by Andrew Spoeth (Visit Andrew's Blog Here)

Redesigning a website can be a lengthy, complicated process. Done properly, it can give a dramatic boost you your online presence. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure, and pain, of being a part of several redesign projects.

Here is a checklist for website redesign, a series of steps that developers will go through in a successful redesign project.

1. Document the reasons you’re redesigning the website.
   Having these listed will act as a compass through the lengthy project. When things get stressful, you’ll want this reminder.
2. Test the old site, e.g. with an online intercept survey.
   How easily can users find key parts of the site? Other testing methods include focus groups and eye tracking. For the survey, get enough data to make it statistically relevant. The qualitative, descriptive feedback from one-on-one sessions with customers is also very valuable.
3. Conduct a baseline analysis of the old site.
   A baseline analysis is a document which sets the bar by which the future site will be measured. It should detail how the old site has performed over the past year, including key performance indicators like visitors, bounce rate, conversion rates, pages/visit, etc.
4. Set targets for the new site.
   These should be actual numbers and be based on the baseline mentioned above.
5. Hire a design company.
   Choose a company which has experience in your industry and has demonstrated success in the past. Do they ask you the right questions? Do they understand your customer? Do they deliver on budget and on schedule?
6. Map out the new site’s architecture.
   Work on a whiteboard or a blank piece of paper. Use one box per web page, starting with the home page on top. Draw lines between the pages to show logical connections. An alternative process, called Card Sorting, starts with cue cards. Create one cue card per web page, lay them out on a large table and start grouping and arranging them.
   When mapping out the architecture, remember to keep the site compact, i.e. don’t create too many levels. This is bad for usability and bad for search engine optimization.
7. Do keyword research.
   Consider words being used by your customers, at conferences, etc. Take a look at your old site’s analytics to determine which keywords have been bringing traffic from the search engines, especially traffic that converts into real business. Also consider third party tools like Google’s Search-based keyword tool, Seo Book’s Keyword Suggestion Tool. And don’t forget Google Trends.
   How long should your keyword list be? That depends on your business model. But in most circumstances, a list of 20-30 is a great start.
8. Audit all of your existing online collateral.
   This includes all old and existing web pages, online brochures, podcasts, etc. Make a list in Excel and leave a couple of columns for notes and an instructions, e.g. ‘keep’, ‘keep but edit’, or ‘throw away’. B2B sites should also make room for columns to describe the type of buyer that web page appeals to, e.g. technical buyer, economic buyer, and when in the buying process that web page would best be viewed, i.e. Phase I: Awareness of Problem, Phase II: Researching a Solution, etc.
9. Write content for the new site.
   Each page should have a clear purpose, give an opportunity to continue, and be optimized for 1-2 keywords identified in number 7 above.
10. Create wireframes, mock-ups, etc.
    Carried out for the most part by your design company, this is where your combined knowledge of the target market turns into a creative and user friendly design which works.  Have the design company give you at least a couple of unique designs for the home page to choose from.
11. Test the mock-ups for usability.
    Let some customers loose on these mock-ups. The pages only need minor functionality for now, e.g. be able to click on a couple of key areas. Make note of how easily and quickly key parts can be found.
12. Fix, adjust and iterate
    Based on the results of your tests, iterate until you have a design which you can live with for the next 2 – 3 years.
13. Build out and populate pages.
    A lot of this may be handled by the web design company. Take all of the freshly written content and place it in the built pages. When choosing file and folder names for pages, consider using the keywords you identified in the keyword research stage above.
14. Organic optimization (SEO)
    You’ve already written the content and used the right keywords. Now is the time to take it further by ensuring that each page’s title, description and header tags do the same. Include links between pages. Interlinking is great for usability and great for search engine spiderability.
    Don’t forget to create a sitemap. There are two types of sitemaps, one which is on your site and visible to the user, and one which is visible only to the search engines (an XML Sitemap).
    And, don’t forget inbound links coming to some of the old site’s pages. Put a redirect in place for each of those so the new visitors, and link power, know where to go.
15. Testing. Try to break it before the site is launched.
    Get a large group of people you trust to poke around, find broken links, etc. Use various browsers, operating systems, look at it on a smart phone.
16. Add tracking code to each web page.
    This will ensure you can measure what’s happening with the new site. For tracking software like Google Analytics, it will be a fairly easy process, i.e. same tracking code on each page which can be applied in the footer.
17. Launch day. Flick the switch, uncork the champagne.
    Don’t forget to take a screen shot of the old site.
18. Post-launch monitoring
    Make a schedule and force yourself to note the key stats at regular intervals after the site is launched. For the first few days, do it every day. After that, weekly. If you have budget, do a second intercept survey (see #2 above).
19. Take the time to create a Content Development / Maintenance plan.
    Use a calendar and map out when you’ll be adding new content. How often will the ‘latest events’ section be updated? Who will update it? When will you review the product descriptions? Or case studies?
20. Keep a journal of this whole process
    

Want to see what the end result looks like?

> See a few examples on our Project Work page

by James Shaw, Creative Director / Owner, Twin Creek Media

There is no shortage of terrible websites clogging up the filter of the world wide web these days.  I really don't mind bad websites if they have no real serious intentions - say, someone's collection of out of focus photos, or a personal blog about insects.  But a company's website is serious business.  And it's a crime to waste a great opportunity to gain more customers and earn more revenue on poor execution and poor follow through.

Let's address the TOP 12 reasons why your company's or association's website is useless:

1. Not listed or not on page 1 in Google (or other search engines or web directories).  80+% of EVERYTHING begins as a search, and not many people bother clicking past the first page of Google.  SEO/SEM is critical.
2. Out of date information (last updated in 2003?)
3. Hard to use navigation (people are dazed and confused)
4. Primitive & ugly design (inconsistent colours, fonts, styles)
5. No engaging content (if your site is nothing more than a copy/pasted brochure, you're in trouble!)
6. No calls to action (what specifically do you want your visitors to do?  If you don't tell them, don't expect any action. Eg. getting tons of hits but no conversion?  Hmm...)
7. Your internet marketing is not INTEGRATED with your overall marketing of your business/association.  (Hint: your web "guy" and your print "girl" are probably working in a vacuum.  Twin Creek Media is one of the only truly integrated marketing firms in the Okanagan.)
8. There is no regular promotion of the website.  Eg. email marketing campaign connecting with your target audience and driving web traffic back to your website, or direct mail piece with a web offer.
9. The copy writing is boring, too long or too short, duplicated, irrelevant and not optimized for Search Engines.
10. You don't view your website as a powerful member of your Sales and Marketing Team. (websites don't get sick or take vacation days and can generate a steady stream of qualified leads or even sell your products for your business or assocation... in other words your website is a worker, not just another marketing channel)
11. Your site is not utilizing the latest technology: blogs, online PR, social networking, viral video, etc. (you don't need to know all the latest technology, just get to know someone that does, and ask him/her if one of the latest online fads is a good fit for you.)
12. Nobody is visiting!  Nothing matters more than traffic, and even a $100,000 site is going to crash and burn without a launch strategy and ongoing promotion.

Okay, so useless may be a strong word.  But your site definitely won't be as effective as it could be if you're not paying attention to the points above.  We've witnessed sites go from ZERO to HERO in a matter of months by focusing on the missing ingredients - we're talking web traffic gains of 400%.

Who would you hire to redesign your company's site?

a) an artist
b) a programmer
c) a strategic marketer

Trick question actually.  If you thought, "all", you got it right.

The reason is the proper web development is both an art and science, and surprisingly a lot of each.