We often start this process off with an analysis of competitive sites, discussing what the client likes and dislikes, and suggesting things we'd do or wouldn't do. We put the prototype on the web, in a password-protected site. It's usually very effective to let the Client see a working prototype and then choose a path. We do not deliver cookie-cutter websites cut out of existing templates. The Web vs. Traditional Media.
Print is a fixed media, but the web is very flexible.
You can change the content of a site overnight and inexpensively. The Cathedral and the Bazaar. When Europeans built cathedrals, the projects took generations to complete. The people who designed the work died before they saw results. The technology changed during the project.