If you want a professional, customised corporate website, you may be looking at a bill amounting to tens of thousands. If you've got that kind of budget, you'll want to make sure the investment is worthwhile. Most businesses know they need a website – or a website redesign – and they're usually in a hurry to get things up and running. This creates a lucrative market for agencies that promise super-fast delivery – at a premium price, of course, and that's where businesses often make several critical mistakes.
If you're prioritising a quick implementation of a shiny new website without addressing the three inconvenient truths we're about to discuss below, you may be sinking your money into a bottomless pit.
Truth # 1: Strategy isn't on the website redesign table
So, you want a beautiful website with all the bells and whistles – contemporary look and feel, great fonts and interactive features. But, before you begin, answer this simple question: Where does your customer factor in?
You see, a website should always serve the purpose of guiding your customer through the buyer's journey by providing the relevant information they need to make a purchasing decision. This requires research and strategy to ensure each page on your website is intentional and effective. Most agencies treat web design and sales and marketing as separate functions. What does this mean for your business?
Well, you'll get a pretty website out of it, sure. But it probably won't be optimised for conversion or help with your sales process. So, before you set off on your web redesign journey, be sure to ask if there's a strategic element to the design process and how the agency will create the website with your buyer personas in mind.
Truth # 2: Website redesign is treated as a creative project –– not a data-based one
Typically, agencies want to give you that big visual WOW! Of course, you want to be happy with how the website looks–aesthetics are important, but what happens once the design project is complete and the website is up and running? This, you see, is where the relationship between you and the agency typically comes to an end.
What's being done to optimise and improve it to make sure it's driving sales and conversions?
It's one thing to presume how visitors will interact with your website; it's another thing to actually study the live data coming in after the launch to make meaningful adjustments that improve the user experience (UX) and achieve better results for your business. Usually, this happens by conducting A/B testing, using heatmaps, and studying traffic data.
If you've signed up for a design-and-launch-only project, you're leaving a lot of opportunity on the table and possibly even risk losing customers who don't get a worthwhile experience from your new website. But how would you know if you're not looking at the data? Do you even know how to access the data? This brings us to inconvenient truth #3...
Truth # 3: You receive no in-house training
There will inevitably come a point when you need to do something on your website, whether that's updating a piece of content, adding a landing page or changing a product specification. But can you do this on your own?
Many agencies will act as gatekeepers, building your website but making it impossible for you to take the reins. They'll want to charge you for every change or amendment you wish to make instead of teaching you and your team how to independently control your website.
Having internal expertise and access to all the essential parts of the website is critical. It gives you the freedom to make updates in response to changes in the business environment and ensures your website continues to work in your favour.
BEE gives you strategic, empowering website redesign
At BEE, we like to dive much deeper than the superficial elements of web design. Our years of experience enable us to understand what our clients really want –– beyond the lovely colours, fonts and widgets.
We know that you want a high performing website that generates valuable data for your business –– data you can use to get more sales and conversions. That's why strategy and data are baked into our web design process.
We'll begin with an in-depth conversation about your business, its objectives and your target audience or buyer personas. Everything we do from that point on is data-based.
We'll evaluate your current website to check what's working well, where opportunities are slipping through the cracks, and what needs to be overhauled or removed entirely. Our design process always includes you, the client, because we know that you'll want to be able to operate your website, even if you choose to work independently of us. We're not here to lock you in; we want to empower you so that your business can grow.
Yes, our team of expert designers will ensure you have a modern, functional website, but it will also be a website built upon inbound principles that deliver measurable results. To learn more about how we create and launch lead generating websites, explore our Website Roadmap.
