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Stop Wasting Money on Bad Copy: How to Write a Website Copy Brief

Vladimir Borozenets

Vladimir Borozenets

— 2 min read
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I've been handed some truly terrible copywriting briefs in my time. One said: 'Write something for our website. Make it good.' That was it. No context, no customer profiles, no goals. Just a blank check for disappointment. Before you hire freelance copywriter talent, you need a plan. Without a solid creative brief for copywriter projects, you are essentially asking a blindfolded artist to paint your portrait. You'll get paint on the walls, and you won't like the result.

At BoostYour.Site, we optimize conversion rates. We analyze landing page friction and bounce rates all day. Bad copy kills conversions faster than slow loading speeds. And bad copy almost always stems from a bad website copy brief. If the writer doesn't know who they are talking to, they write for everyone. When you write for everyone, you sell to no one. You create a massive conversion leak.

An effective content brief isn't a 20-page document. Nobody reads those. It's a single, laser-focused page that defines five critical elements.

First, your target audience. Do not say 'small business owners.' That is too broad. Describe their pain. Are they stressed founders trying to save time, or marketing directors worried about their bounce rate? Speak to their specific frustrations.

Second, your tone of voice. Copy needs personality. If your brand was a person, who would it be? A friendly guide or a no-nonsense strategist? Give the writer three adjectives and two examples of what not to say. For instance, at BoostYour.Site, we write with authority but keep it simple. We avoid corporate fluff.

Third, the search landscape and keywords. Good copy must perform. Your brief should list primary and secondary search terms to capture organic traffic without stuffing. But go beyond keywords. Define the user search intent so the writer answers the exact question the searcher has.

Fourth, competitor examples. Tell your copywriter who is already winning in your space, and more importantly, why you hate their style. Or show them a competitor whose messaging you admire. This sets clear boundaries and saves hours of revisions.

Fifth, the primary call-to-action. What must the reader do next? Click a button? Schedule a call? Sign up for a newsletter? If you do not define the target action, the copywriter cannot build the user journey toward it. Call-to-action visibility depends entirely on this alignment.

Here is the template we use when coordinating copy campaigns:

The One-Page Copy Brief Template

  • The Goal: What is the business purpose of this page? (e.g., increase trials, capture emails)
  • The Reader: Who is this for? Describe their biggest pain point.
  • The Vibe: Three words that describe your voice. One sentence on what to avoid.
  • The Competitors: Links to two pages doing this well and one doing it poorly.
  • The SEO Rules: Target keywords and the search intent behind them.
  • The Next Step: What is the single, clear action the reader must take?

Copy-paste that. Fill it out before you send your next assignment. You will save days of rewriting and hundreds of dollars in wasted revisions. Copywriters want to do good work. They just need a map.

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