Web sites are like all of your marketing materials and even like your communities. They need to be updated regularly and sometimes even need a complete overhaul. When it comes time to re-design your website take a moment and make sure that you have gone over these five steps:
EVALUATE EXISTING SITE – What do you like about your current site? What part(s) of your current website would you like to stay in place in place on the new site? Have you gotten positive and or negative feedback from certain part(s) of your website? Have a meeting with your staff and get their feedback on what they do and do not like about the current site. You may find that you only need to make adjustments to the current site instead of starting over completely.
INDUSTRY COMPARISON- Look at your competitors websites. Do a Google search and find out what your competitors are doing. Go over these sites with your designer and get his/her feedback.
DECISION MAKER- Make sure the right people are working on it and giving ideas. The final decision maker needs to be involved in each step of the process, or it will take much longer than expected. When you have a meeting or call with your website designer, the person who will have the final say needs to be there.
HAVE YOUR IDEAS READY- Your website designer will need your ideas and input from the very start. Relying solely on your designer to come up with a look that will blow you away tends to slow things down. The designer will create a fabulous design that is really visually appealing, however if he or she was not given the needed input from you, the design could be completely different from your own vision.
SET DEADLINES-Everyone needs to be on the same page. Set up a timeline with your web designer so that everyone knows when certain things will be done and whose responsibility each part of the website is. Having set due dates for each step of the way keeps the process running smoothly and more efficiently.
Luke Jansen | Account Director- Online Division
New LifeStyles, The Source for Seniors |