Whether you’re thinking about designing a new website for your business or redesigning a current site for better functionality, the task can start to feel overwhelming to even the most organized professionals. The problem is, many companies decide to go through with this undertaking without the required preparation and planning that’s so badly needed during this process. This results in wasted time, money, and a site that’s doomed from the start. So what is the proper website design process that ensures success and keeps you on schedule for your desired launch date? We’ve got a structured system here at H Grant Designs, so let’s dive right in!
Understanding and Setting Your Website Goals
If you’re ever going to reach your ultimate website goals, you’ll need to define them early on, and figure out just how your current website is matching up against your desired outcomes. This is why any good website design process starts with an in-depth analysis of your current website (if you have one), including its performance and its visitors’ behavior.
Equally important, is analyzing your company’s sales model as well as your projected goals, both for your website and your business as a whole. You may be tempted to really shoot for the stars here, but remember to keep your limitations in mind when approaching this subject. For example, you may have a goal of scaling your operations overseas, but if your company lacks the budget or manpower to execute these goals, you’re better off setting your aims to a more reachable target.
After you’ve gone in-depth about the goals and limitations of your current website as it relates to your business operations, it’s finally time to start the redesign process.
“Accomplishing your goals should mean real growth and success for both your website and your business. ”
Streamline Your Sitemap
Your website should be mapped out, or organized, in a way that makes it natural for viewers as well as search engine crawlers to navigate. If you’re working with a sitemap that’s confusing to you, the creator, imagine the difficulty your first-time visitor will have when trying to find information or a product they’re looking for.
Your site map should also be used to help guide desired user behavior and optimize for their user experience once they’ve landed on your site. This will help you naturally lower your bounce rate and increase your engagement rates. If your website is a town, think of this as mapping out the roads and pathways by which your visitors will arrive at your offer or CTA.
” When it comes to getting your website ranked, you need to take advantage of as many SEO hacks as possible. Creating a sitemap is one technique that will definitely help improve your SEO strategy. ”
Cultivating Inspired Design
With the groundwork laid out, it’s time to focus on the aesthetics and design for your website. This includes everything from your theme, to the color palette and all visual design aspects.
While there are many avenues for you to explore, you should stick to a design aesthetic that closely matches your brand voice and persona, and is naturally appealing to your target audience.
This process usually consists of a fair share of brainstorming as well as trial and error. But eventually, you will be left with a website designed to delight your audience and grow your bottom line as a company.
Honing Your Strategy
There’s no doubt that a strong visual design plays a large role in the success of your redesign, but to create a site that truly works on behalf of your business, you’ll need a fool-proof approach. You may have already performed analysis on your current site, but now it’s time to pin down every touchpoint throughout your sales funnel as well as all relevant keywords that are currently driving traffic, or could potentially drive traffic to your site. After this step, there should be no question regarding your business’s strategy or marketing approach.
The Website Build-Out Process
After all of the necessary research and planning, it’s finally time to start putting it all together. Here is how the build-out process generally works:
1. Design Sprint
All design elements of your site are created during this short period of intense activity. It’s especially important to maintain frequent and open communications between the client and the designers in order to ensure their satisfaction with the final design. At the end of this process, our clients are left with a detailed mock-up for individual pages or modular elements that will be used throughout the site.
2. Crafting Content
As you may have already heard, quality content is key to attracting the right audience and setting your company apart from the competition as a trusted authority in your field. To do this, we employ all of the keyword and user experience research to craft copy that engages, educates, and encourages your readers further down their path to conversion. Whether it’s your landing pages, meta descriptions, or blog posts, we ensure your content is high quality and naturally attractive to your prospective leads.
3. Implementation and Testing
Once we’ve created a sufficient amount of content to fill your website, it’s time to start the development phase of the process along with the necessary testing to assure the utmost quality. Our team of developers goes to work in compiling the website and testing each portion for any unforeseen issues. Our stringent testing process takes care of any technical glitches before they have a chance to arise. This further guarantees a smooth user experience and delighted customers.
4. Launch and Maintenance
When our team is satisfied with the quality assurance, your site is finally ready for its launch! This is without a doubt an exciting moment, but you should keep in mind that our work doesn’t stop here. For a truly successful website, you’ll still need to keep up with regular maintenance. Whether that involves security updates to your software or publishing plenty of fresh, relevant content, we consider the launch of your site as the beginning, not the end of our work. Our team of experts will be here to offer any guidance or maintenance necessary to keep your site and business running smoothly well into the future.
Partner With H Grant Design And We Will Making Launching Your New Website Easy!
Launching a new website or redesigning an existing one is a critical decision that can significantly help the success of your business operations. However, doing so without the necessary structured process can cost your company both time and money. Here at H Grant Designs, we pride ourselves on a tried and effective design process that transforms your site into the rightful hub for all your company operations. We start by acquiring in-depth knowledge about your business, clientele, and long-term goals, and develop an approach that works for on all of those levels. We don’t just build a website, but rather an optimized tool to help scale your business and grow your bottom line.