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Written by: Joel Crampton
A new site can touch positioning, content, compliance, SEO, technology, lead generation, and the client experience.
Building the pages is only one part of the project.
ONE BIG IDEA — The Website Is the Output. The Project Is Much Bigger.
There are plenty of capable companies that can design and develop a website for a financial firm.
The harder part is making sure the site reflects the business, attracts the right people, preserves what already works, and connects properly to everything around it.
A Lot More Than Design
A redesign quickly touches:
- Positioning and messaging
- Copywriting and compliance
- SEO and content migration
- CRM, forms, calendars, and analytics
- Hosting, domains, redirects, and launch coordination
Those responsibilities rarely belong to one person. Compliance reviews the language, IT handles the domain, a developer builds the pages, and leadership weighs in on positioning.
Without someone leading the full project, every contributor can complete their task while the website still misses the mark.
Why I Love These Projects
Website projects force firms to make important decisions about who they serve, how they're different, and what visitors should do next.
Sometimes I lead the build with my own team. Sometimes I work alongside an agency. And sometimes I help a firm move beyond FMG or Snappy Kraken into a more flexible, custom presence.
The platform matters, but the bigger job is making sure the strategy, content, technology, SEO, compliance, and lead journey all work together.
ONE FRAMEWORK — The 7 Workstreams Behind a Website Launch
A strong website project isn't one linear process. It's several connected workstreams that have to move together.
1. Strategy and Positioning
Define the audience, value proposition, services, differentiation, and actions the site should encourage.
2. Content and Compliance
Write the pages, gather disclosures, manage reviews, and keep the language useful without creating unnecessary compliance problems.
3. Design and Development
Turn the strategy into clear navigation, strong visual hierarchy, mobile-friendly pages, and a platform the firm can manage.
4. SEO and Migration
Inventory existing content, preserve valuable pages, transfer metadata, map URLs, and implement 301 redirects.
5. Technology and Integrations
Connect forms, calendars, CRM workflows, analytics, pixels, newsletters, lead magnets, and scorecards.
6. Launch Coordination
Manage hosting, domains, DNS, permissions, testing, backups, approvals, and the launch sequence.
7. Post-Launch Growth
Confirm indexing, monitor errors, update directory listings, publish new content, and improve conversion paths.
Each workstream is manageable on its own.
The challenge is keeping all 7 aligned so the finished site supports the firm's larger marketing and growth goals.
ONE NEXT STEP — Choose the Project Leader Before the Website Builder
Too often, the firm's founder or another non-marketer ends up leading the website project while also trying to run the firm.
Important decisions about positioning, content, design, SEO, and integrations then get squeezed between client meetings, hiring, operations, and everything else competing for attention
Even when you hire a capable agency or contractor, they'll often appreciate having a strong marketing leader on the team who can:
- Translate the founder's ideas into clear direction
- Provide timely feedback and make decisions
- Connect the website to the broader marketing strategy
- Coordinate internal stakeholders and outside partners
- Keep the project moving when leadership gets pulled elsewhere
Good agencies appreciate this kind of partnership. It gives them better direction, faster decisions, and a clearer understanding of what the firm is actually trying to accomplish.
A website vendor can build the site. A marketing leader turns the founder's ideas into a coordinated project that supports the firm's growth.