Is your audience actively engaging with your website or snoozing at the first page? Is your website effective in representing your organisational brand values? Or perhaps the stale content and archaic design leaves your visitors with an impression that your organisation has not moved with the times?
So, you’ve decided, IT’S TIME FOR A WEBSITE REDESIGN! But where do you start?
The process of what comes next may appear quite daunting, so here are 6 proven steps to get you on your way…
Step 1
Ask yourself: WHY do I need a new website?
Do you really need a new website? Answering YES to some of these questions is a good indication that it’s time for an upgrade!
- Are your analytics looking dismal? Has your audience dwindled over the years?
- Is your website slow?
- Is your content stale and static?
- Do you get completely lost when navigating through your site?
Step 2
Do we hear a NO to these?
- Does it still reflect your organisational structure and value proposition?
- Can you use your analytics to follow a user journey through your site?
- Is your website fully responsive and adaptable to mobile devices?
- Does it integrate well with your social media accounts?
- Are you able to keep your content fresh and relevant?
- Is your website actively engaging your audience through the use of cool animations, calls to action (like Buy, Register and Information Request) and intuitive navigation?
- Are you excited to show off your sleek website design and functionality?
After going through these questions, you will now have a solid idea of whether your website is a marketing superpower, or simply a url you’d rather leave off your business card. If you’re leaning towards the latter, it’s time for a website redesign!
Step 3
Consider WHO can build your website
There are so many website design agencies available! Yes, there are, but do they all have an understanding of your specific industry? Website development should not be a “one size fits all” solution. You have positioned your organisation to deliver a unique customer and user experience, so your website must deliver the same.
Ok – so how do you choose the right agency for the job?
1. Portfolio
- Do they have a portfolio that uniquely represents the values of each client? → Are the sites easy to navigate and mobile responsive?
- Do you think this agency would understand your specific business goals and reflect these in a way that’s appealing to your target audience?
2. Services
- Does the agency offer other services that may be useful to you? Could they assist with a hosting solution and ongoing maintenance of the site? Do they perhaps deliver copywriting services or image sourcing and editing to assist with website content?
- Are their developers skilled in e-commerce or system integrations like CRM or Ticketing solutions?
- Do the creative and design teams know how to provide detailed wireframes (content organisation) and graphical representations of how your website will look before you start with development?
- Do they provide other services such as brand definition, print and even production materials?
3. Pricing
- How does the company price the services they are offering?
- Is it a fixed price or an hourly rate?
- What is included in the price?
- Who makes up the team?
Keep in mind that cost is based on the experience of the agency and the team, the scope of the project and even the timeline for completion. This may well be your most valuable marketing investment, so rather than looking at the cheapest option, choose one that will provide the most effective solution to meet your end goal.
Step 4
Create a WEBSITE BRIEF
This document will form the foundation of the website design and development process and it’s an essential requirement for any reputable agency in order to give you an estimated cost, so the more specific you can be, the better! At the very least, you will be able to compare different prices based on the same exact brief.
If you don’t know where to start, you can read our complete guide to creating a website design brief! Bear in mind that it should include, at least, the following information:
- your organisational structure and values;
- sites that you like or don’t like;
- an overview of the general look and feel;
- the website goals and objectives;
- information on your target audience and what you’d like them to do on the site;
- how you’d like to manage your content;
- details of any functional requirements and system integrations.
Step 5
Get your TEAM together
- Firstly you need to think about a Project Manager. This is someone from within your organisation who will essentially partner with your chosen agency to ensure the organisational requirements of the website are being met. They will need to collaborate with the stakeholders across all departments and as their role is key to the success of the project, choose carefully!
- Identify the key stakeholders within your organisation, they will be both a valuable source of information when it comes to establishing the website requirements, as well as the main decision makers as you move through the process.
Step 6
Give some thought to your BUDGET
- It’s always better to be upfront with your budget. A $10,000 dollar website may work for a small, simple brochure site, based on an existing template, but it’s not going to allow for authentic design, extensive customizations and system integrations. If you know what base you’re working from, it will allow the agency to provide you with a realistic solution.
- Remember when looking at your website budget, this is going to be your primary marketing tool. From engaging audiences and selling products and tickets, to promoting a big event, your website will be fundamental in generating a large part of your revenue. So before cutting your website budget down to the bare minimum, think of the long term return of investment!
As you’re going through these steps, you’ll be wondering about the kind of website you should build. Make sure you check out this case study for inspiration.
So now the only question remaining should be…