Top 10 website redesign check list

You’ve added a blog & maybe some social feeds. You’ve ensured the search engines can easily find your site, however there will inevitably come a time when you will need a redesign.

There is little doubt that the redesign cycle is shortening, so when that time comes around don’t just focus on how it will look.

This is a great opportunity to place your website at the very centre of your business, right next to your customers. An opportunity to design how will it support your marketing activities such as email, social media, lead generation, brand awareness & sales conversion?

A quick search for website development check list or similar will return plenty of tactical advice e.g. this great list has over 400 specific items! 

Our list is a more manageable 10 points & has been designed specifically by inbound marketing specialists, Hubspot so your new site integrates with other key marketing functions;

1. Audit

Create a record of what your site currently delivers e.g. number of visits/visitors/unique visitors, bounce rate, time on site, current SEO rankings for important keywords, number of new leads/form submissions, total amount of sales generate.

2. Set Goals based on the Audit

‘Our site is looking a bit old’ or ‘it’s been a while since the last design’ or ‘such & such has a new site so we need one now’ are less valid reasons. Yes there is merit in how your site looks & answers your customers needs but if you are going to invest both time & money in a new site, make sure you have specific & measurable targets for 6 months, 12 months & 24 months.

3. Don’t throw away the good stuff!

Your existing site will have some content & links that perform well, so make sure your review the whole site inventory & brief the design team thoroughly on those you wish to keep.

4. Know the competition

A day or two researching your key competitors & noting likes & dislikes will identify where you can improve & offer your customers a better service.

5. State your Unique Value Proposition

This is vital. Immediately answer in plain, simple language if what you do is right for your site visitors, and why they should buy/convert/stay on your website. See my previous post on  What is it you actually do?

6. Know your visitors & build your site around them

Segment the your key targets in personas & understand all you can about each e.g.

• demographics including job title, role, company information & industry
• needs such as what information they are searching for or what trends are influencing their business decisions
• online behaviour e.g. are they active on Twitter, Facebook, or other social networks? what search terms do they use? what kind of online information do they tend to consume? which of your products or services do they spend the most time researching?

7. SEO

Ask the experts as this is tricky, time consuming & requires constant attention. Start by taking our quick 7 point SEO health check developed in partnership with the springboard to see where your SEO can be improved.

8. Calls to action

Once you have a visitor, your site must prompt practical further engagement . Think about;

eBooks, whitepapers, contests, promotions, product purchases, email newsletter subscription, free trial, contact us,  consultations & demonstrations.

9. Create a content strategy

There is no getting away from the fact that in general more relevant content generates more visitors. Build a plan to continue adding content to your site. Some suggestions to follow in a future post.

10. Consider the extras

Blog, Landing Pages, RSS subscription, shareability & analytics are all well worth including within your redesign brief.

So next time you are considering a website redesign, prepare a list similar to the above (& check off the 400+ tactical list!) or ask us, we would love to help.

2012 Marketing plan – 10 top tactics to consider

With so many choices it’s hard to know what blend of today’s diversified marketing channels will drive your business. Keeping a constant eye on tracking & testing out new routes & propositions are obviously vital but where to start?

Here are 10 marketing tactics that consistently appear in the plans of the fastest growing companies. 

1.    Associate with someone famous

A new business that no one really trusts will find it hard to get free publicity so borrow some by association. Don’t overdo it but done well it can significantly boost your traffic.

Notice I said traffic – bring your marketing back to your site & its measurement tools. Analyse & refine & yes justify your investment recommendations with the data.

2.    Timed discounting

It seems everything is on offer all the time but instead of continued lower prices try a limited time offer such as a 12 hours sale. Many businesses are finding these ‘call to action’ offers are generating some of their best results.

3.    Don’t  under fund AdWords

There are far too many ‘most successful marketing’ quotes out there from all types of businesses to ignore Google AdWords.

To paraphrase Mr T in the Snicker’s ad ‘Quit your jibber jabber & get some AdWords’

4.    Optimise your site for search engines

You need to be online with rich, regular content and a site that is coded to attract the top search engines – Google, Yahoo & Bing.

A small investment in a well proven external SEO expert will return that investment many times over.

5.    Position yourself as an expert

You know your business & you have views on your industry. It’s becoming more and more important in a highly competitive environment to be seen as a thought leader in your industry.

Blog posts, webinars or speaking events, your company needs to be seen as the ultimate authority. From this will come not only possible partnerships (see 1 above) but also referrals.

6.    Get the word out through social media

Simply put you should be using social media to market yourself even if it’s just promoting specific deals and offers online or running interactive competitions

Facebook and Twitter are now some of the fastest ways to get the word out about your business. They are also a readymade consumer panel to test out new concepts & designs.

7.    Don’t forget display advertising

Physical in store and/or online display advertising can go a long way, especially when used effectively with strong propositions & prominent (& consistent) branding – don’t discount the power of advertising.

8.    Good relationships = word-of-mouth

Go out of your way to offer outstanding service then go out of your way to give customers an easy way to share your services with others in their area.

See 7 above – good proposition, branding & simple sharing.

9.    Target prospective employees

Companies often scrimp on recruitment campaigns. Engage with recruitment fairs & career talks. Treat recruitment ads with the same rigour as any other marketing tactic & over time the right people will seek you out rather than you having to spend time hunting for them.

10.  Trade shows are worth it

With careful analysis of the available shows & good planning around the event, stand, visitors & exhibitors you can end up getting some great business from them.

It’s also an opportunity to refine your offering, gain feedback, competitive knowledge & stake your claim to being a serious player in your field.

I hope you find some or possibly all of the above on your 2012 Marketing plan. If not why not get in touch & see how we can help you create an effective Marketing plan for your business this year.