Brief a designer to fix your homepage

Key takeaways

A homepage design brief should fit on one page and cover the goal, who the page is for, the message hierarchy, the proof available, the main action, constraints such as platform and brand, and how success will be measured. Designers given a clear brief produce better pages faster; designers given 'make it modern' produce opinions.

• One page: goal, audience, message, proof, action, constraints, measures.
• Give the copy, or at least the message hierarchy, first.
• List what must not change: URLs, tracking, legal content.
• Agree how success will be judged before design starts.

What should a homepage design brief include?

A homepage brief is a short document that tells a designer what the page must achieve and what they have to work with. The whole-site version is covered in our website brief template; for the homepage alone, seven headings on one page are enough.

• Goal: the one action the homepage should drive.
• Audience: the main visitor types and what each needs.
• Message hierarchy: one main point, three supports.
• Proof: reviews, accreditations, work and numbers available.
• Action: the button, its wording and what happens next.
• Constraints: platform, brand, legal content, budget, deadline.
• Measures: the numbers that will show success.

• Why your homepage is not converting visitors into customers
• Website brief template agencies can quote from

Why give the copy before design?

Designers who receive the words first design around the message. Those who receive 'lorem ipsum' design around shapes, and the real copy is squeezed into boxes later. At minimum, give the message hierarchy and the hero copy.

• Homepage message hierarchy: one main point, three supports
• Hiring a homepage copywriter: what to expect

What must not change?

List anything the designer must keep: the homepage URL, title tag and core service words for search; tracking tags and key events; legal content such as company details and regulatory badges; and any brand elements that are fixed. Losing these is a common cause of drops after a redesign.

• Homepage conversions dropped after a change? Check these
• Traffic dropped after a website redesign? Recovery steps

How should success be measured?

Agree two or three numbers before design starts, such as the share of homepage sessions reaching a service page or contact route, key events from homepage sessions and mobile LCP. Record the baseline now so the comparison afterwards is fair.

• A homepage dashboard: five numbers to check each month
• Measure your website before a redesign

When does a brief need more detail?

Add detail when several audiences must be served, when sector rules apply to claims and images, or when the homepage depends on integrations such as booking or e-commerce. Keep the core on one page and attach the rest.

• One homepage, several audiences: how to route them
• Stop designing your website by committee

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a brief that says 'clean, modern, like our competitor's site' and nothing about goals. Rewriting it with a goal, message hierarchy and success measures usually changes the first design concept completely, and the feedback rounds become shorter.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Homepage brief checklist

• Write the goal in one sentence.
• List audiences and what each needs.
• Include the message hierarchy and hero copy.
• List available proof.
• List what must not change.
• Record the baseline numbers.

• Hiring a homepage copywriter: what to expect
• Change one thing at a time: a homepage change log

Next step

Write your homepage brief under the seven headings on one page before you contact any designer.