Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Is It Time to Redesign Your Website? Part 1

Originally posted on my LinkedIn profile May 2015

A hot topic among my peers in digital marketing is web redesign. More specifically, what are the basic steps involved in creating and launching a new website - and how do you know you even need one? In my view, you can break a website redesign project into three phases. This post contains Phase 1.

Part 1 - Discovery

Current State Review

Do you need a full redesign or just a refresh? Start by asking yourself the following key questions:
  • Are you achieving the desired results with your current website? This involves looking at your website analytics and search engine optimization (SEO), as well as that of your competitors.
  • Has your branding changed recently? This isn't just a design consideration; if your new brand includes a change of tone in how you write about your products / services, then you should revisit all of your content to ensure it complies with the new organizational voice.
  • Is there new technology out there (such as responsive design) that will enable you to improve the user experience? If your website is not mobile-friendly, you are missing out on an increasingly large visitor audience. And if your website won't render properly on new browser versions, then I strongly suggest a redesign. Users have no patience for a bad experience, and will move on to your competitors.
  • Has your organization experienced significant restructuring? If so, you likely need to change how you promote your offerings.
If the answers to these questions point to "Yes, we need a redesign to achieve our business objectives," then you need to look inside your organization to see if you are ready. 

Capability Assessment

  • Resources: Undertake an internal assessment to see if you are ready and able to begin this project. Do you have people you need, such as a project manager, a writer, a designer?
  • Priorities: Are there competing priorities? Your marketing team might be leading the charge, but if you also need the support of your IT department then you must make sure they are on board with this effort.
  • Budget: Determining the budget for a website redesign depends largely on the number of features you want and what kind of business you are in (ecommerce? blog-heavy? multi-language? etc. etc.) so I can't answer this one. What I will say is that you get what you pay for, so don't focus on selecting the lowest-cost option. I recommend networking with your peers and asking them for ballpark numbers on their last redesign.
  • Executive champion: In two words, Get One. You will need to present a business case to the person who signs off on big projects. This person will be your go-to to help clear internal roadblocks. The most important thing you need to do for your champion is manage expectations and deliver on commitments. Don't make your champion look dumb by not keeping them informed every step along the way.

Coming Up: Part 2 -  Groundwork

(Now published.)
This will be the second post in a three-part blog series on website redesign.
  • Personas
  • Stakeholder Interviews
  • Content Audit

Coming Up: Part 3 - Redesign

This will be the final post in a three-part blog series on website redesign.
  • Project Kickoff
  • Wireframes
  • Design
  • Build
  • Content Population
  • Testing
  • Rollout

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