Top 3 Things to Do Before You Even Design a New Website

Before you get ahead of yourself, you need to follow a checklist before launching a website.

New websites are exciting - thinking of all the opportunities that lie ahead for interactivity, groundbreaking design, user experience improvements, increases in leads or sales and so much more.

All that excitement gets you going and talking with the web design team, things get rolling and you get the first designs, then the hard work begins and the excitement fades. You may start to think that this new website isn't much fun at all, but it's a lot of work.

Websites, when planned, designed and developed correctly can be a lot of work, (but totally worth it!) Which is why you should consider these things before you embark on this project. We've seen website projects succeed and others fail and it usually comes down to a matter of expectations being set in the beginning.

Know Your Why

What are your goals for the redesign? What will change? It should be more than just the design.

Content, calls to action, improving the on-page SEO elements that you're not able to edit in the current site or even as simple as you need it to be responsive for today's mobile-first world.

Identify Who Will Lead What Part of the Project

Creating a new website takes time and attention from both you/your company and the web development company you're working with. And, if you want the website project to be done in a reasonable amount of time, it needs constant attention. Like every week or two at the most.

You have everyday responsibilities in your business, and so does your team. Still, your team's input is critical to a successful and timely website creation.

Make sure they have the time in their schedule, and support from others within the company, to get what they need to keep the website development moving forward.

Clarify What Content Will be Needed and Who's Responsible

This is one of the most important aspects of your website redevelopment, and sadly one of the bigger sticking points in getting websites done. Websites take a lot of effort (well, the good ones do anyway) and content is one of the most important parts of your new site.

• What content might you use from the current site?
• What new content you will need to write?
• Who will write the new content?
• Who will migrate any existing content or input/format into the new website?

*Believe us when we say that this is a very important step. We've heard the pains from others, and have stepped in here to help when companies realize their web design agency only designed their site but didn't do anything with the content. Yikes! 

Your Website is a Hub for Sales & Marketing Efforts

We invite you to learn more about our Web Design & Development process, and even more importantly the online marketing approach for every website we create. Whether you are a B2B or a B2C company, the website is still a hub of information for prospects, customers, and your community.

Taking time to think about these 3 things before you select your next website agency will hopefully help you have a great experience and even greater outcomes with your new and improved website.