A website can look modern and still fail commercially if its pages do not answer buyer questions, forms do not reach the right team, or valuable search pages disappear during migration. Use this document before comparing a website design and development company. It is designed for founders, marketing teams and operations leads—not only for developers.
1. Write the business case before the page list
Start with the change you need: more qualified enquiries, clearer service positioning, better mobile conversion, a faster product catalogue, recruitment, distributor support or a platform that the in-house team can update. Identify the priority audiences and the action each audience should take. “A new website” is an output; the buyer and commercial outcome are the brief.
2. Specify the information buyers need to make a decision
List the proof, service details, locations, case studies, process explanations, pricing context where appropriate and FAQs a prospect needs. Identify which pages must be rewritten, retained, merged or retired. Assign a named owner for copy, photographs, approvals and legal or compliance review so content does not become the launch bottleneck.
3. Protect organic visibility during migration
Ask for an inventory of current indexable URLs and their proposed destination. Every removed page needs a decision: retain it, consolidate it with a genuinely equivalent page, or redirect it to the closest relevant replacement. Include titles, descriptions, headings, canonical tags, image alt text, internal links, XML sitemap, robots directives and structured data in the launch QA—not as an afterthought. Your SEO service and development teams should work from the same migration plan.
4. Map the conversion and sales hand-off
For each enquiry point, decide what information is essential, where the lead is routed, who responds and how it is recorded. Document thank-you pages, phone tracking if used, email notifications, CRM fields, spam protection and consent language. The website should support real follow-up, not simply report form submissions.
5. Document integrations and non-negotiables
Give the agency a list of CRM, payment, booking, chat, email automation, inventory, ERP, maps, analytics, tag manager and consent-tool requirements. Note platform limits, data fields, test accounts and the person who can approve each connection. This reduces late-stage surprises and makes proposals comparable.
6. Set ownership, access and maintainability rules
Keep the domain, hosting, CMS administrator role, analytics, Tag Manager, Search Console, image assets and source files in accounts controlled by the business. Agree on plugin or licence renewal ownership, documentation, backups, security updates and post-launch support. These basics are part of a trustworthy brief, alongside a clear agency contract checklist.
7. Require a real quality-assurance and launch plan
The plan should cover responsive devices, major browsers, page speed, forms and integrations, 404 errors, redirects, tracking events, accessibility basics, backups and rollback responsibility. Schedule a content freeze, stakeholder sign-off and post-launch review. Avoid treating “published” as the definition of complete.
Questions to use when comparing proposals
- Which discovery decisions happen before visual design starts?
- How will current URLs and search value be audited and migrated?
- What content is included, and what must our team supply?
- How will form leads, CRM fields and conversion events be tested?
- Which accounts, licences and assets will remain client-owned?
- What is included after launch, and how will defects be prioritised?
Website redesign brief FAQs
What should a website redesign brief include?
Business goals, audiences, conversion actions, pages, content owners, integrations, brand inputs, reporting, launch date and decision process.
Will a redesign affect SEO?
It can. Use a URL inventory, redirect map, content and internal-link review, staging checks and post-launch monitoring to protect valuable visibility.
Who should own the website domain, hosting and accounts?
The client should retain administrative ownership; the delivery team receives only the access needed for its work.
Which integrations should be documented before development?
Document CRM, analytics, consent, payment, booking, chat, email, inventory and other business systems that affect the customer journey.
What should be checked before a new website goes live?
Test layouts, speed, forms, tracking, SEO tags, redirects, sitemap, security, backups and stakeholder approvals.
How long does a website redesign take?
It varies by content, integrations, approvals and custom functionality. A useful proposal phases discovery, design, build, QA, migration and launch.