Why It’s Disingenuous for Web Design Firms to Say They “Include Digital Marketing”

Speak to someone offering any web design and you’ll likely hear a pitch something like this:

“We design websites that are SEO optimized.”

Sounds great. Until you realize that what they actually mean is:

“We’ll install Yoast, pick a few keywords, and put your Instagram handle in the footer.”

It’s not just misleading — it’s disingenuous. And here’s why.

Digital Marketing Isn’t a Deliverable—It’s a Discipline

You can’t “package” digital marketing as a line item on a web design quote like it’s stock photography or font licensing. Real digital marketing is an ongoing process rooted in analysis, iteration, and user behavior. It includes:

Search engine optimization that (may or may not) adapts to algorithm change.
Create or advise on ongoing content creation strategies and distribution.
Link building, not just meta descriptions.
Strategic traffic generation, not just installing Google Analytics.

Saying you “include digital marketing” inside a one-time design project is like saying a treadmill includes fitness. It doesn’t work unless someone keeps getting on the darn thing.

SEO Is Not a Checkbox. It’s a Long Game.

A lot of web design firms will proudly proclaim: “This site is SEO-friendly.”

But real SEO isn’t a friendly checkbox. It’s a grind.

It’s tracking performance over time.
It’s responding to what users are searching for this month, not last year.
It’s evolving your site structure as your business changes.
It’s fixing broken links, building authority, and staying relevant.

If your web design firm slaps on a few meta tags and calls it a day, you haven’t done SEO—you’ve just made a pretty brochure with keywords no one will ever find.

Digital Marketing Requires Strategy—Not Just Style

Most web designers are visual thinkers. That’s their strength. But digital marketing lives in a different world: data, targeting, engagement, conversions, algorithms and strategy.

A website that converts requires:

Audience research
Strategic messaging
Clear calls to action
Technical search engine optimization
Analytics and testing

It’s not about how it looks. It’s about how it performs. And unless your design firm has a dedicated digital marketing strategist—and not just someone who once took a HubSpot course—it’s not marketing. It’s makeup.

Final Thought: Stop Blurring the Lines

Design is important. But design is not strategy. And marketing is not a checkbox.

If a web design firm says their price includes digital marketing, ask what that really means. Then ask how they’ll support you 3 months after launch. If they don’t have a real plan for growth, optimization, and visibility…

They’re not a digital marketing partner. They’re just decorators with a bigger invoice.

At cjmw development, we don’t do design. We do results.

That’s where we draw the line.