How to build a business case for your website project

Updated March 2026

Whatever the business, simply knowing your website needs to be improved doesn’t mean budget will automatically be available to start a project. When tell-tale signs begin to show on your website, the next step is to build a business case.

A strong business case can be the difference between an unfulfilled idea and a high‑performing, hard‑working website for your business. But building one can is no easy task – it takes time and strategy. The big question is: how do you convince your management team that investing in your digital experience is worth it?

Below, we share insights from our first-hand experiences on how to build a business case that secures the budget and resource you need.

What’s involved in building a business case?

The elements commonly assessed when making a business case include the challenges you’re experiencing, the opportunities available alongside benefits, risks, costs, technical solutions, timescales, resources, and the impact on the wider business.

When approached carefully, a business case can uncover answers to many important questions, all of which will help you gain the buy in and support you need. Your business case should:

• Demonstrate the value of the project
• Present solid evidence to justify costs and show whyit’sessential to growth
• Show how the website project supports the business goals
• Highlight the benefits a new website can deliver – both to internal and external users

Building your case with the right information

An accurate and detailed business case will help you determine and document specific project goals, deliverables, features, deadlines, and costs. Often, there may be an idea of what you hope the project will deliver, but the factors that really matter in a business case cover what you need from your website. Ask yourself:

• What are the business’s long-term objectives?
• Who are your users, both internally and externally?
• What are the main challenges experienced?
• What are the priorities you would like to achieve out of this project?
• Are there any technologies you’re interested in exploring?
• Who should be involved in the project?

These are the big questions that hold a lot of weight. It can be daunting to reach an answer, especially when you’re so close to the current solution and there are multiple stakeholders to consider. It’s worth considering working with an external digital partner who can take an unbiased approach to identify what your needs truly are. Equipped to ask the right questions and gather the right information, a third-party partner can often support through standalone research.

Take our discovery process: we implement interactive workshops and exercises covering four core areas - your business, your audience, your technology and your strategy - to fully understand the state of your website now versus where you want it to be. It is only through an extensive research and discovery process that a business can truly understand the breadth of a project allowing proposed budgets and timescales to be determined.

Manage expectations

Armed with this insight, you’re in a stronger position to begin building a convincing business case and confidently manage business expectations.

For example, if your discovery has uncovered that what you need is a rebuild over a redesign, this will give you a much clearer guide on the budget and resource needed. It also allows you to put together costings for higher and lower versions to present to the wider business.

This could even include exploring a minimum viable product (MVP) that allows you to hit core project objectives at a lower cost. With an MVP phase successfully completed, it opens the door to future phases where additions can be made through a retainer plan.

Propose technical solutions

The saying goes that knowledge is power – it's no different for your website project. Your business case will be significantly stronger if you can propose technical solutions, timescales, and budgets in advance of questions being raised.

But reaching an understanding of what technology is best for the business can be a challenge. No CMS will offer a perfect solution. Almost any CMS could, in one way or another, help overcome your challenges to a certain degree. This makes it difficult for businesses to be confident in their technology choice, which is why we advise asking:

1. What does my business need?

2. What does my audience need?

3. What technology is best suited to me achieving this?

Starting with your business and audience needs first will help pinpoint the technology that will best support your project while providing a more convincing argument for your choice.

Answer key stakeholders questions ahead of time by considering what it is you want your CMS to do for your business and how the website will support you in reaching this goal. Questions that can get you thinking along the right lines could include:

• Who will be using the CMS in your internal team?
• What will they be using the CMS for?
• What does the CMS need to be capable of doing – both for the end users and for the business as a whole?
• Do you need a more extensive solution such as a DXP that encompasses marketing tools?
• Have you considered your CMS in terms of today and in the future?
• What purpose will your CMS serve- is it a content repository or a more complicated piece of architecture?
• Do you have an approximate budget in mind?

These exploratory questions are an effective place to kick off your project and uncover the ideal CMS solution.

If you have no idea where to begin with your CMS choice, a web agency can help. We choose to work with CMS’ that provide the functionality to create a tailored solution designed for the exact challenges you want to overcome.

Start your business case with agency support

Putting a business case together that’s both convincing and realistic can be a hard task for one person, especially if your expertise is limited. Many businesses assume that they need to get sign off internally before engaging with an agency to start a project. However, from experience, we know that engaging with an agency earlier can hugely benefit how your project plays out.

With experience, insight and knowledge to share, we can guide you through a structured process that’s see a robust business case formed. Our experts are involved from day one, leading organisations through the crafting of a business case that helps them get the buy-in they need to succeed.

Get in touch with our team to find out how we can help you create the website your business needs.