Web Design Consultant
Smarter website strategies, clearer user journeys, stronger results for your business.
Struggling to plan, design, or optimize a website that actually drives growth?
You’re not alone. Most businesses approach web design backwards—starting with what looks good, what’s trendy, or what fits into a pre-made template.
But a good-looking website isn’t the goal. A good-performing website is. That’s where I come in. I help businesses build smarter websites from the ground up—with real strategy, real structure, and real focus on results.
Common challenges I help solve:
- No clear site strategy tied to business goals
- Confusing user journeys that lose visitors before they convert
- Poor SEO and slow performance baked into the foundation
- Low conversion rates despite solid traffic numbers
- Sites that look nice but never move the needle on revenue or growth
What you’ll walk away with
Strategic website planning
We anchor every decision—design, content, tech stack—around your actual business goals.
Smarter UX and site structure
I help you build logical flows that move visitors from curiosity to conversion without friction.
Technical and SEO foundations baked in
Your site will be fast, scalable, and search-optimized from day one—not patched together later.
Clear action steps
Whether you're starting fresh or rebuilding, you’ll leave with a prioritized roadmap tied to results.
You’re not just getting a web designer. You’re getting a strategic partner focused on making your website a true business asset.
Consulting sessions start at $350/hour, with flexible options for full audits, planning workshops, or ongoing advisory.
My Process
1. Book a consultation
We’ll dig into your goals, pain points, and current digital presence.
2. Share context
I review everything—site structure, analytics, SEO, tech, UX—and look for gaps and opportunities.
3. Strategy and planning
We map smarter architecture, key pages, user flows, SEO essentials, and tech recommendations.
4. Optional ongoing support
I can stay involved through design, build, and launch to keep the strategy on track and avoid costly mistakes.
Is this right for you?
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building a site that actually grows your business, we’ll work well together.
This is a good fit if you are:
- You’re planning a new website or major redesign and want to do it right the first time
- You’re frustrated by past projects that “looked good” but didn’t perform
- You know your website is a core part of growth—but it’s not pulling its weight yet
- You’re serious about making strategic, customer-centered decisions instead of guessing
A deeper look at web design consulting
A great website isn’t an art project.
It’s an asset.
It’s how customers find you, trust you, and move toward buying from you.
The trouble is, most websites aren’t built like that.
They’re built like portfolios—focused on looks instead of results.
When we work together, we flip the process on its head.
We lead with strategy, and we make every design, content, and tech decision serve a bigger business goal.
Websites built around business goals, not just aesthetics
It’s easy to get excited about layouts, colors, and cool interactions.
But here’s the truth: if your website isn’t built to grow your business, none of that matters.
We start by getting brutally clear:
- What does your business actually need from your site?
- Who are we building it for?
- What specific actions do we want visitors to take?
Everything else—design, content, tech—supports that foundation.
Without this clarity, you’re just crossing your fingers and hoping people figure it out.
Smarter UX and architecture that drives action
Good UX isn’t just clean layouts and pretty navigation.
It’s building a path visitors want to follow.
That means:
- Organizing your pages around real buyer journeys—not your internal org chart
- Creating logical flows that guide people step-by-step toward action
- Anticipating hesitation points and smoothing them over before they become friction
Great UX makes visitors feel like everything on your site was designed for them. That’s when conversion rates climb—and bounce rates drop.
“Rodney made what seemed complicated feel easy. He designed a site that captured exactly what I wanted—and made the entire process smooth from start to finish.”
— Matt Weiss, Weiss Advice
Choosing technology that fits your future—not just today
A bad platform choice can cripple your growth for years. I’ve seen it firsthand: slow CMSs, rigid builders, platforms that can’t scale without painful rebuilds.
That’s why I help you choose tech strategically, not reactively:
- The right CMS for your actual needs (not whatever your dev prefers)
- Hosting and infrastructure choices that support speed and security
- Scalability baked in, so you’re not rebuilding every time you grow
Good tech choices aren’t glamorous. But they protect your budget, your SEO, and your customer experience for the long haul.
SEO and performance aren’t add-ons—they’re fundamentals
If you wait until after the site’s built to think about SEO and speed, you’ve already lost.
I help you bake it in from the start:
- Smart URL structures
- Strong internal linking
- Optimized technical performance (load times, Core Web Vitals, mobile usability)
- Clean, indexable code and structures search engines love
When SEO and performance are foundational, you launch stronger—and you scale faster.
Brand experience and digital experience need to work together
Your website is where your brand gets tested. If the experience feels clunky, confusing, or off-message, customers don’t blame the site—they blame you.
I help make sure:
- Your voice, visuals, and messaging stay sharp and consistent
- Every interaction feels intentional—not slapped together
- Your site builds trust with every click, scroll, and call-to-action
This isn’t about “designing pretty pages.” It’s about crafting a cohesive, trustworthy digital presence.
“Rodney and his team guided us through a much-needed refresh of our company website, keeping everything aligned with our vision while elevating the final product beautifully.”
— Melissa Mendoza, Cicon Engineering
Launching isn’t the finish line—it’s the starting line
Most companies treat launch day like the end of the project. Smart companies know it’s just the beginning.
After launch, we focus on:
- Analyzing real user behavior (not guessing)
- Optimizing UX and conversion paths based on data
- Improving SEO and site speed as algorithms and expectations evolve
- Expanding content and scaling smartly over time
Your website should evolve with your business, not gather dust after it goes live.
Why work with me?
I’m not here to sell you on pretty mockups.
I’m here to build a digital foundation for your business that’s strategic, scalable, and designed for real growth.
- Two decades of digital strategy, web design, SEO, and brand experience
- Systems-first approach—never random tactics
- Practical, hands-on leadership through planning, execution, and beyond
- Focused on ROI, conversion, and customer experience—not just aesthetics
“Rodney ensured our new website launched in time for a major media opportunity and enhanced both the look and functionality beyond our expectations.”
— Glenn Frey, Black Mountain Landscape Design
FAQs about working with me
What’s the difference between a web design consultant and a web design agency?
A web design agency typically focuses on deliverables: building the site, producing assets, launching the project.
As a web design consultant, I focus on strategy first—making sure the entire project is anchored to clear business goals, optimized for user experience, and designed to perform, not just look good.
Without strategic leadership, most web projects drift into expensive, frustrating experiences with little return on investment.
I’m here to prevent that.
Can you work with our existing designer or developer?
Absolutely. I often collaborate with in-house teams, freelancers, or agencies—providing strategic direction, reviewing plans, and keeping execution tied tightly to the overall strategy.
Many designers and developers actually prefer when there’s a strong strategic partner in place—it removes guesswork, reduces rounds of revisions, and helps the final product perform better.
Do you help choose the right CMS or website platform?
Yes.
Platform choice isn’t a beauty contest—it’s a strategic business decision.
I help you evaluate WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, or custom solutions based on your specific needs around SEO, content management, performance, scalability, and total cost of ownership.
Choosing the wrong platform now can box you in later. We get this decision right from the start.
Can you help even if we already have a design?
Definitely. If you have designs ready (or in progress), I can step in to audit user flows, identify UX or messaging gaps, catch SEO or tech issues early, and make sure the designs actually support your business goals, not just look good in a presentation.
The earlier I’m involved, the more strategic corrections we can make before they get expensive to fix.
Will you help plan website content too?
Yes—and it’s critical.
A lot of website projects underestimate how much content strategy matters.
I help map out what pages you need, what messaging pillars should guide each section, and how your site can balance SEO, UX, and brand storytelling all at once.
Because great design without great content = wasted potential.
Is SEO part of your web strategy work?
Always. SEO can’t be an afterthought.
We build it into:
- Site structure and architecture
- URL strategy
- Internal linking
- Content hierarchy
- Speed and Core Web Vitals performance
- Technical SEO best practices
A strategic website supports organic growth naturally from day one.
Can you help fix an existing site that isn’t performing?
Yes.
Through a full audit, I help diagnose if your problems are due to UX friction, technical issues, poor SEO foundations, weak messaging, or some combination.
Sometimes, a few high-leverage adjustments can breathe new life into an underperforming site.
Other times, I’ll tell you honestly if a rebuild makes more sense.
How do you prioritize website improvements?
By business impact first, always.
We’ll target:
- Bottlenecks killing conversions
- Critical technical or SEO issues hurting traffic
- UX gaps that confuse or lose users
- Messaging gaps that weaken trust or action
The goal is to move the needle as quickly and sustainably as possible, not just make surface-level “nice to have” tweaks.
Can you work with startups and small businesses too?
Yes—and smart early decisions here pay off for years.
Whether you’re early-stage or scaling fast, laying a strong website foundation early can dramatically reduce growing pains later.
You don’t need a bloated corporate website.
You need a focused, strategic website that grows with you.
How long does strategic web planning usually take?
Typically between 2–6 weeks, depending on complexity.
Fast-track consultations (audit + planning) can happen quicker if you have a tight timeline.
The key is balancing momentum with smart decisions, not rushing just to meet a random deadline.
Can you oversee vendors and freelancers during execution?
Yes. Acting as a fractional digital strategist, I can review wireframes, designs, dev work, and SEO plans, making sure execution aligns with the strategic blueprint we developed.
This saves time, money, and a ton of frustration during the chaotic middle of web projects.
Do you offer post-launch consulting?
Yes—and it’s often where the biggest wins happen. After launch, we can focus on:
- Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
- SEO scaling and content expansion
- UX refinements based on real user behavior
- Analytics interpretation and adjustment cycles
Smart companies treat launch day as the starting line—not the finish line.
What kinds of businesses do you work with?
I work with founders, CEOs, marketing leaders, and growing teams who treat their website as a serious growth tool, not just a checkbox item.
My clients are across industries, but they all share one thing: they care about building smarter systems, not just prettier websites.
How do you charge for web consulting projects?
Consulting sessions start at $350/hour. For larger strategic planning engagements, I offer scoped project pricing based on needs, complexity, and depth, always structured around clear deliverables and business outcomes.
No bloat, no vague promises.
Just clear strategic value.
What’s the biggest mistake you see companies make in web design?
Starting with design and features before defining strategy and goals.
It’s like building a house without a blueprint—you end up with something expensive, chaotic, and painful to live with.
Smart web projects lead with clarity first:
- Who is the site for?
- What action do we want them to take?
- How does the site fit into our larger marketing, sales, and brand ecosystem?
Without these answers, even the best-looking website will struggle to drive real growth.
About Rodney
I’m Rodney Warner—founder of Connective Web Design, digital strategist, brand advisor, and builder of websites that move companies forward.
Over the past decade-plus, I’ve helped businesses build smarter, faster, more strategic websites that turn visitors into customers—and websites into growth engines.
I don’t just build websites.
I help businesses win.
Ready to take the next step?
If you’re serious about building a smarter, stronger website that actually grows your business, not just one that “looks good,” let’s talk.
