Marketing Agency Horror Stories: A Website Downgrade

When a New Website Is a Step Backward

We see website projects go wrong nearly every month. Sometimes it is a failed engagement, like we discussed in Episode 2. But there is a different kind of failure that does not always get enough attention: a website project that completes on time, launches as scheduled, and still ends up being a significant downgrade.

A recent example involves a major oil and gas service company that launched a new website in late 2024. By most appearances, the project was completed, and the site went live. But when you compare it to their previous website, the new version is a clear step backward — visually, structurally, and strategically. Additionally, their provider did not implement industry best practices for on-site SEO, meaning the site did not rank well on search engines. The result is a company that spent real money on a website project and came out the other side with something less effective than what they had before.

This is not an isolated case. It happens when website projects are built without the right components in scope. Below are the 12 core components that every website project must include if the goal is a final product that actually moves your business forward.

12 Core Components Every Website Project Must Include

1. Strategy

If you are interested in a website project, you likely aren’t interested solely in aesthetics. Before any design or development work begins, your provider needs to understand why you are building a new website. What business outcomes are you trying to achieve? What does success look like when the project is complete? If you cannot define the finish line at the start, you cannot build a clear path to reach it. Strategy is the foundation that every other component is built on.

2. SEO and AEO Analysis

Search Engine Optimization and Answer Engine Optimization research must happen before the site is built, not after it launches. Your provider should be analyzing the keywords and search strategies that will drive relevant traffic to your site and building that research into the project from the beginning. Skipping this step is one of the most common reasons new websites fail to perform in search results.

3. User Journey and Site Mapping

A website is a structured path designed to guide visitors toward a specific outcome. That outcome must be defined, and your project scope should include a clear site map to support it. Address what pages will exist, how they connect, and what the intended user journey looks like from entry point to conversion. Without this, pages get built in isolation and the site loses its ability to convert visitors into leads.

4. Site Design for UX/UI and Mobile Responsiveness

Good looks do not matter if visitors cannot find what they are looking for. That is why site design needs to be built around user experience and user interface. How people navigate the site, find information, and take action should drive every design decision. Today, a growing portion of website traffic comes from phones and tablets, and a site that does not perform well on mobile will lose both visitors and search rankings.

5. Functionality Needs

Every company has technical requirements that are specific to how they operate. Forms, integrations, portals, calculators, databases — whatever your site needs to do in order to meet your business goals has to be defined and scoped upfront. Otherwise, your website will lack the capabilities it needs to accomplish those objectives.

6. Content Development

Content development is consistently one of the most underestimated components of a website project. Many agencies and freelancers push the writing responsibility back onto the client, but the reality is that most companies do not have the bandwidth to write strong website copy on top of their normal workload. A capable agency should own the content development, while incorporating strategic input, collaboration, and review from your team. This way, the workload stays off your plate, while the final product communicates clearly and supports your SEO strategy.

7. Multimedia

Your provider needs to take inventory of what photography your company actually owns, and identify where stock images will fill the gaps. Any stock imagery used must be properly licensed. Copyright violations from image use are increasingly common and can result in significant legal and financial exposure. A good provider will be diligent about image rights and will prioritize using your own photography wherever possible.

8. Site Build for Performance

Obviously…the scope of your website project should include building the site. What is less obvious is how that site is built. The CMS platform, the code quality, the page speed, and the technical architecture all affect how search engines rank your site. Make sure your provider is building the site in a way that is optimized for performance.

9. On-Site SEO and AEO Implementation

The SEO and AEO analysis from step two has to be implemented before the site launches. This means applying keyword strategy, meta data, page structure, and technical SEO best practices across the entire site. The oil and gas company referenced at the beginning of this article is a direct example of what happens when this step is skipped. The site went live without it, and the search performance consequences were immediate.

10. QA and Launch

A robust quality assurance and review process is necessary to ensure the site launches in great condition. Before any site goes live, it needs to be tested across browsers, devices, and screen sizes. Links, forms, load speeds, and functionality all need to be verified. A proper QA process also ensures the site is ready to be submitted to search engines in a way that supports the keyword rankings you have worked to build into the project.

11. Training and Ease of Editing

After a site launches, your team should be able to make updates to it without being dependent on your agency for every small edit. Training on the content management system should be included in every website project scope. This protects your ability to maintain control over your own digital asset and reduces the time and cost of ongoing maintenance.

12. Ongoing Support

As we’ve discussed before, the work does not end at launch. Ongoing support for the technical backend of the site (security updates, plugin maintenance, performance monitoring) should be addressed before it’s too late. Many agencies, including Four Columns, provide ongoing support for the first year following site launch as a standard part of the engagement. Whether that support is included or structured as a separate agreement, it needs to be defined before the project begins.

The Scope Determines the Outcome

If you are evaluating vendors for a website project, use this list as a benchmark. A provider who cannot speak to each of these components in detail during the sales process is unlikely to deliver them in execution.

If you have any additional questions or comments, reach out to us directly — we would love to hear from you.