Agency Collaboration
Website Discovery Process
The Giant Donut Marketing Website Discovery Process helps successfully onboard your website to our Agency!
Who is the Discovery Process for?
Depending on the services that you’re engaging us for, we may take you through a Discovery Process. For example, if you didn’t build a website with us but engage us for Monthly Website Management, we’ll want to initially get your site up to speed which may take some time and effort. Additionally, if you engage us to add an advanced feature to an existing website, our initial scope will be discovery to make sure that we can properly quote the project and update existing frameworks, etc.
If you’re planning to advertise with us (Google Ads, Facebook, etc.), we’ll typically need a Discovery Process to help align your site with your advertising goals.
This process may include SEO site scans and website repair, Professional Google Product Suite installation, and conversion tracking setup.
We start this process by doing several SEO site audits. These audits allow us to fix any outstanding site issues before we launch your website on Google’s search engine. As part of this process we also ensure the correct Schema is used for your website’s markup, ensuring higher placements on the search engine.
The next part of this process is professionally setting up the Google Product Suite on your website. We set up and connect Google Analytics and Google Search Console (and optionally Google Ads). These systems and processes allow us to check your website’s search engine performance including information about keywords, site users, page visits, and conversions.
Once your website audits and Product Suite setup have been completed, we constantly monitor Google Search Console and run additional audits to keep your website in tip-top shape! We also track your site’s conversions to ensure you are constantly improving your lead flow!
Depending on the complexity of your website, the discovery process can take anywhere from 60–180 days. Each Discovery Process is custom catered for our individual client’s needs, and is set up to prepare your site for Giant Donut Marketing’s long-term management plans.
What’s Included
Site Audits
An in-house Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist performs several comprehensive website audits. These audits identify negative SEO Characteristics and non-Google-compliant website issues.
Fix Site Errors
We routinely fix any site errors that cause performance or ranking issues on your website. We craft an action-item list of ways to improve your site for long-term ranking success, including content and layout changes.
Update Core Software
We ensure that the software on your site is up to date on the most current version (WordPress, etc.) and that any themes are updated. We’ll also ensure you’re on a recent version of PHP and that any other core software is up to date.
Update or Replace Plugins
When our in-house specialist performs maintenance on a website, they ensure that all plugins are updated to keep your site in top condition. We will update or replace plugins as needed to make sure they function optimally.
Google Analytics
A team member will provide you with a Professional Google Setup which connects all relevant Google Properties that benefit a website’s Google search rankings. Having Google Analytics and Google Search Console properly set up and connected allows for Google crawlers to positively recognize a website and attribute higher search rankings to that site.
Google Search Console
The Google Search Console platform helps optimize websites for search rankings. Search Console gives insight to what keywords a site ranks for, site link connections, crawl errors, and Google penalties. Properly setting up Google Search Console includes verifying ownership, claiming all tracked versions of a site’s URL, and uploading the best expression of the site’s XML Sitemap.
What’s Next?
Once the Discovery Process is completed, your website will be prepared for our long-term Monthly Website Management Plan, advertising efforts, or additional scope of work for your next project!
