Web & Digital Build
Marketing sites, commerce stacks and internal platforms — built for the team who will run them, not for the agency leaving.
What this service is
The agency-built website is the one that breaks six months after the launch celebration. Kaelo Marketing & Media builds digital products that survive that handover — on stacks the in-house team can operate, with documentation that does not stop at the first README, and with a maintenance discipline that does not require the original builder to be in the room.
“The website an agency loved building is rarely the website the client’s in-house team can maintain. We optimise for the second one from day one.”
— A Kaelo Marketing & Media principal
What we are accountable for
Where the work lands.
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01
Marketing sites
Brand sites and content platforms built on WordPress (or the right CMS for the operating team). Performance, accessibility and SEO designed-in, not bolted on.
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02
Commerce stacks
Shopify, WooCommerce or custom — chosen for the operating team that will run the catalogue, not for the agency’s vendor preference.
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03
Internal platforms & tools
Internal-only tools where a SaaS does not fit. Built to be handed off cleanly to an internal engineer.
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04
Migration & performance work
Stack migrations, Core Web Vitals work, and the operational gardening that keeps an existing site fast.
How we engage
From first email to standing review.
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01
Stack selection diagnostic
One-to-two week review of the operating team that will run the site, the integrations the business needs, and the performance / SEO baseline to meet. Stack chosen for the team, not for the agency’s vendor preference.
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02
Build with the operating team in the room
Engineering, design and content modelling done with the client’s in-house team participating — not behind a wall. The team that will run the site learns the stack while it is being built.
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03
Performance & SEO designed-in
Core Web Vitals targets, accessibility, server-side caching, structured data — designed into the architecture rather than bolted on at the end. The site launches fast.
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04
Documented handover & first-year operating support
Documentation that does not end at the first README. Three months of operating support post-launch; standing engagement optional thereafter.
Where this applies
The sectors this service is shaped for.
When to call us
The shape of the moment this work usually arrives in.
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01
You are replatforming an existing marketing or commerce site and need the migration designed for the next decade rather than the next launch cycle.
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02
You are launching a new brand and need the marketing site, commerce stack and operating tooling stood up under one accountability line.
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03
You operate an internal platform — supplier portal, partner extranet, internal commerce — that does not justify a SaaS but does justify proper engineering.
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04
You inherited a site whose Core Web Vitals are damaging the SEO position and need the performance work done by people who treat performance as architecture rather than as a plugin.
Recent mandate, anonymised
Replatformed a five-brand commerce stack across three weekends.
Cutover scheduled for low-traffic windows; SEO authority preserved through a documented redirect map; performance improvements measurable from day one.
Recent mandate, anonymised
Migrated a B2B services site off an end-of-life stack with SEO authority preserved through cutover.
A documented redirect map ran against the live traffic. Core Web Vitals improved measurably from day one. The client’s in-house team carried operating responsibility from week six post-launch.
For clarity
What we will not do here.
- We do not build sites the client’s in-house team cannot maintain. The stack is chosen against the team, not against industry fashion.
- We do not run hidden upsells through "site optimisation packages" after launch. Operating support is documented in the engagement letter.
- We do not build on proprietary CMSes we control. WordPress, Shopify, custom stacks where appropriate — always client-ownable.
- We do not licence integrations back to the client. Any integration we build is the client’s, transferred at completion.
Frequently asked
The questions that arrive first.
- 01 What stacks do you typically build on?
- WordPress for marketing-led sites and content-heavy properties; Shopify for direct-to-consumer commerce; custom stacks (Next.js, Laravel, Astro) where the operating context justifies them. The recommendation is made against the in-house team, not against the agency’s comfort zone.
- 02 Who owns the build at the end?
- The client. Full source code, repository ownership, infrastructure access, deployment credentials. We retain reference rights only with written consent.
- 03 Do you host?
- We can recommend and set up hosting through reputable third-party providers (the client owns the account). We do not operate proprietary hosting we control.
- 04 How long does a typical build take?
- Marketing site: 10-16 weeks. D2C commerce stack: 12-20 weeks. Custom internal platform: 16-32 weeks. Stack migration: 8-14 weeks depending on scope. Timelines are documented in the engagement letter.
- 05 How are fees structured?
- Fixed fee per phase. Discovery / architecture is a separate, smaller fixed-fee phase before the build commits. Operating support post-launch is documented separately. No hourly billing.
- 06 How does this connect to the rest of the practice?
- The build provides the technical foundation that paid performance, content, analytics and social operate on. Measurement architecture, tagging and attribution are co-built with the wider practice.
Begin
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