You don’t need a long document. You need a clear starting point, a real audience and a sense of what the website should help them do.
Explain the business before the pages
Start with what you do, who it is for and why someone chooses you. Write it as you would explain it to a person you have just met. A designer can help with the wording, but understanding the business is the foundation of a useful website.
Then describe the reason for the project. Are you launching a service, replacing an awkward site or finding that visitors ask the same questions before they contact you? Include what you already know and what still feels uncertain. Both are useful.
Choose the important next step
Think about what a visitor should be able to do after looking around. For a service business, that might be sending a project enquiry. For another business, it might be choosing a product, arranging a visit or understanding how something works.
There can be several useful actions, but give them an order. If every page asks visitors to book, subscribe, download and follow at once, deciding what matters becomes their job. A clear brief helps the design create a more deliberate path.
Show what you already have
Gather the practical ingredients: brand files, existing copy, photography, case studies and any content that must carry across. Note what is current and what needs work. If you have an existing site, identify pages people still rely on and anything you would be happy to lose.
References are useful when you explain what you like about them. Instead of “make it like this”, point to the clarity of the navigation, the way projects are explained or the balance of text and imagery. Your site still needs to respond to your own audience.
Be open about the practical limits
Share a realistic budget range, any meaningful deadline and who needs to approve the work. Mention integrations or features that are essential. A simple marketing site and a site with bookings, payments or a large catalogue need different conversations.
You do not need to solve every technical detail before getting in touch. A short note covering the business, audience, purpose, content and constraints is enough to begin. The next step is to turn that starting point into an agreed scope together.