Get an honest second opinion on your website before you spend a penny more.
Whether you're stuck mid-project or haven't started, our web development consultancy gives you a clear, honest read on what your site actually needs, and what it doesn't.
You don't need another agency pitch. You need a straight answer.
Maybe you've got three quotes that don't agree, and it's landed on your desk to referee, whether that's as Head of Web Projects, CTO, Sales Director or the business owner caught in the middle. Whoever's asking, the question's the same: who's actually telling us the truth?
Our CMS consulting services cover platform selection, technical audits, project rescue and roadmapping. We look at your target audience, your team's technical proficiency and what your digital presence actually needs to do, then hand it to developers who build the sites, not account managers reading from a script. You get a plan you can act on, not a sales deck dressed up as advice.
Why Teams come to us?
"We got three quotes and three totally different answers."
That's normal, and it's exactly why independent web development consulting exists. We'll tell you which quote actually matches your goals, and which one's just padded.
"Our developer's gone quiet and the project's stalled."
We've rescued more stalled web building projects than we can count. We'll audit what's there, tell you honestly what's salvageable, and get things moving again.
"We don't know if we need a rebuild or a fix."
Most sites don't need starting from scratch. Our consulting web development sessions figure out exactly what's broken, what's fine, and what you're wasting money worrying about.
"Nobody in-house understands the technical side."
That's what we're here for. We translate the technical stuff into plain terms your board or your boss will actually understand, and back it with a clear recommendation.
The Gecko Way™
Our approach to successful projects
We start by understanding why you've picked up the phone now, not just what's on the surface. That might mean a call with whoever's closest to the decision, a look at the quotes you've been sent, or a read through the brief that's already been circulating internally. We're not filling in a template. We're working out what's actually being decided here: a platform, a developer, a go or no-go on a rebuild, and who needs to be convinced once we've given our view. Half the value of this phase is spotting that the real question isn't the one you opened with.
No build work happens at this stage, this is where we form the actual opinion. We'll compare the options in front of you against each other and against what your business genuinely needs, not against a generic best-practice checklist. If there's an existing site or a set of quotes, we're reading them properly: what's realistic, what's overpriced, what's been glossed over. If there isn't, we're stress-testing your assumptions before you commit budget to any of them. Either way, the output here isn't a hunch, it's a considered, evidenced position.
We put that position into a document you can actually use: a written recommendation, set out plainly, with the reasoning attached so it holds up under scrutiny from your board or your next supplier. If the honest answer is "don't spend the money yet," that's what it'll say. If it's "this quote is the right one but negotiate this part," we'll say that too. This isn't a sales deck dressed as advice. It's the same thing we'd want handed to us if we were the ones deciding.
A recommendation only helps if you can defend it once we've left the room. We'll walk you through why we landed where we did, in plain terms, so you can answer the follow-up questions from your CTO, your finance director or your existing developer without needing us on the call. Where there's a genuinely tricky technical concept behind the decision, headless CMS architecture, hosting trade-offs, integration limits, we'll make sure it's actually understood, not just nodded along to.
What you do with the recommendation is entirely up to you. Some clients take it straight to their existing developer. Some use it to choose between agencies, sometimes not us. Some just needed the clarity to stop going round in circles internally. Whichever it is, the document, the reasoning and the decision are yours, with no obligation to bring the actual build to Gecko.
What's Included in Web Development Consulting
Technical Audits
We go through your existing site line by line: code quality, CMS configuration, hosting setup, page speed, security patching history and third-party integrations. That covers the fundamentals behind decent search engine optimisation and a genuinely good user experience too: page load times, responsive web design, whether your contact form actually works, alt text on images, and whether the site holds up under proper web accessibility and usability testing, not just how it looks on a demo call.
You'll get a plain-English report on what's solid, what's a risk, and what's quietly costing you money in maintenance or lost conversions. This isn't a generic automated scan. It's a developer actually looking at your build and telling you what they find, good or bad.
Platform & CMS Selection
Choosing a CMS shouldn't come down to whoever pitched the loudest. We'll look at your team's size, technical proficiency, content needs and growth plans, then weigh up the realistic options across CMS platforms, from a bespoke platform or server-based application to an off-the-shelf website builder or a Software as a Service tool, before recommending the tech stack that actually fits, Umbraco or otherwise.
That includes the practical groundwork too, domain name, hosting provider and email set-up, so you're not left guessing what happens after the recommendation lands. If Umbraco isn't right for you, we'll say so. Our job here is the right recommendation, not a sales pitch for our own product.
Project Rescue & Second Opinions
Stalled build, unresponsive developer, a site that's gone over budget and past deadline with no end in sight?
We step in as an independent set of eyes on your project, whether it's stuck with a freelancer, a development company or a full web design agency, assess what's actually been delivered against what was promised, and give you an honest read on whether to continue, renegotiate or start again.
Quote & Proposal Review
Got two or three agency quotes that all promise different things for different prices? We'll go through them with you, translate the jargon, flag anything that looks padded or missing, and help you compare like for like. If you're starting from scratch, we can also look at your website design brief itself, or help you write one from a website brief template, so it actually says what you need rather than just listing pages.
That includes checking the basics too many web development briefs miss: a clear value proposition, calls to action, and what each page actually needs to do, whether that's a core service page or a dedicated landing page for a specific campaign. You make the final call, but you'll make it with the full picture.
Technical Roadmapping
For teams planning ahead rather than firefighting, we'll map out a realistic technical roadmap: what needs doing now, what can wait, and what to budget for over the next twelve months.
This covers planned CMS upgrades, site migrations and integration work, including how your CRM, your wider marketing technology or martech stack, and tools like Google Analytics and Google Data Studio fit together, so data integration isn't an afterthought. The aim is that you're not caught out by a surprise rebuild, or a broken report, eighteen months from now.
Ongoing Advisory Support
Some clients don't need a single audit, they need someone on hand for the odd technical decision as it comes up: a new integration, a hosting question, a "is this developer telling us the truth" moment. Because we're a full digital marketing agency as well as developers, that advisory time can just as easily cover a marketing technology question as a CMS one.
We offer ongoing advisory time for exactly that, so you've always got a straight answer a phone call away.
What's Included in Web Development Consulting
Technical Audits
We go through your existing site line by line: code quality, CMS configuration, hosting setup, page speed, security patching history and third-party integrations. That covers the fundamentals behind decent search engine optimisation and a genuinely good user experience too: page load times, responsive web design, whether your contact form actually works, alt text on images, and whether the site holds up under proper web accessibility and usability testing, not just how it looks on a demo call.
You'll get a plain-English report on what's solid, what's a risk, and what's quietly costing you money in maintenance or lost conversions. This isn't a generic automated scan. It's a developer actually looking at your build and telling you what they find, good or bad.
Platform & CMS Selection
Choosing a CMS shouldn't come down to whoever pitched the loudest. We'll look at your team's size, technical proficiency, content needs and growth plans, then weigh up the realistic options across CMS platforms, from a bespoke platform or server-based application to an off-the-shelf website builder or a Software as a Service tool, before recommending the tech stack that actually fits, Umbraco or otherwise.
That includes the practical groundwork too, domain name, hosting provider and email set-up, so you're not left guessing what happens after the recommendation lands. If Umbraco isn't right for you, we'll say so. Our job here is the right recommendation, not a sales pitch for our own product.
Project Rescue & Second Opinions
Stalled build, unresponsive developer, a site that's gone over budget and past deadline with no end in sight?
We step in as an independent set of eyes on your project, whether it's stuck with a freelancer, a development company or a full web design agency, assess what's actually been delivered against what was promised, and give you an honest read on whether to continue, renegotiate or start again.
Quote & Proposal Review
Got two or three agency quotes that all promise different things for different prices? We'll go through them with you, translate the jargon, flag anything that looks padded or missing, and help you compare like for like. If you're starting from scratch, we can also look at your website design brief itself, or help you write one from a website brief template, so it actually says what you need rather than just listing pages.
That includes checking the basics too many web development briefs miss: a clear value proposition, calls to action, and what each page actually needs to do, whether that's a core service page or a dedicated landing page for a specific campaign. You make the final call, but you'll make it with the full picture.
Technical Roadmapping
For teams planning ahead rather than firefighting, we'll map out a realistic technical roadmap: what needs doing now, what can wait, and what to budget for over the next twelve months.
This covers planned CMS upgrades, site migrations and integration work, including how your CRM, your wider marketing technology or martech stack, and tools like Google Analytics and Google Data Studio fit together, so data integration isn't an afterthought. The aim is that you're not caught out by a surprise rebuild, or a broken report, eighteen months from now.
Ongoing Advisory Support
Some clients don't need a single audit, they need someone on hand for the odd technical decision as it comes up: a new integration, a hosting question, a "is this developer telling us the truth" moment. Because we're a full digital marketing agency as well as developers, that advisory time can just as easily cover a marketing technology question as a CMS one.
We offer ongoing advisory time for exactly that, so you've always got a straight answer a phone call away.
"Half the consulting calls I take start with someone showing me three quotes that all describe completely different projects, and my job's just to translate what they're actually being sold."
Marlon Dedakis, Lead Developer at Gecko
Consulting in Action
When a marketing team came to us mid-way through a stalled rebuild, three different developers had given them three different explanations for the delay. We audited the existing build, found the real blocker within a week, and gave them a clear choice: fix it or restart. They chose to fix it, and launched eight weeks later on the original budget. Project rescued and launched within 8 weeks, on original budget.
It depends on what you need. Some clients want a one-off technical audit of an existing site, checking things like user experience, accessibility and page speed. Others need help choosing a CMS before a rebuild, an independent second opinion on a project that's gone off track, or someone to review a website brief before it goes out to agencies. Smaller questions count too, whether a site migration is worth the disruption, or whether a new integration is really needed. We scope every engagement around your actual problem rather than offering a fixed package, so the first conversation is usually about working out exactly what you need before we start.
Yes, and it's one of the most common reasons clients come to us. An independent consultant isn't trying to win the build, so you get a genuinely neutral view on whether your current approach, developer or platform is right. We're often brought in specifically because a client wants a second opinion that isn't coming from whoever's already invoiced them.
No. Umbraco's our home turf and where we've got the deepest experience, but our CMS consulting services cover platform selection much more broadly, from other CMS platforms and website builders to Software as a Service tools or a bespoke, server-based application. If Umbraco isn't the right fit for your tech stack, your team or your budget, we'll tell you, and point you towards what is.
A single technical audit or quote review usually takes one to two weeks from kick-off to a written recommendation. Larger engagements, like a full roadmapping exercise or an ongoing advisory arrangement, run to whatever timeline suits you. We'll always give you a realistic estimate before you commit to anything.
A written document you can act on: a technical assessment, a comparison of options, or a roadmap, depending on what you came to us for. Sometimes that's built directly from your existing website brief template, sometimes it's the thing that replaces the need for one. It's built to be handed to your board, your existing developer or a new agency, not just talked through once and forgotten.
Yes, and it's one of the most common starting points. A vague brief is how you end up with three quotes that don't agree on anything, because three agencies have each guessed at what you actually meant. We'll either review a brief you've already written, or help you build one from scratch, covering the basics that get missed: your target audience, your value proposition, the calls to action each page needs, and the technical detail agencies actually need to quote accurately. You end up with a website design brief you can send to any agency and get a like-for-like quote back.
No. Some clients go on to work with us on a build, plenty don't, and both outcomes are fine. Our recommendations are built around what's genuinely right for you, not what keeps you as a client. If the honest answer is "stick with your current developer," we'll say that.
That's most of our clients. We translate the technical detail into plain terms so whoever's making the final call, whether that's you, your board or your finance director, can understand exactly what's being recommended and why, without needing a computer science degree to follow along.
It varies by scope, a single audit costs less than an ongoing advisory arrangement, for instance. We'll give you a clear quote before any work starts, based on what you actually need rather than a one-size package.
Book a consulting call and tell us what's prompted the search, whether that's a stalled project, a pile of quotes, or a decision you don't feel equipped to make alone. We'll take it from there. Get in touch to arrange a time.
