Small, Reviewable Releases
Work arrives in pieces you can click through on a staging link, never saved up for a single unveiling at the finish. Problems surface early, while they are still cheap and quick to fix.
The WBDI Process
How a WBDI Project Moves From Audit to Growth
Web Business Development runs websites, search programs, cloud migrations and AI pilots through the same five stages: Audit & Discovery, Strategy & Roadmap, Design & Build, Launch & Migrate, and Measure & Grow. Each stage ends with something you can review, approve and keep.
- Sign-off at the end of each stage
- Reviewable releases, not big reveals
- Monthly reports, quarterly roadmap reviews
Audit Findings: Ranked by impact and effort
The Timeline
Five Stages, Each With a Clear Finish Line
Every stage has a defined purpose, a short list of what we need from you and deliverables you can hold us to. Smaller projects move through quickly; larger ones repeat the build and launch stages release by release.
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01
Audit & Discovery
We begin by measuring what already exists: website speed and structure, SEO and AEO health, accessibility against WCAG 2.2 AA, hosting and security setup, and whether your analytics actually records leads. We also check how you appear in Google results, on Google Maps and Apple Maps, and inside AI answers to the questions your customers ask, next to the competitors they also consider.
Then we interview the people who know the business best, from owners to sales and support staff. Their answers explain what the data cannot, such as which leads are worth the most and where customers get stuck.
Deliverables- Website, SEO and AEO audit
- Accessibility and speed findings
- Hosting, security and analytics review
- Competitor and AI answer check
- Stakeholder interview summary
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02
Strategy & Roadmap
Findings turn into a roadmap ranked by impact and effort, so the changes with the biggest payoff and the least disruption go first. Every item names its goal, the KPI that will show progress, a budget estimate and anything it depends on.
You review the plan with us, cut or reorder whatever you like, and approve the first release in writing. Nothing gets built until scope, cost and sequence are agreed.
Deliverables- Roadmap ranked by impact and effort
- KPIs with baseline measurements
- Budget and sequencing options
- Written scope for the first release
- Approval checkpoints for each stage
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03
Design & Build
Content comes first, because layout decisions depend on what each page needs to say. We write or edit the copy, design clickable prototypes, and develop in small releases on a staging site you can open, test and comment on at any time.
Nothing is called finished until it has been tested across browsers and devices, for page speed, forms and structured data, and for accessibility with automated scans plus keyboard and screen-reader checks. AI projects use this stage for prototypes and accuracy testing against real examples from your business.
Deliverables- Page copy and messaging
- Clickable design prototypes
- Staging link for every release
- QA, speed and accessibility results
- Schema and analytics events in place
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04
Launch & Migrate
Launches follow a written checklist. Each old URL that changes gets a 301 redirect to its closest new equivalent, and a page retired with nothing to replace it answers with a 404 or 410 status rather than redirecting to the home page. The DNS cutover is scheduled for a quiet window with a rollback plan ready, and SSL, forms, analytics, Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console are checked as soon as the new site is live.
In the days after launch we watch crawl errors, uptime and conversions closely, then train your team on editing pages, reading reports and using any new tools. You leave this stage with documentation, logins and a site your staff can run.
Deliverables- 301 redirect map
- DNS cutover and rollback plan
- Search Console, Bing and sitemap checks
- Post-launch monitoring
- Team training and documentation
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05
Measure & Grow
Search and AI visibility keep moving after launch, so the work does too. Each month we report what changed and, depending on your program, run experiments on pages and offers, publish or refresh content, and keep structured data and business facts consistent for answer engines.
Once a quarter we sit down with you, compare results against the KPIs set during strategy, and decide what to keep, cut or start next, so the roadmap keeps matching the business you actually run.
Deliverables- Monthly report with next steps
- Conversion and landing page tests
- Content and AEO updates
- Search and AI visibility tracking
- Quarterly roadmap review
One Process, Four Kinds of Work
How the Stages Flex by Project Type
The five stages stay the same; the weight on each one shifts. A website rebuild spends most of its time in design and build, while an SEO and AEO program lives in the measure-and-grow loop.
| Stage | Website Project | SEO & AEO Program | Cloud Migration | AI Pilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Audit | Content inventory, analytics check, platform and integration limits | Crawl and indexing review, rankings, local listings, AI answer check | Current hosting, DNS and email records, dependencies, traffic patterns | Process mapping, data sources and readiness, privacy constraints |
| 02 Strategy | Sitemap, platform choice, page priorities and content plan | Question and keyword map, technical fix list, content calendar | Target platform, cutover window and rollback plan | One use case with a success metric and a named reviewer |
| 03 Build | Content, design and development in releases on staging | Technical fixes, new and refreshed pages, schema, digital PR | Staging copy, security hardening, performance testing | Prototype, evaluation set and human-in-the-loop review |
| 04 Launch | 301 redirects, DNS cutover, Search Console checks | Changes released in batches and annotated in reports | DNS switch after lowering TTLs, verification, rollback on standby | Limited rollout to a small group with close monitoring |
| 05 Grow | Care plan, conversion tests and new pages | Monthly reporting, content cadence, visibility tracking | Monitoring, patching, backups and cost reviews | Accuracy and cost tracking, then expand what works |
Not Sure Which Column Fits You?
Plenty of projects mix two or three of these. A free review sorts out which work comes first and how the five stages would run for your business.
Measure & Grow, Up Close
A Monthly Report You Can Read Over Coffee
Reports packed with charts rarely answer the question an owner actually has: is this working? The WBDI monthly report opens with that answer in a few plain sentences, then backs it up with numbers from your own Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console and, where it is set up, call tracking.
Every metric connects to something you care about, such as calls, booked appointments, orders or quote requests. Every recommendation states what it will take in time or budget before you approve it.
What each report covers
- What changed: pages, fixes and campaigns shipped this month, and why
- What it did: organic and AI referral visits, calls, form leads and sales
- Visibility: rankings and AI answer mentions for your priority questions
- What comes next: upcoming releases and anything we need from you
Working Principles
Four Rules That Hold at Every Stage
They apply whether the job is a single landing page or a long-running search program, and each one is something you can check us on.
Plain-English Reporting
Every update says what changed, why it matters and what comes next, without jargon. If a metric does not connect to leads or sales, it does not headline the report.
Your Accounts, Your Code
You keep the keys. By default your company owns its domain, analytics, Search Console and ad accounts, and WBDI signs in to them with its own login. Custom code and content transfer to you once they are paid for, and a site WBDI hosts comes with the access and written instructions you would need to move it.
Privacy and Accessibility First
Before a release goes live, WBDI reviews its forms, tracking and AI features for privacy and checks it against WCAG 2.2 AA. Blocking issues are fixed before launch, and smaller ones go on the roadmap with an owner and a date.
FAQ
Before Kickoff: Your Questions
Timelines, time commitment, project visibility, shifting priorities and support after launch. For a walk-through of how the stages would run for your project, just ask.
Talk Through Your ProjectHow long until we see first results from WBDI's work?
Fixes that do not depend on search engines, such as faster pages, repaired forms and clearer calls to action, can affect leads soon after they go live. SEO and AEO gains typically build over months, because Google, Bing and AI platforms decide when to recrawl, rank and cite pages. Web Business Development records baselines and KPIs in its Strategy & Roadmap stage, so progress is measured from a known starting point. WBDI does not promise specific rankings or dates.
How much of our team's time does a WBDI project take?
Involvement is heaviest at a few key points rather than every week. Web Business Development needs the most input during the Audit & Discovery stage, for interviews and account access, and at the approval checkpoint that closes each stage. During the Design & Build stage, plan on reviewing staging links and supplying content or feedback promptly, since slow approvals are a common cause of delays. After launch, reviewing the monthly report together is usually enough.
What tools does WBDI use to keep projects visible?
Web Business Development keeps every project visible in three places: a shared roadmap showing what is planned, in progress and finished; a project board where you can comment on tasks and approve deliverables; and staging links where you can try each release before it goes live. Monthly reports sum up the same information, so nobody has to dig through tools to see where things stand.
What if our priorities change in the middle of a project?
WBDI expects priorities to shift and plans around it. Because work ships in small releases, Web Business Development can reorder the roadmap between releases without discarding finished work. When a change affects scope, cost or timing, WBDI explains the trade-off in writing and waits for your approval before adjusting the plan. The quarterly roadmap review also gives you a standing opportunity to reset priorities.
What support does WBDI offer once the site is live?
WBDI can keep the site running and improving after launch through managed cloud hosting, website care plans and monthly growth programs, covering software updates, security monitoring, backups, small content edits, reporting and ongoing SEO and AEO work. Businesses that prefer to run the site themselves receive documentation, account access and training at handoff, and can bring Web Business Development back for individual projects whenever they need help.
Know Where Your Project Should Start
Describe the result you are after and point us to your site. WBDI will review it, along with your rankings and AI visibility, at no cost, then tell you which work to tackle first and why.