Review
Understand the problem before committing to the solution.
Some decisions are too important to make on instinct — whether to rebuild, why enquiries have dropped, whether the website is really the problem, where to invest.
Getting it wrong can waste serious time and money. A Review gives you an independent, evidence-based view of what’s actually going on before you commit to a direction.
Pragmatic when necessary, Alex will frequently challenge what is probable, skillfully influencing others to focus instead on what is possible.
What is a Review?
We start with the business question, not a predetermined solution or generic checklist.
What are you trying to achieve? What’s changed? What isn’t working? What decision are you trying to make?
I then investigate whatever’s relevant — website, positioning, customer journeys, content, analytics, search, competitors, conversion, or how the work is currently managed.
The question determines the investigation, not the other way round.
A Review makes sense when…
- Something isn’t working, but the real problem isn’t yet clear.
- The business has changed and what you have no longer fits.
- You’re considering a redesign, rebuild or repositioning.
- You’ve got plenty of data, ideas or opinions, but no clear priority.
- You want an independent view before committing serious time or money.
Understand. Investigate. Decide.
We agree the question that actually matters. I investigate the relevant evidence, testing what’s emerging as we go. Then I bring the findings together into a clear view of what matters, what doesn’t, and what I think you should do next.
The scope follows the question. A website question might need analytics, UX and content work; a positioning question might need customer and competitor research.
We agree scope, timing and cost before starting — enough to make a good decision, not to manufacture work that isn’t needed.
What you get
Not a large report — a useful decision.
You’ll get a concise record of what I found, what it means, what deserves attention and what I think you should do next.
That might mean leaving something alone, making a straightforward change, briefing an existing supplier or defining a larger piece of work.
Take it and act on it however makes sense — yourself, with your team or suppliers, or with me.
If the issue needs ongoing attention rather than another project, Stewardship may be the better fit.
What that can look like
Starting point
Errol Donald had an impressive body of work, but his website left visitors to work out how that experience translated into what he offered today.
Finding the focus
Through a series of conversations, we identified where he created the greatest value and shaped that into three clear service areas reflecting both his experience and where he wanted the practice to go.
Putting it into practice
That thinking informed the site structure, content and an interactive prototype — before I rebuilt the website around the work he wanted to do next.
Think a Review might be useful?
Tell me what you're trying to work out. If a Review isn't the right way to approach it, I'll say so.
Not sure you need a Review?
If your question is specifically about an existing website and you’re not yet sure whether it needs deeper investigation, the free Website Check is a simpler place to start.
I’m Alex Magill, founder of Bold Wise.
I’ve spent more than twenty-five years working across strategy, design, websites and digital products.
That breadth matters here because problems rarely arrive neatly labelled. What looks like an SEO problem might be positioning; what looks like a design problem might be structure, content or an unclear offer.