why your website will fail
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Why most website re-designs fail. http://www.flamedesign.caTRANSCRIPT
Why your new website will probably fail
Dekker Fraser | www.flamedesign.ca
No clearly defined measures ofsuccessBefore re-designing your website, you need to have clearly defined measures of success. How will you determine whether the new site is a success or failure? What is the real reason you’re bothering to re-design your website? Many companies – large and small – spend thousands of dollars over many months only to realize their new site underperforms their old one. Good measures of website success include: - Increased customer phone calls, as measured by CallRail reporting - Increased quote requests, as measured by Google Analytics - Increased ease-of-updating, as measured by employee reports - Increased speed, as measured by speed optimization software - Reduced downtime, as measured by uptime guarantees - Increased sales, as measured by LemonStand - Increased sales leads, as measured by MailChimp, SalesForce, Google Analytics, and Unbounce If you don’t know what defines a successful website, then you should reconsider getting your website re-designed.
Entire budget spent on the website itself, instead of on the advertising and online marketing that actually generate a return on investmentLaunching a website is no guarantee of success whatsoever. Just because your website’s been re-designed doesn’t mean thousands of potential customers will magically flood your site looking for your services. Your website needs to fit into your marketing plan. From a digital marketing perspective, Google advertising, blogging, and search engine optimization are the real drivers of growth. You need a plan for promoting your site and boosting sales. You should probably spend more on promoting your site than you do on the website itself.
Too much time spent perfecting the design and not enough time spent on what customers actually care aboutThe typical website user is looking for content. Content is usually information, images, or videos. Often overzealous creative directors will clutter this content with unnecessary graphics. Despite phenomenal advances in technology, users continue to complain about website speed and sophisticated designs can be cumbersome. Allocate more of your resources towards quality content and scrap the unnecessary graphics. Invest in a solid brand design and your website will look professional without too much clutter.
Neglecting to hire a professional copywriterPeople visit websites because they’re looking for content. You need to budget for professional copywriting. The copywriting, arguably, is more important than the web design itself. Web design is incredibly important to building the right brand impression. But content is the primary driver of a website and is the voice that convinces people to buy from you. Our internal tests have shown that simple black-and-white designs with text can outperform great designs.
Relying on meaningless stock photography instead of getting actual photos/videos of your products and staff Studies show that users can quickly identify stock photography, especially photos that include people’s faces. Invest in professional or semi-professional photography. More than anything, customers want to see what they’re actually buying. As David Ogilvy says, you need to show what you’re selling. If you’re in the service business, include photos of your staff and your office. Include a Business Photos tour of your office.
Doing search engine optimization after the site’s already been builtSearch engine optimization is not something you “add” to a website after it’s been built. You need to build your site architecture, from the beginning, with search engine rankings in mind.
Hiring the wrong company firstIf you hire a company that has little experience in marketing, your site is doomed to fail. You’ll end up having to pay a marketing agency to fix the mess afterwards.
Not getting approval from the CEO early on in the planning stageYour CEO may delegate the web design process to you. It is more important for the CEO to be involved in the beginning of the web design process than towards the end. The beginning is when the objectives and high-level strategy are established. Do not involve the CEO at the end when the decisions are mostly superficial.
Not clearly placing your website within the marketing plan You need to define where your website fits in the overall marketing strategy. Your website is a needless expense if you have no vision for how it’ll become a profitable investment.
