It’s important to make sure you have a clear understanding of scope of what you need and a sense of what it might cost.
In most things in business, planning ahead is an essential part of success. A website redesign is no different. Over the past 20 years working with a wide range of B2B brands, we’ve identified the key behaviors that drive project success. In fact, getting our clients to think about these core considerations is precisely why we developed our Velocity Workshop. We make this part of every project at Clear Digital to ensure that our clients have thoroughly thought through their needs and realities, and that our team is aligned to deliver.
So, if you have a website redesign on deck for this year or if you know you’re due for one soon, here are the key things to consider:
Website Redesign Readiness Checklist
Ensure your website redesign's success with our essential readiness checklist.
1. Be thoughtful about your budget
In today’s economy, the competition for marketing dollars is fierce. From ad campaigns and lead generation, to social media and events, to product marketing communications, the dollars have to go far. As you’re planning your marketing budget, it’s important to remember that every two to four years you likely need a site refresh. This will be a big-ticket item that you have to plan for.
Companies often approach us before they are prepared to have a realistic budget conversation. It’s important to make sure you have a clear understanding of the scope of what you need and a sense of what that might cost. This can vary depending upon the technical lift, the depth of design changes, and the sheer volume of pages, which leads to our next checklist item.
2. Conduct a content audit of your existing site
Do you have a good sense of how many pages are on your current site? Sometimes companies think their site is going to be an efficient 20-30 page overhaul, when in truth, they haven’t considered pages that have been added on over time or content like blogs or product collateral that each have their own dedicated page.
You’ll also want to take into account marketing campaign landing pages as part of your audit. Do you want to consider these within the scope of your website redesign or can they continue to sit outside of the core structure of your site. Think about this from both a look and feel perspective, as well as your information architecture and website taxonomy.
3. Review competitor sites
Before any website redesign project, having a clear idea of preferences and industry standards is paramount. Spend time looking at competitor sites, as well as the sites of companies that are adjacent to or complementary to your industry. Think about UX, storytelling, and design strategies that you find interesting or you think could work for your brand. You may also find inspiration and interesting ideas on sites from other industries. As you gather this intelligence, be intentional about documenting what you like and why (not just because it’s Apple and it’s cool).
Likewise, it can be just as helpful to document web practices that you don’t like. Whether see them on your own site or on others, having a clear understanding of what isn’t working for you and why can be equally informative for your web design agency.
4. Identify your copywriting needs
Determine how much you think your content will be changing. Is this a more visually driven refresh? Or, have you recently updated your brand messaging and need to reframe the way your site is written? Or, maybe you need a complete messaging refresh, as well? Website redesigns are a great way to introduce new corporate messaging. The Clear Digital team often helps companies revamp messaging as a first step in the website redesign process and then implement that messaging throughout the site.
Website redesigns are a great way to introduce new corporate messaging.
If you do anticipate needing to update the content and writing on your pages, it’s important to consider who will be responsible for that. You may have people on your team that can tackle all the writing. Just be very clear on bandwidth and availability during the timeframes you need it. Also, if you have multiple people writing pages, have a plan for someone to review the copy to ensure a consistent voice across your site. If your web design agency will be doing the copywriting, remember that their team will likely need access to your subject matter experts during the writing phase, as well as timely review and feedback for all the pages they write. Your team will still be very involved!
5. Think about technical requirements
A site redesign is the perfect time to consider the back-end technologies you have in place. Does your team need to be able to update content and add pages as needed? Are you looking for more sophisticated interactive elements on the site to increase engagement? Consider the technical concerns you have now and what you might need in the next two to four years. You don’t need to have all the answers. A good web design agency will help you navigate your options and find the right fit (and they definitely should be presenting and discussing the options with you.)
As you’re tackling these tasks before a web refresh, it’s ok if everything isn’t in a perfect state or you don’t have all the answers. The goal is to have smarter, more informed conversations with your agency team. This kind of legwork early on will help you eliminate surprises, headaches, and regrets during the process. Preparation is your friend.
If you’re ready to revamp your company’s website, the Clear Digital team is ready to take you to what’s next. Let’s talk.
