Growth · Web design and build · 01
Discovery and information architecture
Discovery and information architecture establishes what a site must do and how it is organized before anything is designed: the buyers and their questions, the services and their capabilities, the content formats the program will publish, the hubs, clusters, glossary, evidence library and author profiles, and the URL structure that will hold hundreds or thousands of pages without confusion. It is needed when a site is being rebuilt, when an existing structure cannot accommodate the content planned for it, when buyers cannot find what they need, or when an authority program will multiply the page count. The work produces a content inventory and audit of what exists, the audience and question model, the architecture with URL scheme and templates, and the migration map from the current site.
Scope
What the review covers.
- Audience and buyer question research from sales, support, search and prompt data
- Content inventory and audit of the existing site
- Section map, page budget and templates by page type
- URL scheme, navigation model and internal linking rules
- Migration map from existing URLs
- Architecture documentation the build follows
Deliverables
What you receive.
| Deliverable | Form |
|---|---|
| Audience and question model | Who asks what, and the pages that answer |
| Information architecture | Sections, templates, URL scheme, navigation |
| Content audit | Keep, revise, consolidate, retire |
| Migration map | Old URLs to new, with redirects |
Prerequisites
What we need from you.
- Access to analytics, search console and the existing site
- Participation from sales, service and marketing leads
- The content program’s intended scale
Related
Where this sits.
By David Selakovic · Published 2026-10-16 · Revised 2026-10-16 · Reviewed every 180 days
Questions
Asked before engaging.
How big should the architecture be?
Sized for the content planned, not the content that exists. Rebuilding the structure after the pages arrive is expensive.
Do you design in this phase?
No. Structure comes before appearance. Design follows once the architecture is agreed. See Identity and design system.
Can the architecture be seen before the build?
Yes, as documentation and a navigable skeleton, so the structure is agreed before design and content are invested in it.