Concept before construction

Technology is the smaller half

A good website depends on more than development and design: content, findability, measurement, accessibility, law. We do not do all of it ourselves – but we map out what is needed and bring in the people from our partner network who cover the rest.

What it costs

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What projects actually fail on

Almost never the technology. Almost always one of these four – and all four are settled before the first line of code.

The copy is missing

Halfway through the build, nobody has written the content. The project waits – development does not.

Nobody maintains it

Before launch it is unsettled who keeps the site current afterwards. Three months later you can tell.

The structure no longer fits

Twelve pages were planned, forty are needed. Rebuilding it afterwards costs a multiple.

Everyone works past each other

Three suppliers, no shared document. Each does their part correctly, together it does not fit.

That is exactly where a concept saves money – more than it costs. Not because it produces a nicer document, but because the expensive decisions get made while they are still cheap.

What we deliver – and what we only map out

We take this split seriously. Everything in the right-hand column is part of the concept, but we do not implement it ourselves – we work with partners who do it daily.

We do this ourselves

Concept and implementation from one team.

  • Technical concept

    Which technology, which CMS, which interfaces. What gets built and what gets bought. Where the data lives and who maintains it.

  • Information architecture

    Which pages exist, how they relate and which URLs they live at – including what happens to existing URLs.

  • Data model

    Which objects your application knows and how they relate. The part that is most expensive to change later.

  • Visual design

    Design and UX come from our own team. We work out what the site has to achieve and which states need designing – and then build the design concept as well.

  • Effort and sequence

    What gets built first, what can wait, and what depends on someone else delivering first.

We bring in partners

Part of the concept, but not from our own hands. We name the right partner – or bring them under our contract if you prefer.

  • Search engines and AI visibility

    We lay out the structure so it can be found and write down which content that needs. Keyword research and ongoing support come from an SEO agency in our partner network.

  • Content and editing

    We say which page needs which text and roughly how long it should be. Writing it is down to you – or to a copywriter from our partner network.

  • Measurement and tracking

    We record what should be measured and what that means under data protection law. Setting it up and analysing it is done by a partner who does that daily.

  • Accessibility

    We build to the rules and test automatically along the way. A formal audit against BITV or EN 301 549 is a different thing and belongs with an accredited body – we put you in touch.

  • Legal

    We name what has to be settled – data processing agreements, consent, mandatory disclosures. The legal assessment belongs with your lawyer; if we have nobody in the network for it, we say so.

The distinction is not a detail: when we say “we do not do that ourselves”, it does not mean you are on your own. It means someone who really can will take it on – from our network or from your side. What matters is that it is on the plan now, rather than surfacing six months from now in hindsight.

How a concept phase runs

  1. Intro call

    30 minutes, free of charge. Afterwards both sides know whether the project is a fit.

  2. Stocktaking

    What exists, what works, what does not. For existing sites that includes a look under the hood.

  3. Workshop

    Half a day to a full day with the people it will actually affect – not only with management.

  4. Concept document

    In writing, with decisions and the reasons behind them. Including the rejected ones, so nobody is guessing a year from now.

  5. Delivery plan

    Sequence, effort estimate, named gaps. You can put it out to tender elsewhere with it.

Direction already settled and it is only about the technology? Then go straight to technologies. If you want to know what the build costs afterwards: pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Are you an SEO agency?

No. We are developers and we say so plainly. What we do ourselves: build a site so it is technically findable, and write down which content is missing for that. Keyword research, link building and ongoing SEO support are not ours – for those we work with SEO partners we know from projects. You still get the service, just not from us.

Why should I pay for a concept if you build it afterwards anyway?

If we do build it, you end up not paying for it: we credit the full concept effort against the project price. And if you go with someone else, you keep a document you can put out to tender with. It also saves us from pricing in the dark – a fixed price without a concept is either guesswork or padded with buffer.

Do you credit the concept if we build with you afterwards?

Yes, in full. If the concept turns into a project with us, we deduct the entire concept effort from the project price. So you only really pay for the concept if you continue without us – and even then you still have the document.

Who contracts the partners – you or we?

By default we name the right partner and you contract them directly: you hold the contract and stay in control of the budget. On request it runs through us instead – then you have one contact and one invoice, and we stand behind the result. Which makes more sense in your case we settle up front, not afterwards.

What does a concept cost?

Billed by effort at 120 € per hour. How many hours it takes depends on how much is already settled – a manageable corporate website takes considerably less than an application with several roles and interfaces. After the intro call we name a range; that is an estimate, not a commitment.

We already have a marketing agency. Is that a problem?

On the contrary, that is the easier case. We then focus on the technical side and align the interfaces with their work. We do not take over your existing suppliers – that relationship stays with you, and we only name what has to come from them. It is different for partners we bring in ourselves: there we handle the coordination if you want us to.

How long is such a concept document?

As long as necessary and as short as possible. It is not a glossy proposal but a working basis: decisions, reasons, open points, sequence.

Think first, then build

Tell us what you have in mind. In the intro call we work out whether your project needs a concept phase at all – sometimes the answer is no.

Prefer to talk? +49 9163 6791505 (Mon–Fri, 8 am–6 pm CET)