The brief that gets you a better website (send this before the first call)

Most first calls with an agency are spent reconstructing information the client already has. Send it beforehand and two things happen: you get a real number instead of a range, and you find out in the first reply whether the agency reads.

Here is what we ask for. It takes an hour to fill in, and that hour is the best-paid one of the project.

1. What has to happen for this to be worth it

Not "a modern look". A number. More quote requests, more orders on your own site instead of a platform, fewer support e-mails, a shorter sales cycle because the site does the explaining. If you cannot name the number yet, name the action: the one thing you want a visitor to do.

2. Who is arriving, and from where

Two or three real types of visitor and what they already know when they land. A procurement manager who found you on LinkedIn needs something different from a Rotterdam start-up founder who typed "branding agency Amsterdam" at midnight. Where they come from tells us what the first screen has to say.

3. The numbers you already have

Access to Google Analytics and Search Console, read-only, before the call. Which pages get traffic, which convert, what people search to find you, how many arrive on a phone. This is the difference between designing and guessing. If there is no tracking, say so — that is a finding too.

4. What exists today, and what you think of it

Current site, brand files, photography, copy, product data, the CRM, the payment provider. What you would keep, what embarrasses you, what customers complain about. Honesty here saves weeks.

5. What the site has to talk to

Payments, booking, invoicing, a warehouse system, a newsletter tool, a POS. Every integration is a small project of its own; listing them up front is what stops "small extras" from doubling the budget in month two.

6. Constraints

Languages. Legal requirements for your sector. Accessibility obligations. Brand rules from a parent company. A launch date tied to an event. A hosting policy from IT. All of these are fine; all of them cost more when discovered late.

7. Sites you envy, and why

Three links with one sentence each. "I like the calm of this one." "This is how our product pages should feel." The why is the useful part — it tells us whether you want a look or a behaviour.

8. The budget, in a range

Say it. An agency that cannot work with a range is not one you want, and a range lets us tell you immediately what is possible inside it and what would need more. "Between €10.000 and €20.000, more if the case is strong" is a perfect answer. Here is what the ranges buy in the Netherlands right now.

9. Who decides

Who signs off design, who signs off copy, who can say no at the end. One name per line is ideal. Five people with a veto is a project that will take twice as long, and it is better to know that on day one.

10. Timeline

The real deadline and the reason for it. Most sites take six to twelve weeks; an ordering system or a 3D experience longer. If it has to be live before a trade fair, we plan backwards from the fair.

The template

Copy this into an e-mail. Short answers are fine; blanks are fine too — a blank tells us something.

Company:
What the site must achieve (number or action):
Visitors — who, from where:
Analytics / Search Console access (yes / no / will arrange):
Current site + what to keep / drop:
Brand assets available (logo, fonts, photos, copy):
Integrations (payments, booking, invoicing, CRM, other):
Languages:
Constraints (legal, brand, IT, accessibility):
Three sites you like + why:
Budget range:
Decision makers:
Deadline + reason:

Send it to info@goatpixels.com or through the contact form. You will get a reply from a person who has read it, with a fixed price or the two questions that stand between you and one.