How we work, and what that costs you in flexibility
Six things we do the same way on every engagement, and the trade each one makes. A way of working with no downside is a way of working nobody has tested.
Most agencies describe how they work in adjectives. The list below is the version with the trade attached, because every one of these choices costs something and a client who finds out afterwards is right to be annoyed.
It is the same on a website and on a two-year software engagement. The size changes; the shape does not.
The six, and what each one costs
- One contractThe build, the infrastructure and the growth work on one invoice. The trade: we are more expensive than the cheapest supplier for any one of the three.
- A named engineerThe person on the first call stays on the account. The trade: when they are on holiday, you wait a little longer than a queue would make you wait.
- Operated, not deliveredWe keep it running after launch. The trade: there is a monthly cost after the project ends, and we will say so before you sign rather than after.
- European hostingServers in Europe we own and operate. The trade: if you need a specific hyperscaler region, we are building to somebody else's platform and the operating half is no longer ours.
- Monthly reportingWhat changed, what it cost, what it produced. The trade: a month where little happened produces a report that says so.
- No lock-inThe code, the domains and the accounts are yours from day one. The trade: none we can find, which is why it is in the contract rather than in a sales conversation.
What an engagement actually looks like
A review before a quote
We look at what you have and write down what is costing you most. You keep that document whether or not we continue.
A written scope
What is in, what is deliberately out, and who decides. Then a price, and the price is fixed.
Built where you can see it
A staging address only you can reach, updated as it is built. You comment on the real thing, not on a status report.
Live, then run
Launch is a deployment. What follows is a monthly service, or a handover, and both are normal.
What we will not do
- Take a percentage of ad spend it pays a supplier to spend more, which is not the same as bringing you customers.
- Hold your domain it is registered in your name from the first day, not at the end of a notice period.
- Promise a ranking nobody controls the results page. We will tell you what we will do and what it has produced before.
- Replace software that works it is the most expensive advice in this industry and it is almost always sold by whoever benefits.
More in the company
Not sure how this applies to you?
A senior engineer walks your site, your search presence and the way enquiries reach you, then writes down the three things worth fixing first. You keep the document either way.