8 signs that the redesign of your website will end in tears.

The time has come, your website has finally recovered and you and your marketing team cannot wait to get bogged down in collaborating with a web development company for the exciting new creation of websites for your business.

The initial steps for this to happen begin ... as you and your team begin to create a plan and try to realize all the new features and ideas of your website.

However, with so many stories about various scams, agencies are taking people away and projects go beyond deadlines. The entire project has now become immensely discouraging and not sure where to start.

Below are 8 warning signs that the redesign of your website is not on the right track and what you can do to ensure a successful website redesign for your business:

1. You have a bad strategy in place

Just as the design and development of a house or a building, if the plans and plans are bad, it is very likely that the final result will be compromised. The most worrying part is that you may not discover that something is wrong until the Web Development agency has completed the project and is out of the picture. To ensure that your website adds real value, it must be designed in accordance with your business goals and objectives.

In general, the key objective given to web development companies is that the redesign should "bring more business". However, in reality, if this is the only plan you have provided to your agency, you could end the project with a website that looks visually impressive but does not contribute in any way to your business objectives.

The best first step is not to make a list of all the bright new features you think the new website needs. Instead, your key business objectives should be at the forefront of your plan.

The new website design should be strongly oriented towards these key business objectives. A brilliant idea for this is to make a list of your wishes and link them in a way that aligns with your key business objectives, the needs of your visitors and the SEO of your website. Doing all this will ensure that your website actively promotes your brand and drives new business in your own way, rather than acting as a beautiful brochure.

Asking your team why each item is in the redesign plan of your website is a great idea, as it will reinforce business needs and allow you to eliminate any item that does not add value. Establish a firm deadline for the completion of the project, making sure that key members of your marketing team are available to contact your web development agency whenever feedback is required during project milestones.

2. You have little or no understanding of how websites are built

In most cases, a web agency will be involved in the creation of the website. They are there to ensure that the user experience is fantastic, the designs are beautiful and that all the features of the front and back of the website work perfectly. When these qualities are not understood, they can lead to a poor final product.

You must consider a full-service web development company focused on the results for the delivery of Project Started. This guarantees that you have professional assistance for the design and development of your new website. Your agency should also be able to guide you in terms of when more consideration is required for design, functionality and budget.

3. There is no clear Scope of Work (SOW) in place

Avoiding having a formal contract or a confirmed agreement in place may seem like a great victory in the sense of having as many design revisions as you deem appropriate and an infinite extension of the functionality of the website. In reality, this is disastrous, since each side can have a different view of how the result should be, which means that disappointment is inevitable.

Any worthwhile agency will make a clear proposal and agreement. This will allow specifying the new website specifications, allow a fixed amount of creativity and reviews during the process, detail all the key time frames, have a clear cost summary and implement practices for any project scope (eg, Any new external requirement). Of the agreement that will be charged at a rate per hour). This gives both parties the knowledge of who is delivering what and the total confidence before the start of the project.

4. You have not reviewed the information on your current website before starting the new one

Many users are not familiar with the process of reviewing the analysis and performance of their website. Leaving your previous site before reviewing this type of data could cause similar problems for your new website.

Assign a web development company that can guide you on how to use tools like Google Analytics. By looking at this data, you can find details such as:

·         How many visitors come to your website every day / month?

·         Bounce rates (how many users leave the website after seeing only one page)

·         Details of how long users stay on the site

·         Main pages visited by users

·         Information of new and repeated visitors.

Reviewing the performance of your existing website will let you know what problems need to be addressed to maximize the success of your new website.

5. You have not thought who will participate in the web design process.

However, having only one person from your company involved in the website design process can lead to a disappointing end, as with the old saying that "too many cooks can spoil the broth" having too many people can also be harmful . Getting the right balance from the people involved in the design and development of decision making is crucial.

While it is important that your business be satisfied with the design of the new website, you should remember that the most important aspect of the website is that it meets the needs of your target audience and encourages them to do business with you. A trusted web development agency will guide you in the right direction and guide you if you believe that the requested design revisions are moving away from the desires and needs of your ideal clients.

6. You are not planning to use a CMS

Trust your web agency to carry out each of the additions to your website, such as adding content, new pages, new products or services, etc. it means that the updates cannot be published instantly and will also be very expensive.

A CMS (Content Management System) allows you to log in to the back-end or the administration side of your website to perform this type of content and page updates and, in most cases, can be used by someone without any programming knowledge.

Your web development company should recommend a CMS in the early stages of the discussions, before the start of the project that suits the needs of your business and allows your team to make the necessary changes / updates on the website daily without have to pay for each small update. .

7. You have little or no focus on SEO

SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of organically obtaining your website on page 1 of search engines like Google for specific keywords searched in your business sector.

Make sure to regularly update your new website with new content, publish frequent blogs and be active on social networks (with links to your website). These are just some simple things that your company can do to help with SEO.

A professional web agency will ensure that your website is designed and developed in a SEO-friendly manner and will transfer any current Google Ranking from your old site to your new site using practices such as 301 redirects. They will also offer optional digital marketing plans to target page one of Google and other major search engines for the main keywords of your business.

8. It does not have a measurable lead generation strategy.

Unfortunately for many websites, the focus is on designing and developing a great looking site and then expecting potential customers to hurry up.

Nowadays, a common practice is to create a website that acts as an incoming marketing tool for your business. Each page must be designed for a particular purpose with a clear CTA (Call to Action), for example. "Request a budget", "Buy now" or "Get a free proposal", etc., that guides users through a shopping trip. All pages of the website must be focused to work in a set focused on the conversion, to attract new sales / qualified leads. This process must be fully measurable and scalable, which means that it can be adjusted to improve the return on investment.

To ensure that your new website is nothing less than an incoming marketing power, carefully follow the above 8 points and you will be well on the way to a highly successful online presence.