Your website is a paid employee.
Does it earn its keep or lose you money?
We get it: You were busy and under pressure to “just get something online.” You needed a website, and you needed it yesterday.
So you hired a web design company and focused on how it looked—the colors, the logo, the photos. You also told them how to talk about what you do.
Maybe you vaguely state(d) that your site should help “attract donors” or “get new clients.”
That’s great. But how does it work?
Having a goal for your site is a start—but it’s not enough.
Every decision made for your website should be to support a particular goal. Things like:
- Your color scheme.
- The pages it has.
- What’s in your top menu.
- What goes on each page, in what order.
- What to leave off the site.
- When (and how) to call your visitors to take action.
- Etc.
In the days of GoDaddy, Wix, and other website builders (plus AI), anyone can toss up an okay-looking website in a few hours. Literally.
But does that AI site builder (or your most tech-savvy team member) know how to build a site that sells?
Bad (non-strategic) website design has many hidden costs.
1. You get low (or no) return on your investment.
Your website looks great and you get several compliments, but not clients (or supporters). So you’ve outlaid thousands of dollars for community compliments… and you’re in the same place you started.
2. Your website creates more work for your team.
Maybe you’ve got a contact form where you should have a booking calendar or donation form. Or maybe your visitors are confused about what they should do, so they just leave.
Whatever is happening, your website quickly becomes a frustrating liability, not a star employee.
3. You miss the growth opportunities a better website would create.
Your website’s most important job is to sell people on what you do, and convince them to take action. But just like any other employee, if it’s disorganized or frustrating, it will push people away.
Solid web strategy stops these failures before they start. It ensures your website is more than a “brochure”—and that it actually pays you back.
But our strategic process helps your website pay for itself. 🎉
We help you create ROI by starting with strategy, not design.
With solid web strategy, your website becomes more than an online “brochure”—so it actually pays you back.
The typical web designer starts by asking what you want on the website. Logos, colors, and pages.
This is a mistake. (An expensive one.)
Excellent Presence starts by asking about your goals and problems.
We need to know what your team really needs to get wherever you’re trying to go, both now and later.
And we consider those answers before mapping out your mission-driven web design, your workflow automation, or your content strategy.
In this way, your web presence becomes a tool that actually solves problems and pays for itself, instead of causing new issues and expenses.
Here’s Our Strategic 2-Phase Process
Phase 1:
The Blueprint
This is the real value. Before we touch a single page, we do the research and planning that prevents costly mistakes.
This paid, foundational project includes:
1. Market Research
We analyze your industry and what’s working (or not) for similar organizations. We find out where your audience actually spends time online and what messages get their attention.
2. Brand Foundations
We define your brand voice, create messaging that speaks to your actual audience, and build a color strategy based on psychology—not just what looks nice. For mission-driven organizations, this includes making sure your messaging stays true to your values while navigating the current legal landscape.
3. Website Layout Strategy (WLS)
You get a complete website blueprint—every page outlined, every form planned, every tool selected. This document tells us (and you) exactly what we’re building and why, down to the dollar.
The Result: It’s built right the first time.
No “let’s try this and see.” No surprise costs or scope creep. Just a clear plan to review and approve that’s designed to get a particular result.
Phase 2:
The Build
Once you’ve approved the Phase 1 blueprint, we move to execution. With the critical who, what, why, and how already locked in, this phase can move fast.
It includes:
Page Content & Design
This covers writing your website content (if you need us to), and designing the structure and layout based on the approved blueprint.
Everything has a reason—no filler, no fluff.
Technical Setup & Development
This covers web and domain hosting setup, building the full site, and handling any custom development. We build with your long-term workload in mind, so your site doesn’t become a tech headache later.
Testing & Launch
We test everything—on our end and yours—before going live. Forms, booking systems, donation flows, mobile display: It all has to work.
An Easy, No-Pressure Way to Get Started
We work with organizations serious about getting this thing right. Here’s how we mutually determine if Excellent Presence is the right fit for your project:
Step 1: Fit Assessment | No Cost
20 mins. First, we determine what you actually need. Sometimes that’s a fast-launch website to meet a looming deadline. Sometimes it’s a comprehensive strategic buildout.
Oftentimes, it’s both. Other times, it’s just a paid strategy session or two to help you figure out how to handle something yourself.
Either way, no pressure, no hard sell. Just a quick assessment of your goals and needs and whether we can deliver.
Step 2: Strategic Discovery Call | No Cost*
45 to 60 mins. This is a working session, not a sales pitch. Here, we map out the full scope of your project with broad strokes.
For fast-launch sites, we define the essential pages and what content you’ll need to provide. For comprehensive or combination projects, we also dig into your vision and roadblocks.
* All Strategic Discovery Calls for new projects are free. However, if you need us to guide your DIY project, or deliver expert advice, this call would be a Strategy Session, which is paid.
Step 3: Custom Proposal (1 to 5 business days)
After our Discovery Call, we deliver a custom proposal for Phase 1: The Blueprint. This proposal will tell you:
- The fixed-price investment for this phase (The Blueprint);
- All deliverables for this phase (Ex: Strategic Interview, Market Research, Brand Foundations, and draft Website Layout Strategy);
- Delivery timeline for this phase (usually 1.5 to 6 weeks); and
- Projected cost estimate for the next phase (The Buildout).
No surprises. No scope creep. Just a clear roadmap and full expectations.
