What Does a Web Design Agency Do? Inside the Kitchen

The First Table: Discovery and Strategy

In a good agency the project starts with questions, not design. Skip this table and every following table produces the wrong thing.

The business gets listened to

What do you sell, to whom, how do you earn, who competes — and why Turkey, with what entry plan? The discovery meeting is a business meeting, not a website meeting, and remotely it is a structured video call, not a lost formality. A quote arriving without these questions is a suit sewn without measurements.

The goal shrinks to one sentence

“A beautiful site” is not a goal. “Fifty quote requests a month from Turkish buyers” is a goal; “convincing distributor candidates” is a goal. The goal sentence becomes every following table’s compass, and delivery-day success is measured against it.

The current state gets photographed

If a site exists — even your home-market site — what does it carry, what does it miss, where does traffic come from? The photograph tells what to keep and what to demolish. In rebuild projects the most expensive mistake is demolishing what works.

The scope goes on paper

Discovery’s output is a document: page list, feature list, delivery calendar, responsibility split — in a language both sides read comfortably. The document protects both parties; it is the antidote to “we assumed that was included,” a sentence that costs double across a language line.

The Second Table: Architecture and Design

Strategy is set; the visible work begins — but in a different order than assumed.

Skeleton first, makeup second

Good design starts with boxes, not colours: what sits on each page, which path does the visitor walk? This skeleton stage, the wireframe, is approved before any coloured design. Projects that skip the skeleton stretch revisions to infinity.

The identity gets translated to the site

Your logo, colours and tone are reinterpreted on screen, not copied one-to-one — and for a foreign brand, adapted to Turkish reading habits without losing the brand. The craft of that translation is treated separately in the identity guide.

Design thinks in devices

The design table now draws the phone first, because in Turkey the majority of visits arrive there. A design elegant on desktop and collapsing on the phone is half a design. The measures sit in the mobile guide.

Approval rounds run on a routine

A good agency does not promise unlimited revisions; it promises structured ones: stage-by-stage approval, clear feedback at each stage — workable across time zones because each round is written, not caught in a hallway. Unlimited revision sounds generous; in practice it is the project that never ends.

The Third Table: Content and Copy

The most underestimated table, and the one that delays projects most. A good agency knows this and runs content parallel to design.

Who writes the copy is settled upfront

The hidden dam of projects is copy: design finishes, text waits. Will the agency write it, will you supply it, or a shared model — and critically for a foreign client: who writes the Turkish? This question is answered on contract day, not delivery day.

Copy is written for the web

Brochure text does not work on screen: readers scan, long paragraphs get skipped. Web copy wants short sentences, plain headings, one idea per paragraph — and native Turkish that matches what Turkish buyers actually search. Translated brochure copy fails both tests at once.

The visual world gets assembled

Real photography, stock, or illustration? Corporate trust is built with real frames; a stock-image strip shows the same faces on every site. Collecting visuals — and planning a Turkish shoot where needed — belongs to this table.

The proof content gets excavated

References, cases, certificates: the corporate site’s spine content usually lies scattered inside the firm. The agency’s job is collecting it and turning it into narrative. Your most valuable content is usually what you already own — including the international track record a Turkish buyer wants to see.

The Fourth Table: Build, Technique and Launch

The visible coding table is actually four jobs in one. The table shows the technical line items.

Testing happens before launch

Forms are tried on devices, links are scanned, speed is measured — with the site’s Turkish text in place, not placeholder English. A site launched without a test list runs its test on visitors, and the first impression dies in that test.

Launch is a relocation

Domain, server, redirects from old addresses: launch day is a technical moving day. In rebuilds, failing to redirect old pages correctly can zero out years of accumulated visibility overnight — visibility a market entrant cannot afford to lose.

The handover comes with training

If the site is to be yours, you must know how to use it: adding content, finding form records, restoring backups. A good agency delivers with training and hands the admin credentials to you — with an interface language you can work in. A site whose passwords stay at the agency is not your site.

The after-delivery routine gets discussed

A site is a living asset: updates, backups, small fixes continue. Who maintains it, what is included, what bills separately — and in which hours, given the time difference? The written answers are the map of the relationship after delivery.

The Tables’ Sum: What Does the Fee Buy?

The visual gathers the four tables in one view. The fee’s counterpart is their sum.

The cheap quote is usually a missing table

A conspicuously cheap Turkish quote usually skips discovery and content: “Send us your text, we’ll build it.” That can be a legitimate small package — but it is not a corporate project, and corporate results should not be expected of it. The anatomy of price gaps sits in the price factors guide.

Look for the tables in the proposal

All four tables should be visible in the proposal document: discovery output, design stages, content responsibility, technical delivery list. Ask about the invisible table; the answer reveals the quote’s real scope — and the agency’s comfort working with a foreign client.

Know your own role

The agency kitchen does not run without you: approvals, content raw material and feedback come from your side. The cause of delays is usually not the agency but waiting approvals — and across time zones, a 24-hour approval rhythm agreed upfront saves weeks. The calendar reads as both parties’ calendar.

Ask to see the kitchen

A serious agency does not shy from explaining its process; it can show a sample discovery document, a sample delivery list — in English. Our own kitchen sits openly on the web design page; for a photograph of your current state before starting, a digital audit exists separately.

Frequently Asked Questions