How to Write a Brief for Your First Supplement Website
Your website’s job is to convert a cautious buyer who found you somewhere else. That means composition, documentation and a direct ordering route matter more than design ambition or a long brand story.
What the Site Is For
This guide is for new supplement, Ayurvedic and herbal brand owners in India commissioning a first website.
Most traffic to a new brand’s site arrives from somewhere else: a marketplace listing, an advertisement, a social post or a recommendation. The visitor is usually checking whether the brand is real and whether the product is what they think it is.
That makes the site’s job specific: answer the verification questions, make the composition and documentation visible, and provide a direct ordering route so you own the customer relationship and can prompt reorders.
A brief focused on design impact rather than those functions produces an attractive site that converts poorly and gives you no reorder capability.
What to Brief
Function before aesthetics.
- A product page per SKU showing composition with quantities, standardisation where relevant, serving size, directions, storage and shelf life.
- An image set per product including the back panel legibly, scale reference and the product itself.
- A statement of testing and manufacturing, with batch documentation available on request and a route to request it.
- A direct ordering and checkout route, with the ability to capture customer contact details and consent.
- An FAQ per product built from real questions.
- An About page carrying verifiable specifics rather than a founder narrative.
- Clear returns, shipping and contact information.
- A route for product and quality questions, distinct from general enquiries.
- Mobile performance as a priority, since most Indian traffic is mobile.
- Fast loading on mobile data, which matters more than animation.
- The ability for you to edit product content yourself without a developer.
- Basic analytics capturing orders, new customers and reorders separately.
What Matters Technically
A short list that affects outcomes.
| Requirement | Why |
|---|---|
| Mobile first | Most traffic is mobile; a desktop-first build converts poorly |
| Fast on mobile data | Slow pages lose cautious buyers before they read anything |
| You can edit content | Product information changes and developer dependency stalls it |
| Checkout works reliably | A broken checkout is invisible to you and total to the customer |
| Contact capture with consent | Without it there is no reorder mechanism |
| Order and customer data exportable | You need it for reorder measurement |
| Clear product URLs | Helps discovery and sharing |
| Works with your claim set | Content structure should not invite claim drift |
Test your own checkout on a mobile phone on mobile data, as a customer, before launch and periodically afterwards. Checkout failures are common and silent.
What to Deprioritise
Four things that consume budget without converting.
Elaborate Animation
Slows mobile loading and does not address the buyer’s verification questions.
A Long Brand Story
Keep it short. Visitors are checking credibility, not reading a narrative.
A Blog Before the Product Pages Work
Content marketing is worthwhile later. Product pages that convert come first.
Custom Design Before Validation
A clean template-based site that converts beats a custom build that is late and expensive.
Spend the budget on product page content, images including the back panel, and a reliable checkout. Those three convert; the rest is optional in year one.
Checklist
Before briefing and before launch.
- State the site’s purpose in one line in the brief.
- Specify a product page per SKU with full composition and directions.
- Specify the image set including a legible back panel.
- Specify the testing and documentation statement.
- Specify direct checkout with contact capture and consent.
- Specify an FAQ per product.
- Require mobile-first build and fast loading on mobile data.
- Require that you can edit product content yourself.
- Require exportable order and customer data.
- Check every page against your approved claim set before launch.
- Test checkout on a phone on mobile data as a customer.
- Set up analytics distinguishing new customers from reorders.
- Retest checkout periodically after launch.
Need Product Detail for Your Site?
Share your products and our team will provide composition, standardisation and testing detail your pages can state accurately.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a new brand’s website actually for?
Converting a cautious buyer who arrived from a marketplace, advertisement or recommendation, and capturing the customer relationship so you can prompt reorders. It is a verification and ordering tool rather than a brand showcase.
What should the brief prioritise?
Product pages with full composition and directions, an image set including a legible back panel, a testing and documentation statement, and a reliable direct checkout that captures contact details with consent.
What technical requirements matter most?
Mobile-first build and fast loading on mobile data, the ability to edit product content yourself, a reliably working checkout, contact capture with consent, and exportable order data for reorder measurement.
What should I deprioritise?
Elaborate animation, a long brand story, a blog before the product pages convert, and custom design before the product is validated. A clean template-based site that converts beats a late, expensive custom build.
What should I test before launch?
Your own checkout, on a phone on mobile data, as a customer would. Checkout failures are common and silent, costing every sale while appearing fine to you. Retest periodically after launch as well.