1 document
that design and development both work from
Service 03
Conceptualisation
Few failed projects were badly built. Most were badly defined before the build began. This is the stage where a business, an audience, and a goal are set out in a written plan that design and development follow without guesswork.
As a digital strategy consultant, I work at the stage before design or development starts: agreeing what a site or campaign has to achieve, for whom, and in what order.
Web development01Design02Conceptualisation03Search engine optimisation04Online marketing05Social media management06
18
specialists available for research where needed
0 guesswork
left for the team once the plan is signed off
What this covers
- Discovery sessions to establish the real goal behind the request, not only the feature list
- Audience definition: who the site or campaign has to serve, and what they need from it
- Competitive review: what comparable businesses do well, and where there is room to differ
- Information architecture and sitemaps, so navigation is decided before a single page is designed
- Content planning: what each page needs to say, and in what order, before copy is written
- Positioning: how the business should describe itself, in language that matches how customers search and speak
A good fit if…
A new business or new offerNothing built yet, and no clear brief for what the site needs to do.
A rebuild with no agreed directionEveryone agrees the current site is not working; nobody agrees what should replace it.
A campaign with no plan behind itBudget ready to spend, with no strategy yet for where it should go.
A pitch or funding documentA written concept required before a client or investor will approve the build.
How the work runs
1
Discovery conversation
One or two sessions to establish the real brief, including the parts left out of the original request.
2
Research
A focused review of competitors, audience behaviour, and existing analytics or search data where available.
3
Structure
Sitemap and content outline, setting out precisely what the site or campaign needs to include.
4
Written plan
A document that design and development work from directly, agreed before either begins.