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Website Design & Development

Marketing websites, ecommerce and headless implementations built for SEO, conversion and integration with the rest of the marketing stack — sites that are findable by both humans and AI assistants, and that the AOS platform can optimise against.

  • Sites built for both human conversion and AI discoverability
  • Headless-ready architecture for content velocity
  • Native integration with CRM, attribution and ad-platform tracking

A marketing website is a piece of marketing infrastructure, not a brochure. It needs to render fast, rank in search, convert traffic, integrate with the rest of the marketing stack and adapt as the marketing programme evolves — usually over a 5-10 year lifespan. We build sites for that — not for a one-off launch and a 3-year freeze. Headless architecture, AI-search-optimised by default, integrated with CRM, attribution and ad-platform tracking from day one.

What we build

The standard programme covers:

  • Marketing websites: home, services, content, conversion paths, lead-gen surfaces — for B2B services, SaaS, professional services, healthcare, agencies
  • Ecommerce: Shopify (standard or headless), commerce platforms with custom front-end, integrated with PIM, ERP and lifecycle infrastructure
  • Headless implementations: front-end on Next.js, content on Sanity (or Contentful, Storyblok), commerce on Shopify or Commerce Layer
  • Landing page systems: templated, performance-optimised, integrated with paid media for continuous variant testing
  • Migrations: from WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow to a modern headless stack — preserving SEO authority through proper redirect mapping
  • Ongoing development: feature additions, performance optimisation, third-party integrations, design-system evolution

Why headless / Jamstack architecture

Most websites we replace are on monolithic CMS platforms (WordPress, Squarespace, Wix) that combine content management, theming and rendering into one stack. That worked when sites were brochure-style and updated quarterly. It struggles when:

  • Performance matters for both UX and SEO ranking — Core Web Vitals are now a ranking factor and monolithic CMS often can't hit them without heavy optimisation work
  • Content velocity matters — editorial teams need to publish multiple times per week without engineering involvement
  • Multiple front-ends consume the same content — site, mobile app, email, partner integrations
  • AI-search readiness matters — structured data, semantic HTML, server-rendered content for crawler clarity
  • The marketing stack needs deep integration — CRM webhooks, server-side tracking, real-time personalisation

Headless / Jamstack solves these by separating content from presentation. Content lives in a structured backend (Sanity is our default — we run our own marketing site on it). The front-end is a fast, statically-generated React application that pulls content via API. Performance is excellent by default; integration is straightforward; the system scales from small marketing sites to large content operations.

AI-search readiness from launch

Sites we build in 2026 are designed for the search world that exists in 2026 — not the one from 2018. That means more than "good SEO". It means:

  • Structured data on every page (Article, FAQ, Breadcrumb, Organization, Service, Person schema) — drives both classic SEO and AI assistant citation
  • Server-rendered content with semantic HTML — AI crawlers (and classic search crawlers) can parse the structure cleanly
  • Citation-friendly content architecture — definition boxes, FAQ blocks, key takeaways, original frameworks marked up as quotable
  • Author entity markup with E-E-A-T credentials — authors, bios, LinkedIn linkage, credentials in Person schema
  • Page templates designed for AEO — short-answer blocks, structured FAQs, definition boxes built into the design system
  • Sitemap and robots configuration that gives crawlers the right access without exposing draft or thin content

Most of this is invisible to users but determines whether the site gets cited in AI assistant responses, ranks for featured snippets, and appears in Google AI Overviews. Our SEO/AEO/GEO/AIO service is the ongoing work that runs against this foundation.

How a build runs

Discovery to launch

The build process

Typical 12-20 week engagement for a mid-market marketing site or ecommerce build, depending on scope.

  1. Discovery

    Brand, audience, content + technical scope

    Brand audit, audience definition, sitemap, content inventory, technical requirements, integration scope, performance targets, SEO migration plan if applicable.

  2. Design

    Visual system + page templates + component library

    Design system designed for evolution — components, templates, content blocks that can recombine into new pages. Mobile-first. Accessibility-aware (WCAG 2.2 AA target).

  3. Build

    Front-end + CMS + integration + tracking

    Next.js front-end, Sanity (or chosen) CMS, API integration with CRM and marketing stack, server-side conversion tracking, structured data on every page type. CI/CD via Vercel or equivalent.

  4. Migrate

    Content migration + redirect mapping + SEO preservation

    Content migrated cleanly. 301 redirect map for every old URL with traffic. Search Console transfer. Sitemap updated. Internal linking restructured to compound topical authority.

  5. Launch

    Performance audit + monitoring + handover

    Lighthouse / Core Web Vitals audit at launch. Real-user monitoring configured. Authoring documentation + Studio training for content team. Go-live with monitoring.

Build vs buy: when does this service make sense?

Build option vs alternatives

When custom build makes sense vs templated platforms

Dimension
Custom build (this service)
Templated platforms
Time to first launch
12-20 weeks
4-12 weeks
Cost (initial)
£25-£250k+
£3-£25k
Performance
Excellent (typical 95+ Lighthouse)
Variable (60-90 typical)
AI-search readiness
Built in by default
Often requires plugins / theme work
Content velocity
High (editorial ships without engineering)
Variable; often template-constrained
Marketing stack integration
Native / API-first
Plugin-dependent
5-year total cost
Lower (low ongoing cost)
Higher (templates + plugins + workarounds)
Best for
Growth-stage businesses with marketing complexity
Brochure sites or early-stage businesses

The honest answer for most early-stage businesses is templated platforms — there's no point spending £50k on a custom build for a 4-page brochure site. The economics flip when marketing complexity grows: multiple service pages, content production at velocity, integrated lifecycle programmes, AI-search optimisation, performance ranking pressure. At that point, the platform constraints start costing more than the build would have.

What it costs

Website builds are scoped engagements priced on complexity rather than retainer. Indicative ranges:

  • Lean marketing site (10-25 pages, standard CMS, no commerce): £25-50k
  • Standard marketing site (25-75 pages, design system, integrations, complex content types): £50-120k
  • Headless ecommerce (custom front-end on Shopify or commerce platform): £75-200k+
  • Complex / multi-region / multi-language sites: £150-400k+

Ongoing development (feature additions, optimisation, integrations) typically £4,500-£18,000/month depending on roadmap intensity.

Interactive · Cost Calculator

Compare against your current website operating cost

Set your current CMS, hosting, plugins and ongoing development cost. The calculator gives you a baseline for the comparison against a custom-build approach.

Your current setup

Current annual cost (excluding media)

£180,000

People + agency + tools. Media spend is held constant on both sides.

AI-powered agency · annual cost (excluding media)

£85,202

Management fee on £20,000/month spend at 23.0% + your existing tools.

Difference

£94,798/year

£7,900/month freed up. Reinvested into media, that’s an extra 4.7 months of working spend each year.

Build your growth plan→

Indicative only. Loaded cost per head includes salary, oncosts, software seats and overhead. Real proposals model your specific channel mix, attribution and margin targets via the discovery.

Where this service wins

  • Mid-market businesses on aging WordPress / Squarespace sites that have outgrown the platform's performance, integration or velocity constraints
  • Growth-stage businesses building marketing infrastructure from scratch with the explicit goal of supporting an AI-led marketing programme
  • Ecommerce moving from Shopify default theming to headless for performance, customisation or content velocity
  • Acquisitions / rebrands needing a clean rebuild rather than a theme refresh on the inherited platform
  • Multi-region or multi-language operations where templated platforms create ongoing localisation friction

Where it doesn't fit

  • Early-stage businesses with simple brochure-site needs — templated platforms (Webflow, Framer, Squarespace) are usually the right answer until marketing complexity grows
  • Brands without ongoing marketing investment to justify the build economics — a £50k site for a programme that does £30k/year in marketing isn't proportionate
  • Operations needing a launch in under 8 weeks — a custom build can't realistically compress below that without quality compromise

Read deeper on this

  • SEO, AEO, GEO & AIO — the ongoing search visibility work that runs against the foundation a build creates.
  • CRO & Analytics — the measurement and conversion optimisation that pairs with the build.
  • AI Implementation & Digital Infrastructure — the broader infrastructure work where website builds sit alongside CRM, integrations and AI workflows.

FAQs

Common website build questions

What stack do you build on?

Default: Next.js front-end + Sanity CMS + Vercel hosting. We run involvedigital.ai on this stack, which gives us strong opinions about it. We adapt where the brief warrants — Astro for content-heavy lower-interactivity sites, Shopify for commerce default, Commerce Layer for headless commerce.

How long does a build take?

12-16 weeks for a mid-market marketing site (30-60 pages, design system, basic integrations). 16-24 weeks for headless commerce or complex multi-region builds. Faster timelines are usually a sign of cutting corners on either design quality or technical foundations.

Will the site rank in AI search results?

Designed to. Structured data on every page, semantic HTML, citation-friendly content architecture, author entity markup are baked in. Whether the site actually gets cited depends on the content programme that runs after launch — see our SEO/AEO/GEO/AIO service for the ongoing work.

Can our content team manage the site without engineering involvement?

Yes — that's the point of the headless architecture. The CMS (Sanity, Contentful, Storyblok) gives editorial teams a structured authoring interface where they can create new pages, edit existing ones, manage media and publish without touching code. We provide Studio training as part of the build.

How do you handle SEO migration from an old site?

Standard migration includes: full URL inventory of the old site, traffic and ranking analysis to identify priority pages, 301 redirect map for every meaningful URL, Search Console transfer, sitemap update, internal linking audit. Most of the SEO authority preserved if the migration is done properly. Lost when corners are cut on redirect mapping.

Do you do design or just development?

Both. Design and engineering work together throughout the build — most of our most successful projects are ones where design and engineering collaborate from the kick-off rather than design throwing finished comps over the wall to engineering. Pure development engagements (where the client supplies design) are possible but usually less effective.

How does this integrate with the marketing stack?

Server-side conversion tracking, CRM webhooks, marketing automation triggers, ad-platform pixels — all wired into the build. The site emits events the marketing infrastructure consumes; the marketing infrastructure can update content and audience targeting based on visitor behaviour. Not an afterthought.

What about ongoing maintenance after launch?

Two patterns. Light-touch (security updates, performance monitoring, occasional feature additions): typical £2,500-£5,000/month. Active development (continuous feature work, ongoing optimisation, new integrations): £6,000-£18,000/month. Some clients move to self-managed development on their own engineering team after launch — the architecture supports that.

Can you migrate us off WordPress / Webflow / Squarespace?

Yes — these are the most common migration sources. Each has its own quirks (WordPress with custom plugins is the hardest; Webflow is generally cleaner; Squarespace has some content export limitations). We scope the migration explicitly during discovery so you know what's preserved automatically and what needs manual reconstruction.

What if we need a launch in 6 weeks?

Honestly, a custom build at that timeline usually means quality compromises that hurt the 5-year cost. If the timeline is fixed and short, templated platforms (Webflow with a quality designer) are usually the better answer for that launch — with a planned migration to a custom build later when the timeline allows. We'll tell you that rather than take a job we can't deliver well.

Sources and further reading

  • Google — Core Web Vitals — Google's official documentation on the performance metrics that affect search ranking.
  • Google — Search Central guidance on structured data — official guidance on schema markup for SEO and AI search.
  • WCAG 2.2 — Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — accessibility standards we build to (AA target as standard).

Next step

Put an AI-powered agency behind your marketing.

Run the Growth Planner for a tailored plan, or scope an end-to-end engagement with our team.