website

What currently works well?
[Useful pages, traffic, content, proof, functionality or feedback.]

What does not work well?
[Messaging, navigation, mobile, speed, design, CMS, conversion or maintenance.]

What must be retained or protected?
[Priority URLs, rankings, backlinks, downloads, integrations, data or content.]

What can be removed, merged or rewritten?
[List known outdated or duplicated material.]

6. Positioning, brand and messaging

Who is the business for and what makes it meaningfully different?
[Answer if resolved. If not, mark this as a strategic question.]

What should visitors understand within the first few moments?
[The essential message.]

How should the business feel?
[For example: established, warm, precise, confident, challenging or reassuring.]

What brand assets already exist?
[Guidelines, logos, fonts, photography, video, tone of voice and other materials.]

7. Pages, content and proof

Which pages or sections are likely to be required?
[List known essentials. The final sitemap can be developed collaboratively.]

What proof is available?
[Case studies, testimonials, results, client names, credentials, awards or examples.]

Who will write the copy?
[State what should be researched, written, edited, migrated and uploaded by the supplier.]

What new photography, video or illustration may be needed?
[Note what exists and what needs commissioning.]

8. Functionality and CMS

What must visitors be able to do?
[Enquire, book, search, filter, download, buy, apply or another action.]

Which systems must connect to the website?
[CRM, email, scheduling, payments, analytics, recruitment or other tools.]

Who will edit the website after launch?
[Describe users, permissions, confidence and training needs.]

Are there specific accessibility, data or compliance requirements?
[List known standards and responsibilities.]

9. SEO and migration

Which searches, pages or content already perform?
[Attach Search Console and analytics data where possible.]

Which commercial search themes matter next?
[List priority services, problems, audiences and locations.]

Does the proposal need to include a full redirect map and post-launch monitoring?
[For a redesign, the answer will normally be yes.]

Who will retain access to analytics, Search Console, domain and hosting?
[Name the account owners.]

10. Delivery and selection

Who is involved in the project and who has final approval?
[List roles and decision-making responsibilities.]

What is the available budget range?
[Clarify what the budget includes.]

What is the desired launch date and why?
[Separate fixed constraints from preferences.]

How will the designer, studio or agency be selected?
[List the criteria and proposal requirements.]

11. Questions for the supplier

• What would you want to clarify before confirming the scope?
• How do you approach positioning and messaging if they are not yet resolved?
• Who will lead the strategy, copy, design and development?
• What is included in SEO migration and redirect planning?
• How will the site be tested before launch?
• What training and post-launch support are included?
• Who owns the website, assets and accounts when the project is complete?

This template can be shortened for a smaller project or expanded with a detailed technical specification. Its purpose is to give prospective partners the same business problem to respond to, while leaving room for them to improve the solution.

How to use the brief when asking for proposals

Send the same core brief to each supplier. This makes comparisons fairer, but do not expect identical answers.

A strong proposal should demonstrate that the supplier has understood the business problem. It should explain the recommended phases, what is included, what remains uncertain, who will do the work and what the project needs from you.

Be cautious when a proposal simply repeats your requested page count and adds a price. The value of an experienced partner is partly in challenging the brief, identifying risk and improving the project before production begins.

When comparing responses, look beyond the total:

• Has the supplier understood what changed in the business?
• Do they distinguish strategy, messaging, design and development?
• Is copywriting clearly included or excluded?
• Is search migration specific rather than described as “SEO included”?
• Will senior people be directly involved?
• Are responsibilities, milestones and review points clear?
• Does the process leave room for informed challenge?
• What happens after launch?

When you are ready to compare prospective partners, use the guide to choosing a web design agency or studio and the 12 questions to ask before you sign.

Common mistakes in a website redesign brief

Starting with visual references

Visual direction matters, but it should not replace the commercial reason for the project. Begin with what the business and audience need. Style can then support that purpose.

Fixing the sitemap too early

A preliminary page list is helpful. A rigid one can preserve the current site’s logic before anyone has tested whether it still makes sense.

Assuming the existing copy can simply be moved

If the business has evolved, the content probably needs more than editing. Decide whether the task is migration, rewriting or a new messaging structure.

Leaving SEO until launch

URL decisions, content consolidation and redirect mapping belong in planning. By launch day, the important migration decisions have already been made.

Hiding the budget

A budget does not prevent a supplier from offering value. It tells them whether to propose a focused improvement, a strategic redesign or a more complex digital platform.

Trying to answer everything internally

The brief should make uncertainty visible. You are allowed to say that the audience, proposition or service structure needs professional exploration. That is more useful than presenting a weak assumption as a fixed requirement.

Frequently asked questions

What should be included in a website redesign brief?

Include the reason for the redesign, business changes, target audiences, project objectives, current-site evidence, positioning and messaging, likely content and pages, required functionality, CMS needs, SEO migration, decision-makers, budget, timescale and measures of success.

How long should a website design brief be?

For an established business, three to six focused pages are usually enough before appendices. The quality of the information matters more than length. Include analytics, a content inventory or technical requirements separately when they would make the main brief difficult to read.

Do I need a finished sitemap before contacting a web designer?

No. Include essential pages and known content requirements, but allow the sitemap to be shaped by the audience, offer, search evidence and content strategy. Asking a supplier to challenge the structure is often part of the value.

Should a website redesign brief include a budget?

Yes. A realistic range helps prospective suppliers recommend an appropriate scope and prevents you comparing proposals for fundamentally different products. Clarify whether the figure includes strategy, copy, photography, development, hosting and ongoing support.

Who should write the website copy?

The business holds the expertise, but that does not mean the founder should have to write every page. For a strategic redesign, the strongest approach is often for a copywriter or strategist to extract the knowledge through interviews, structure it around the buyer and write the copy as part of the project.

How do I protect SEO during a website redesign?

Audit the existing site before changing the structure. Preserve useful content and links, map every changed or removed URL to an appropriate new destination, implement 301 redirects, carry metadata and tracking across where relevant, submit the new sitemap and monitor Search Console after launch.

Do I need brand strategy before redesigning a website?

Not every project needs a full brand strategy. But the audience, proposition, service structure, difference, proof and tone must be clear enough to guide the website. If those foundations are disputed or vague, resolve them before detailed design.

A good brief creates clarity, not certainty

The purpose of the document is not to remove every question before the project begins. It is to make the important questions visible, give prospective partners enough evidence to think properly and prevent avoidable assumptions from becoming expensive work.

The strongest redesign briefs explain the business before they describe the website.

If completing this template reveals that the offer, positioning or message needs to be resolved first, that is not a failed brief. It is one of the most useful things the process can uncover.

Amplify helps established founder-led businesses clarify that thinking and turn it into a bespoke Webflow website built around the business’s expertise, audience and next stage. You can discuss a website redesign if you would like an experienced view of what the project actually needs.