Website Strategy & Transformation

Build the right foundations. Deliver lasting change.

Website Strategy & Transformation

Regain control of your website

Large organisational websites rarely become difficult overnight.

They grow gradually across departments, projects and years of changing priorities. Pages are added but rarely removed. Navigation reflects the organisation rather than its audiences. Ownership becomes unclear and teams struggle to keep content useful and up to date.

Eventually, users cannot find what they need and the organisation is no longer confident that the website represents it well.

I help universities, charities, NGOs and public-sector organisations simplify complex websites, make evidence-led decisions and establish more sustainable ways of managing them.

Website problems are rarely just design problems

Before rebuilding, migrating or commissioning an agency, you need to understand:

• what the website is expected to achieve;

• which audiences and tasks matter most;

• what content deserves to remain;

• how the site should be organised;

• who will own and manage it;

• how decisions will be made;

• what must change before migration begins.

I can lead a complete website strategy and transformation programme or provide support with a defined part of the work.

Build the right foundations

Good website delivery begins with clear objectives, reliable evidence and an agreed structure.

Support can include:

• website purpose, objectives and principles;

• priority audiences and user needs;

• content priorities and messaging;

• success measures;

• content models and page types;

• stakeholder alignment;

• phased improvement or transformation roadmaps;

• clear requirements for internal teams and suppliers.

The result is a practical strategy that guides decisions rather than a document that sits unused.

Depending on the project, research can include:

• stakeholder interviews;

• audience interviews and workshops;

• analytics and search-data reviews;

• user journeys and priority tasks;

• card sorting;

• tree testing;

• prototype and usability testing;

• content testing;

• analysis of recurring questions and user feedback.

Findings are translated into practical recommendations that support decisions about content, structure and priorities.

Support can include:

• content inventories and structural reviews;

• audience needs and task mapping;

• navigation and information-architecture models;

• page hierarchies and user pathways;

• content types and page templates;

• naming, labelling and navigation language;

• separation of internal and external content;

• testing proposed structures with users and stakeholders;

• detailed documentation for design, build or migration.

The result is a structure that users can understand and teams can maintain.

Deliver lasting change

A successful website project does not end when a strategy is agreed or a new site launches.

Long-term improvement depends on clear ownership, manageable processes and disciplined implementation.

Support can include:

• ownership and responsibility models;

• decision-making and escalation routes;

• publishing and approval workflows;

• editorial standards and content principles;

• page-review and archiving processes;

• content lifecycle management;

• templates and quality criteria;

• editor guidance and training;

• governance groups and terms of reference;

• measures for monitoring quality and performance.

The goal is not to create unnecessary bureaucracy. It is to give people enough clarity to make good decisions and maintain standards.

I can support:

• migration planning and sequencing;

• content auditing and prioritisation;

• keep, improve, combine and remove decisions;

• content owner coordination;

• page templates and content models;

• rewriting and page-building guidance;

• content production planning;

• coordination with designers, developers and agencies;

• quality assurance and consistency checks;

• launch preparation;

• phased delivery and post-launch improvement.

I can work independently, alongside an internal team or as the link between stakeholders and an external supplier.

Every project is shaped around the organisation, but the work usually follows five broad stages.

1. Understanding: Clarify the organisational context, goals, constraints, audiences and decisions that need to be made.

2. Investigating: Review existing evidence, content, analytics, structures, processes and audience needs.

3. Aligning: Bring stakeholders together around shared priorities and resolve areas of uncertainty or competing demand.

4. Designing the approach: Develop the strategy, structure, governance model or delivery plan required.

5. Supporting implementation: Help teams apply the decisions consistently through migration, content production, supplier management and launch.

This creates continuity between strategy and delivery and reduces the risk of good decisions being lost as the project progresses.

Most strategy, research and information-architecture projects take between four and eight weeks. Governance, migration and implementation support may continue for longer, depending on the scale and complexity of the organisation.

You will receive a clear proposal setting out the scope, approach, deliverables, timings and cost before work begins.

Not sure where to start?

If you already know that your website is the priority, we can begin by defining the project and identifying the evidence needed.

Where the underlying priority is still uncertain, the shorter Communications & Digital Review may be a better first step.

Explore the Communications & Digital Review →

See how this works in practice

Explore examples of complex website projects and hear from the organisations I have worked with.

Let’s discuss your website

Tell me what is prompting the project, what is currently causing difficulty and what you hope will be different as a result.

You do not need to have written a formal brief. I can help you identify the right scope and starting point.