Website consultation service

Get the website that your company actually needs, not what the website design agencies say you need.

We often have enquiries where the company doesn't actually know what they want or what type of website would best suit their needs. When approaching agencies, they have been bombarded with buzz words and jargon which only clouds things further. We obviously aim to help clear this up for our customers, however we are also able to offer this service as a completely independent third party.

Requirements for a brief

We offer a research and brief-writing service to help ensure that your business gets the correct website and one that will maximize impact and, ultimately, your return on investment. We have many years experience in all areas of the website development cycle - from creating completely new sites to evaluating old sites and formulating plans for a new one.

Ultimately, to get the best possible website, you need the knowledge to ensure that you are commissioning the correct type of site, be that a Content Management System (CMS), an eCommerce site or a web application. Forewarned is forearmed after all.

Without an in-depth knowledge of website design and development, you can easily be duped into purchasing a site that doesn't really offer any tangible benefit to your business and could actually make things more difficult for you. A prime example of this is commissioning a Flash website when search engine performance is a priority. Some agencies are only good at building Flash sites so they will brush over the fact that they don't work well with search engines. It's for reasons such as this that some independent advice could ultimately save you lots of time and money.

How would it work?

Stakeholder meetings

The first stage would be to set up a series of meetings with all the stakeholders of the website. So, all managers, senior managers, MDs, internal users, moderators, etc. who are likely to have a say on what the website should achieve. Typical things discussed would be:

• The current website - what's good, what's bad, colours and styles.
• Things missing from the current site - ideas you have seen on other sites and think could work well on your site.
• Any special requirements.
• The new website - logos, fonts, colours, styles etc.
• Website content - who is going to write it?

Write a brief

The next stage is to gather all the findings from the stakeholder meetings and create a website brief (we have a guide on how to write a website brief). This brief will detail all aspects of the website: from the bottom line functionality and deliverables, right through to the corporate colours, fonts and logos. We would also include some criteria for success - after all, most companies like to be able to measure the success of a project and, ultimately, how quickly the return on investment can be achieved. This brief would then be supplied to your preferred list of website development companies. It sounds like an odd thing to say, but it's probably fairest if we are not on the pitch list - I know I wouldn't want to pitch for a job when the company that wrote the brief is also on the pitch list.

Decent Proposals

Once you have circulated your brief, you should start receiving some proposals back in the following weeks. We would be able to decipher these proposals and supply you with a 1 pager on each, outlining the pros and cons of each, and who we think you should ask in for presentations and further discussions.

Presentation

We would be able to attend the presentations from each agency, offering our in-depth knowledge of the industry and cutting through any jargon or 'web speak' to help you fully understand what is being presented to you.

Decision time

Once all of the presentations are finished, we can help you decide which agency offers the best level of service, the best value for money and, ultimately, which agency you should choose to create your website. 

If you would like some help or are interested in talking more about our website consultancy service, please call us on 01908 565755 or fill in the form below.