Listen to the first questions.
An agency asks which websites you like and what colours you prefer. Useful questions, but an incomplete start. Before proposing pages, somebody needs to understand what the business sells and why customers choose it.
Ask how the team will study the market, the data and competing offers. Ask who writes the text. Ask how the design will help an actual person decide. The answers should be clear enough to understand without knowing the agency’s technical vocabulary.
At Markov & Partners, we start with why the customer would buy. We bring consulting into the website project from the beginning. That can change the offer, the wording and even what needs building.
Look for thinking behind the design.
A portfolio shows visual skill. Ask what problem the work solved. Why was that message chosen? What was changed after studying buyers? What happened when the new site went live?
For an online store, the answer should include the purchase. For a service company, it may involve clearer positioning and better enquiries. A premium company website may need to explain expertise without making the visitor read a company brochure.
Our experience in 16 countries gives us a wider set of customer habits and business conditions to learn from. We use that experience to ask better questions. We still study the market in front of us rather than assume the same page will work everywhere.
Choose someone who can say no.
If the product is hard to sell, the price does not fit the offer or the market is crowded, a responsible partner should tell you before designing the launch. Agreement is easy. Useful advice sometimes feels uncomfortable.
We are direct about what we find. Then we can act on it: improve the offer, write the pages, design the website and build software or automation where the business needs it.
Choose us when you want that combination of honest judgement and delivery. Bring the goal, the current website and the problem you want solved. We will help you decide what deserves the next investment.
Ask what happens when the research shows the original idea is weak. Will the agency say so, and help you change direction? Ask who takes responsibility for the offer, the words, the design and the working website. With us, those questions belong in the same conversation. You should know why we recommend the work, not just how many screens the quote includes.
- UnderstandThe market. The buyer.
- DecideThe offer. The words.
- BuildDesign. Software.
- CheckWhat changed?
Why we start with the business.
Markov & Partners is a consulting agency that also builds websites, CRMs, custom software and AI automation. Our work with 300+ clients in 16 countries spans different markets, customer habits and ways of working. That experience shaped the Markov Methodology.
We read the data, study the competition and work out why a customer would choose you. Then we shape the offer, words and design around that decision. If the product is hard to sell or the market is crowded, we say so before you spend more. We build the solution and measure what changes. Our average conversion uplift in the first month is +47%.