Agency Website Brief Template
Agency websites are the hardest sites to brief — because the team building them are the experts. This template forces the same discipline you'd demand from any client: clear positioning, case-study-led structure, and a real conversion goal.
Best for: Design, marketing, development and creative agencies briefing their own site, or another agency briefing theirs.
Why this brief matters
- Most agency sites are about the agency, not the buyer. The few that aren't, win.
- Case studies do 80% of the selling — everything else is decoration.
- Careers pages drive more inbound talent than LinkedIn for most agencies — they're worth treating seriously.
- An agency site rebuild without a positioning decision becomes a 12-month rabbit hole.
What every agency brief must cover
1. Positioning & ICP
Who you serve, who you decline, and the one-sentence outcome you deliver better than competitors.
2. Services & process
Service categories, what's productised vs. bespoke, indicative pricing or engagement ranges, and how the process is presented.
3. Case studies
Structure (challenge, approach, outcome, metrics), how many at launch, refresh cadence, and which 3–5 anchor the homepage.
4. Team, culture & careers
Team bios, culture content, careers page with current roles, and how new applications are handled.
5. Lead capture & qualification
Project enquiry form fields, budget bands, project type, and how leads route to new-business lead.
Sample questions to ask the client
Drop these straight into your discovery call or intake form.
- Q1.Who is your ideal client today vs. who you want to attract going forward?
- Q2.What's the one sentence that explains why you exist?
- Q3.How many case studies can launch with the site, and which 3 should anchor the homepage?
- Q4.Which services are productised with public pricing, and which are bespoke?
- Q5.How important is the careers page — is hiring a primary site goal?
- Q6.What's the budget floor for the enquiries you want?
- Q7.Where do most of your enquiries come from today (referral, content, ads, awards)?
- Q8.Which 2–3 competitors do you want to look obviously better than?
- Q9.Do you publish (newsletter, podcast, conference talks) and should the site amplify it?
- Q10.What's the conversion target per quarter — enquiries, qualified pipeline, or closed revenue?
Common pitfalls
- ×Designing the homepage before agreeing the positioning.
- ×Vanity case studies (logo wall, no metrics) instead of outcome-led ones.
- ×Treating careers as a hidden 'jobs at the bottom' link — top agencies make it a hero page.
- ×Building the site for awards instead of for buyers.
KPIs to align on
- ✓Qualified pipeline
- ✓Average enquiry budget
- ✓Case-study engagement
- ✓Careers applications
- ✓Conversion from /contact
Frequently asked questions
What should an agency website brief include?
Positioning and ICP, services and process, case-study strategy, team and careers, qualified-lead capture, and the commercial outcome the site is accountable for (pipeline, hires, or both).
How many case studies should a new agency website launch with?
Minimum 6 deep ones. The homepage anchors with 3, the work page houses the rest. Add one per quarter post-launch.
Should an agency show pricing?
At least a budget floor or 'starting from'. Total opacity tells qualified buyers nothing and wastes time on enquiries that can't afford you.
How important is the careers page?
For most growing agencies, hiring is the #1 constraint — making the careers page a primary site goal pays back fast. Treat it like a marketing page, not an HR formality.
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