One of the smartest ways to refresh your brand is to revamp your company website. Here at BCG, we recently gave our website an overhaul to ensure it reflected who our brand currently is. In light of the last year, one thing might be true for many organizations – who your brand is today may not be who it was a year ago. Another reason to evaluate your website is to keep up with growth, growth in size or maybe your organization has simply evolved past who it once was.
The first question you need to ask before making any big decisions or changes is, “Is it time for a new website?” This might seem pretty self-explanatory but is necessary when it comes to moving forward. If your website is working for you then there might be no need to spend the time to rebuild your site. If you can’t confidently answer that first question one way or another, here are some next questions to ask…
1. Is it mobile-friendly?
In the world of smartphones, it’s crucial that your site is easy to use on mobile device and shrinks down to fit a smaller screen.
2. What are your goals and are they being met through your site?
Is it making your business better? Are sales being met? Are applications able to be integrated easily?
3. How does it look?
Do some research and look at competitor sites. Is your site outdated? Are the features meeting your customers’ expectations? Don’t be afraid to ask your users what they think! This is free feedback and can help you ensure that those already interacting with your site are happy with the experience.
I’m Ready for a Revamp, Now What?
So, you’ve decided that you’re ready to make some changes? That’s half the battle. Now it’s time to plan and execute with the 6 phases of website design and development:
Step 1: Information Gathering
What is the overall purpose of your site? What goals do you want your website to help you and your visitors accomplish? Who’s your target audience? What content will you want to be sharing?
Step 2: Planning
Decide what absolutely needs to be different from your current site or should remain the same? Do certain technologies need to be implemented? This includes your budget & timeline for completion. Try to be realistic with your timeline and budget – rushing this process is never a good idea in the long-run and if you feel you might need some outside help to ensure it’s done properly, weigh that possibility early on.
Step 3: Look at Design
If the design of your site is outdated, focus on color scheme and then decide what aesthetic changes need changing. What look and feel are you going for? This will help to create a website prototype.
Step 4: Development
With a solid plan in place, development can start. For this stage you can either hire an expert to build out your site or, if your company has the capabilities, you can build it on your own. A good starting point is the home page, followed by creating a “shell” for the interior pages that each content page can be built from.
Step 5: Testing & Delivery
Once the site is created, test it out for functionality and compatibility to make sure that it will be viewed properly between multiple web browsers. It’s important that you catch any issues or glitches before making the site live for use.
Step 6: Maintenance
Once your site is up and running, make sure you frequently check for any necessary updates and maintenance. This ensures that the website continues to run smoothly.
Website development can be overwhelming, but the BCG team is here to help from start to finish, helping you through each part of the process. And we’re here for the beyond stuff too. Training for you and your team? Ongoing support? Add-on features you weren’t prepared to incorporate? We can be part of your team if, how and when you need us. Let’s Talk!
