Sitemap and architecture
Every page the site will have, how they relate, and the content model behind them. Enough for anyone to build from, not just us.
Before we think about pages, we think about people
- Arts University Bournemouth
- Lands Improvement
- Mixmag
We run workshops and conduct research to really understand your business, your audiences, and your competitors so that we can create the right website to elevate you in your market. It's intense, but fun, and you normally learn a lot about yourself along the way.
What do we cover?
Stakeholder interviews
We talk to the people who own the content, win the work and answer the phone — they know what the site needs to do better than anyone.
Audiences and journeys
Who you're really reaching, and the routes that matter: the buyer checking you out before a tender, the graduate deciding where to apply, the customer looking for a spec sheet at half past ten at night.
Information architecture
How your organisation thinks about its own work, turned into a structure. Card sorting where the answer isn't obvious, and a sitemap you sign off before a single page is designed.
Content audit
What's working, what's buried and what can be retired. Low traffic doesn't mean low value, so we read the numbers alongside the business context, never on their own.
Technical requirements
Integrations, compliance, IT policy, the third-party platforms you already depend on. We map all of it in the first weeks, so the plan is built around them from the start.
Competitor review
Where everyone in your sector says the same three things in the same three ways, and what that leaves open for you.
From kick-off to a costed plan
Discovery normally runs for four to six weeks. It's mostly done through video calls, with in-person sessions where it makes sense.
The key thing is that by the end, you'll know exactly what the new website needs to do and how much it will cost to achieve.
You can use us for discovery, even if you don't want to use us for the full project.
Stage 1
Kick-off
We agree what success looks like and who needs to be in the room. Access, analytics and the existing site get pulled apart while everyone's diaries are still open.
Stage 2
In the room
Interviews, workshops and working sessions with the people who own the content and the people who sell the work. Where it helps, sessions with the audience themselves.
Stage 3
Structure
The sitemap, the content model and the journeys through them. By the end of the phase you can see the whole site laid out on one page.
Stage 4
The plan
A technical specification, a content strategy and a project plan with milestones — and the fixed price and firm timeline that come out of them.
What you walk away with
Content strategy
What to write, what to move and what to retire, with an owner against each item — plus image specs and standards, so the content work can start before the design does.
Technical specification
Integrations, permissions, dependencies and the routine maintenance the site will need. We keep it current for as long as we work together.
You get clarity of costs
At the end of discovery we give you the cost of completing the project. And as long as the project doesn't materially change along the way, we stick to it as a fixed cost.
What discovery achieves
Axter
550%
increase in engagement rate after discovery, re-design and re-development.
Arts University Bournemouth
#1
UK university for accessibility, off the back of a discovery-led rebuild.
Transparency International
500,000+
pageviews in 24 hours at the Corruption Perceptions Index launch.
Questions we get asked
- How long does discovery take?
Four to six weeks for most projects. A single-brand marketing site sits at the shorter end; a multi-site build with several audiences and a stack of integrations sits at the longer one. We'll tell you which one you are before you commit to anything.
- Do we have to do discovery?
If you want a fixed price, yes. Quoting a build without understanding the content, the integrations and the internal politics is guesswork, and the person who pays for guesswork is you — either in the invoice or in the timeline. If you've already done the work elsewhere, bring it and we'll scope from that instead.
- Who needs to be involved?
The people who own the content, the people who sell the work, and someone who can sign things off. Usually four to eight people across a handful of sessions. We'll be specific once we know your organisation.
- Is it remote or in person?
Mostly remote — video calls are quicker to schedule and easier on everyone's week. We'll come to you for the sessions where being in the room genuinely changes the outcome.
- What does it cost?
We charge £100 an hour, £800 a day. Discovery on a mid-size project is usually around 20 days. You get the number before we start, and it's the number you pay.
- Can we do discovery and stop there?
Yes. It's yours. Plenty of people use it to go out to tender, or to build the business case internally before committing to a build at all.
Let's get your site
where it should be
Tell us a bit about your site and what it needs to do. We'll reply within a working day, and you'll be talking to the people who'd do the work.
Got it. We'll be back to you soon.
One of us will read it properly and reply within a working day. In the meantime, there's more of the work to look through: