Writing a brief that produces a good site
The single biggest lever on output quality, with before-and-after examples.
Updated 4 hours ago
Output quality tracks brief quality almost perfectly. Here is what changes it.
Be specific about what you sell
Weak:
We provide quality plumbing services to our valued customers.
Strong:
Boiler repairs and installation, bathroom fitting, and 24-hour emergency call-outs. Gas Safe registered. Fixed quotes before any work starts, and no call-out charge.
The second version gives the generator actual services to build pages around, and actual differentiators to lead a headline with.
Name your area
"Camden and Islington" produces local headlines, local page titles and honest geographic claims. Leaving it blank produces generic copy, because the alternative would be inventing a location — which it will not do.
State what makes you different, concretely
"Twelve months guarantee on labour" is usable. "Committed to excellence" is not, and will be ignored.
Pick the tone that matches the trade
A funeral director is not "playful". A children's nursery is not "corporate". The tone setting genuinely changes sentence rhythm and word choice, so a mismatch is obvious to readers.
Choose your primary goal honestly
This decides what every call to action says. If you really want phone calls, choosing "awareness" will produce a site that politely informs people and never asks them to ring.
What it will not do
It will not invent statistics, reviews, ratings, awards, certifications, client names or prices. If you want a number in the copy, put it in the brief. Testimonials are generated only as clearly-labelled illustrative placeholders, and you should replace them with real ones before you publish.