Does your site need a redesign?

The reality is, if it doesn’t right now at some point it will, perhaps sooner than you might think.  So, what are the steps involved in planning for and implementing a successful redesign?

Let’s start by defining just what exactly a “redesign” is.  While it doesn’t have to be, at times a redesign is a complete site overhaul.  Essentially, a new concept, layout, colors, content, even brand identity might need to be created from scratch.  More frequently, however, a redesign is really more of a “realign”, where the site content, layout, features, colors and other elements are enhanced to more aesthetically match the company’s brand and meet the current needs of the intended audiences.

So how do you determine if your site needs a major overhaul or simply to be realigned?

Well, let me start by saying if your site contains any clipart at all, blocks of text as images, random sound effects or involves the use of horizontal scroll bars, it’s actually way overdue for a major overhaul, but I digress.   In all fairness, we need to gather a bit more information before we can fully determine the scope of the project.  Much the same as when planning for an initial design, there are a few critical pieces of information that need to be clearly defined before we can create an effective redesign strategy.

If you’ve already begun working with a designer, you will likely collaborate and compare notes from the start, but even if you haven’t yet hired a designer, you can still begin much of the preliminary planning and gather much of the information necessary to create the ultimate redesign strategy.

Step 1.  Define your audience. 

Basically, gather as much information as possible about your target audience and potential users.  Who is your target audience right now?  How has your consumer base changed, if at all, since your last site was developed?  Has it become broader or narrower in any ways?  What are your audience’s demographics?  Just who are they?  How old are they?  What do they do for work and for play?  What appeals to them?  How do they think?  What colors do they like?  How do they use the web?  When do they access the web?  Which devices are they using to access the web?

Step 2.  Define your web objectives. 

Think about your current business goals and how your website can facilitate meeting those goals.  What are your site’s objectives?  How has your business changed since your last site was developed?  Do you offer different products or services now than then?  What should your site provide for your consumers?  How will they use your site?  Why will they visit and revisit your site?  What should your site offer to attract, retain, increase, and convert on traffic to the site?

The next step is probably the most challenging part of the planning stage, so bear with me on this one…

Step 3.  Take an honest look at your current site. 

Pretend you are one of your site’s users.  Ask yourself:  How well is my current site aligned with my web objectives?  Does my site employ the use of any outdated technologies?  What about my site is currently working in connection with my site objectives and what is not?  Most importantly why?  Is my site truly enhancing my brand offering in the eyes of my users?   Could my site be devaluing my brand in any way?

The answers to these questions will essentially determine whether a complete overhaul, a minor realignment, or something in between is necessary in terms of the redesign.  And now that you have a more realistic idea of the scope of the project, you can start to formulate your strategy, which you may have guessed is step 4. 

Granted, the rest of the planning phase should be significantly easier when working with a designer, but still, if you haven’t yet hired a designer, try your best to think of how you will deliver your content to your consumers in the way they will most readily receive it.

Step 4.  Determine your strategy.  

Ask yourself:  What can changes, enhancements or additions can I make to my site to better align my site with my web objective and meet the current needs of my users?  Since we’ve already determined our target audience and our web objectives, and we took that painful, er I mean honest look at our current site, we should have a pretty solid idea of what needs to be modified, added to, or removed from the existing site to enhance our overall brand perception and better meet the needs of our consumers. 

A redesign strategy, regardless of scope, should in theory look something like this:

My site will do this (the site’s objectives as defined in step 2) by delivering this content (the new, redesigned and/or additional content with features, layout, format, accessibility, etc.) to my consumers (the site’s target audience as defined in step 1).

In the real world, a simple example might look something like this:

My site will encourage more in-depth site usage and visitor loyalty and create a more positive overall view of my company’s brand by incorporating the use of more positive colors, streamlining the current layout thus making the site easier to navigate, and incorporating the use of social media channels to encourage user feedback from my target demographic.

And now that we know what we need to do, it’s simply a matter now of putting the pieces together to do it.  Exciting, isn’t it???  We’re almost there!  Before we jump in headfirst though, we need to complete a couple more preliminary steps.

Step 5.  Plan for SEO, SES and optimization. 

Any new content as well as new design needs to be measured and optimized.  Be consumer-minded as you begin thinking about key word data and top entrance paths (the pages your users will likely search for and visit first).  Plan for multiple landing pages and A/B testing before the actual design work begins.  In this way, from the project inception, you will be prepared to respond to user feedback and adapt your content, designs or layout in order to effectively meet your goals.  If you are already employing the use of sitemaps, plan to incorporate additions to the existing documents rather than completely redesigning them. 

Step 6.  Gather and organize content. 

The amount of content a site will contain determines much about the structure and layout.  Define the site structure and hierarchy with as much detail as possible.  How much content and what type of content will you have?  Will you have active content?  How often will the content change?  You can use a site planning tool, a spreadsheet, a wireframe or just start scribbling on a piece of scratch paper.  The important thing is that you be as detailed as possible and make sure that the flow of content is relevant and logical.  Take your time and give your content a lot of thought.  As you organize the site content, be sure to keep your audience in mind and refine content as necessary in order to plan to deliver the best value to your consumers.

Step 7.  Visit competitor’s sites. 

Try to be as objective as possible.  Visit the sites as if you were a consumer.  How intuitive are the sites from a user’s perspective?  What about the design, colors, layouts, features and content do you feel works?  What doesn’t work?  Learn as much as you can from your competitors’ successes and their missed opportunities and don’t forget to take notes.

At this point you are ready to bring all of your research, notes and goals together with your strategy so that design iterations can begin for your new site.  Remember, the more careful planning you do in advance of the actual redesign, the more successful the implementation of your redesign will be.  And now, let the redesign begin. 

Often times, small business clients make a sizable investment in the design and development of their website, only to find that at the launch they are not prepared to spend more funds to aggressively market the site.  And yet, no one seems to be visiting the website in spite of just how amazing the site is and how much money was spent to build and deploy it.  Talk about let down.  “Where’s my return on investment?”  Naturally, this is when I get the call.

Given the current economy, even medium and large size businesses are trimming budgets, including marketing and looking for creative ways to market alternatively.  Thankfully, there are several things that can be done without spending a lot of money to organically drive traffic to your site.  They may seem obvious but they are good reminders, and incidentally can be implemented and reimplemented to help boost traffic throughout the life cycle of a design.  And while the actual methods may not all apply specifically to medium or larger sized businesses, in principle they most certainly apply to any size business.

Let’s focus on just five organic ways to drive traffic to your site, shall we?

1. Use Your Web Address

I must admit it’s surprising to me how often I am asked by a client whether or not a web address should be on a business card or letterhead.  Perhaps for small business clients that are newly entering the web arena and don’t regularly access the web themselves, the thought of having their web address on collateral seems optional.  It’s not.

Use your web address everywhere.  Use it on your business cards, letterhead, envelopes, ad slicks, data sheets, business checks, labels, promotional items and client gifts like pens, t-shirts and shopping bags…tattoo it on your chest, ok, well maybe not but you get the point. (no pun intended, of course)  Simply put, use your web address in all of your print collateral.

And don’t forget to talk about your website.  Tell your entire network you have a website.  Tell them how great it is.  After all, you paid good money to make your site great, so you have every right to sing its praises.  Tell everyone with whom you converse why they should visit your site and why they should tell others to visit your site as well.

The bottom line is: promote your website in print and verbally.  Stop and think about ways that you can incorporate your web in your existing print collateral and daily conversation and make a conscious effort to promote it.

2. Register with Local Groups and Directories

Another simple, organic way to get noticed by others, including search engines, which translate to driving traffic to your site, is to register your business with online groups and directories.  These are sites that allow you to list your business and pertinent information about your business in relevant categories.  Consumers, aka your potential clients, can then browse and search for businesses by category, business name, industry, specialty, location or recommendation.

These listings also rank quickly with search engines, so that often a new website can be found via a directory before the actual site has even been ranked directly by search engine crawlers.

A few good places to start:

Yahoo Local Business Directory

Google Local Business Directory

Yelp Business Directory

There may likely be other local or industry specific groups and directories with exclusive audiences that include your consumers.  Spend a little time researching to find them.  The more lists in which your business name and website appear, the greater the exposure and subsequent traffic to your site.

3. Post Ads on Craigslist

Craigslist is a really great platform for small business owners to gain leverage online without spending dollars for advertising.  Of course, Craigslist does have its limitations and is not necessarily an automatic fit for every business, but it should at least be considered before ruled out.  Why?  Well, for one thing, it’s FREE.  It’s also very easy to use and in certain markets, it’s extremely effective as a traffic generator.

Let’s say, for example, you’re the owner of a small business daycare.  If you, as a daycare owner, notice many individuals offering childcare services and listing such services in your local Craigslist directory it is likely that many individuals shopping for childcare in your locale are using Craigslist to find local providers.  If you include a listing, or better yet, multiple listings without spamming, of course, using catchy headlines in your local markets, your FREE ad(s) will be among those perused by all those shopping for childcare in your region.

Some of the possible types of businesses which may benefit by utilizing Craigslist ads (depending on business locale and corresponding Craigslist usage) include childcare and related services, pet related services, electronic repair services, property management and real estate services, coaching, tutoring, gardening and landscape maintenance, personal estate and financial planning services, residential construction and maintenance services along with artisan services, photography, catering and event coordination services just to name a few.

Important Tip:  Always include a direct link to your site using the proper syntax i.e. http://… in your Craigslist ads so that users can click directly from the ad to your site.  Ideally, include a direct link to the landing page on your site that is most relevant to your ad viewers and voila!  Watch the traffic flow.

4. Utilize Social Media

There’s quite a bit of controversy surrounding social media these days.  However, social media is by no means going anywhere.  That’s not to say that there are not some very important rules to follow when it comes to social media, whether for personal use or small business marketing.  But that is entirely another story and shall be saved for a future blog post.  (hint, hint ) For now, let’s just consider how social media can benefit small businesses.

Social media is free and relatively simply to use.

From the end-users perspective, social media provides a convenient means to receive updates from multiple sources through a single channel, i.e. Twitter or Facebook.  And, with the advent of integration of Twitter and Facebook, you, as the business owner, can provide updates, value added information and site links to your consumers and potential clients from one channel as well.

Each time you post a relevant update, you are building your credibility as a legitimate player in your specific business market.  Those who either “follow” you or “like” you have opted in to receive your updates, which means they want to hear from you.  If you provide value in the updates that you post, your followers are likely to click the links (ahem to your site or related to your site).  Plus, if your followers think that others would benefit from viewing your content, they will share your updates with their friends and followers, who may visit your site as well.  If these, in turn, opt in to receive your updates via social media channels, then they will likely share your updates to their friends and followers and thus increase your potential network exposure exponentially.

5. Write Useful Blog Articles

Ok, well, even less than useful blog articles might possibly drive some traffic to your site.  The problem, however, with writing articles that are less than useful and thereby irrelevant, is such articles will definitely diminish your credibility.  The only clicks your sight might get will be from users who want a good look at who not to do business with.  So let’s stick with useful, relevant content.

Blogging is not difficult learn and there are many free blogging platforms available for use, such as WordPress or Google’s Blogger.

It’s important to remember that free blogging sites will not drive traffic to your site automatically as they are often not indexed by search engine robots, and understandably so, as there is an absolute glut of information being posted to the internet via blogs each day.  Free blogging can drive traffic to your site, however, if you use your blog in conjunction with another medium such as social media.  Reenter Twitter and Facebook.

Blogging, like social media, has some rules in order to be an effective marketing tool for small businesses.  But, if you learn how to write quality content about subjects that interest your consumers, you will boost your business credibility with your clients.  And if your clients find your content useful, they will share your articles with their networks thus further marketing your business from an organic perspective.

Of course, always be sure to link your blog directly to your website.

So, here’s my “top 10″.

Myth #10 - My Business Does Not Need a Web Presence.

I know some of you are gasping.  Believe it or not this statement is not at all uncommon among small business owners and even some medium-sized firms in certain more specialized sectors.

The year is 2009 and we are rapidly closing in on the beginning of 2010.  According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/, there are currently some 252,908,000 internet users in the North America alone, up 134% from 108,096,800 in the year 2000. 

 The simple truth is your customers are online.  You need to be there too.

Myth #9 - My Business is Too Small to Compete on the Web.

We all have to start somewhere.  Even the big guys started there once. No business is too small to be online.

The simple truth is even if you can only afford to have a simple one page site as sort of “virtual business card” at least potential customers and even current customers can find you and find out how to get in contact with you. 

Small business craftspeople, artisans, suppliers or retailers can set up a small virtual shop at online marketplaces like http://www.etsy.com/ , http://www.ebay.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/ .  Small businesses can also utilize online blogs to display photos of products, to journal events, to provide reviews or to offer helpful advice to consumers.  Blog sites similar to this one at WordPress ( http://www.wordpress.org/ ) can even be fully customized to create a complete site.

As your business grows, your site will grow too. 

Myth #8 - Web Design is Easy.

Of course, I would call this a myth, after all designing webs is much of what I do and I need to justify my salary…

Well, be that as it may, misconceptions abound about design, skill, efficiency and impact and how all of these factors relate.  Gone are the days when anyone’s brother (no offense to anyone’s brother) could throw together an arbitrary webpage with some hideous clip art and about 30 fonts and customers were dazzled.  Times have changed dramatically and standards have evolved to include accessibility compliance for multiple devices and persons from all walks of life. Oh, and did I mention that we don’t use tables for layout anymore…

The simple truth is it takes talent to be an artistic individual, and while there are many artistic individuals in this world, it also takes a tremendous amount of time and skill to become a talented designer.  And with industry standards ever-changing, top-notch designers are constantly learning, adapting and fine tuning their approach to effective design. 

When you’re ready to hire a designer and take your business to the next level, just remember that time and skill cost money and the bottom line is you should anticipate that the quality of your designs will be directly commensurate with what you’re willing to spend.

Myth #7 – My Existing Website Is Good Enough.

While having a website is one thing, keeping it current is quite another. 

Okay now, let’s be truthful…How do your current and potential clients feel about your website??? 

And even if your website is effectively converting and meeting current goals, still, as with everything in life, there is always room for improvement. Even a brand new website can be optimized and updated. Particularly, in the context of SEO, content should be kept relevant and fresh.  Keeping content relevant and up to date is critical.  With so many sources of information available to users on the web, outdated and obsolete content is sure to discourage if not aggravate potential customers who can easily go elsewhere to find what they need.

The simple truth is your website will never be good enough. It is a tool that should be continually evolving.  It may be serving its current purpose overall.  It may be visually stunning.  It may not need a major overhaul or facelift, but the content should be kept current and you should always be thinking about SEO and new conversion goals.

Myth #6 - I Don’t Need to Budget For a Website.

Well, let’s put it this way, maybe you own a vacation house in the Hamptons and your own private jet to get you there and your monthly allowance is in the triple digits, and if so, perhaps, in that case, you don’t need a budget. 

Most, however, do.

The simple truth is just like anything that you need to purchase as a business investment to help grow your business, a website has a price tag for which you need to budget.  An effective website is, in fact, one of the more expensive investments that most business owners will undertake.  A budget is therefore essential.  And let’s not forget to budget for SEO (we’ll get to those myths later).

Myth #5 - My Website Has to “Wow” My Customers.

Most people feel confident about their talent in their own role.  Successful business owners especially feel confident in their roles as well they should be.  That confidence should definitely be conveyed in a site, but the “wow” factor is not always relevant. A simple site in no way indicates a business is lackluster, boring or less than capable of producing results.

Take for example http://www.google.com/ and contrast Google’s site to http://disney.go.com/index.  While it’s obvious which site has the “wow” factor, it’s also obvious why.  One site generates links to information and another produces media.  Links don’t need a “wow” factor to be useful whereas media needs the “wow” to captivate the audience and stimulate viewership. 

A website’s success is measured by conversion, whether that conversion is to get users to click a link, buy a product or watch a movie.  Whatever it is, it ultimately brings revenue.  According to BusinessWeek  (http://www.businessweek.com/), the Walt Disney Company which was founded in 1923, reported earnings of $37.8 Billion in 2008 whereas Google, which in 1998 was founded right in our own backyard (for those of us living in the bay area), reported earnings of $21.8 Billion for the 2008 fiscal year.  I say not bad at all considering there is no “wow” factor, well, aside from the random changing of the Google graphic, which I must admit, I think is cute.

The simple truth is that a website needs to deliver the message your consumers need to hear efficiently and effectively, however that may be.  Every business is different which means that the demographic of consumers will vary from business to business.  Your consumers will dictate whether or not your site needs more sophisticated graphic rich content, but still, simple is always key even in the most robust sites.

Myth #4 – My New Website Will Instantly Bring in New Business.

You know, I really wish this was the case.  It would be nice.

The simple truth is a website is a tool that has to leveraged with many other tools and marketing strategies.  You can have an incredible product or service and the most amazing site but if you don’t have a business plan with an aggressive marketing agenda, you’ll probably want to consider taking that second job.  The web is dynamic and glutted with information.  Customers need to find you and your site which means you have to get the word out through as many channels as possible to maximize your investment. Did I mention SEO?

Myth #3 – SEO is Something I Need to Do Once.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is an entity all on its own.  Obviously, it relates to marketing and to the web, but it follows no conventions and makes its own rules.

The simple truth is SEO is ongoing and it’s not cheap because it involves a lot of time. 

If you have the money to allocate in your business budget to spend weekly on SEO, get this: YOU SHOULD SPEND IT WEEKLY. 

SEO changes that frequently and it’s almost like a game.  And there are constantly new players, aka websites with competing information whether they are your true business competitors or not.  Take for example the proliferation of blogs ::ahem:: and social media sites with their dynamic content which are proving to be a source of fierce competition for search engine placement. 

If you can’t spend money (or time – which, of course, is money) every week on SEO, then you should spend it as often as your financial plan will allow.  It’s that important and it will continue to be so.

Myth #2 – SEO Means Paying for Search Engine Placement.

Well, then we would call it SEP, but alas it’s SEO.  While it’s true you can pay the search engines to have your business name in a little box on the front page of a user search, that does not mean that you will get any clicks.  Search engines delight to sell ad space to small businesses, but they also want the advertisers with the deep pockets to buy space on their front page and the investors with the even deeper pockets to invest in their ventures, so to that end they are primarily concerned that the users can find the content that they are looking for when they perform a search.

Suppose you want to visit that new little coffee shop at the corner of 1st and Main and you want to know what time they open in the morning.  Of course, you realize that there’s a Starbucks on 3rd and Main, but you want to go to that cute little coffee shop and support your local “mom and pop” business, so when you search, you don’t want to find Starbucks.  You want to find that little coffee shop.  The search engines know this (from your query) and they want you to find that little coffee shop too. Of course, if that little coffee shop has no web presence, well, then, this may be a bit of a challenge, but if any data exists the search engines want you to find it.  Why?  Because you will be delighted to enjoy a hot cup of joe at your newest neighborhood hot spot which means you will be happy with the search engine that you used to find out when that little coffee shop was open and the next time you need to search for something on the web you will most likely use the same search engine again and this means more advertising revenue from increased circulation, not unlike the newspaper industry.  More users aka viewers equals more revenue potential.

The simple truth is that you don’t necessarily need to pay for placement.  You do, however, need to spend the time, and a lot of it (unless you plan to pay someone else), to keep your content relevant, to adhere to the current yet ever changing standards and to keep your content to code ratio high so that your page will present itself as most relevant to search engine crawlers and bots.

Myth #1 – Accessibility Compliance and Usability Testing is Not Necessary.

In October 2007 a Federal Judge in California certified a class action lawsuit against Target Corporation on the basis that Target’s website was inaccessible to the blind.  This underscores the reality that laws which prohibit any form of discrimination against any individual on any basis apply with equal force when it comes to the internet.  Compliance with these standards is important from a legal perspective and, perhaps more important, from a moral perspective as well. Persons with disabilities are prospective customers the same as those without disabilities and should be treated as such.

Usability relates to the actual users perception of usefulness of a site.  While there are no moral or legal implications when it comes to usability, there is this obvious truth: if users don’t think your site is useful, they won’t visit your site. Simple as that.  How do you know whether or not potential users feel your site is usable?  You test.

The simple truth is there is much more to designing and marketing a website than creating amazing graphics.  Thought has to go into the structure, the layout, the sizes, colors, output devices, etc.  Supplemental data in the form of alternate descriptions, tags and captions as well as quick access keys and tab order definitions need to be supplied which adds to the scope of the project.  Testing should be implemented early and throughout the project to ensure the objective usability of the site.  Again, adding to the scope of the project.

The amount of time and money involved may certainly seem prohibitive at first glance, but contrasted to the potential lack of revenue due to an “unusable” site or, worse, a lawsuit for lack of accessibility compliance, it certainly deserves serious consideration.

That said, I’m determined to have some fabulous things live on web before this year ends.

Always pursuing new avenues to output creative media…

This blog was creative as a medium to highlight creative projects, useful tools, notable resources and provide information on current design trends and cutting-edge techniques.

If you’re looking for a little inspiration or some helpful guidance pertaining to the resplendent world of design, you have come to the right place.