Things to Consider Before Redesigning or Redeveloping a Website

Its 2014 and you have made a few resolutions. You need your website to perform so that you reap the rewards. This article will be more useful to companies who have a web based business or a portal.

Does this sound familiar:
1. We have a website and have spent a lot of money but it’s too clunky.
2. It served us well when we had a tight budget and needed to have a website but its not performing.
3. The development company that built the website for us told us they could do all these wonderful things but left the site incomplete.
4. Our competitors have mastered the web business even though we can out beat them with our marketing and reputation.
5. When ever we ask the developers to add new features or functionality they turn around and claim it cannot be achieved or that was not the scope of the project.

The list can go on and on but if the above are statements that you have said or heard and you need to break free then read this article and let me know if it was useful.

When a business on the web is built. It is built to serve a target audience. It is built to serve a need in the marketplace. If the website was formed out of an idea and you were not sure if the idea would be worthwhile then the reason you are reading this is because your website and idea were worth the effort. You built the website for your visitors and not for yourself.

The decision to do something with your website or web portal needs to be after a full in depth analysis from someone other than yourself. The reason for this is because it allows you to get an unbiased opinion. The first steps before approaching someone to analyze your website is to list the objectives of this exercise. To help you with this process I have tried to list the questions I would ask myself

1. What’s the purpose of this website?
2. Is this website an information site or a transactional site?
3. The visitors who would like visiting this website would be IT savvy or not?
4. Has the website in its current state received a lot of visitors?
5. Have I received feedback from my clients or visitors about the site?
6. Have I analyzed the behavior pattern of my web visitors?
7. Am I IT savvy?
8. What websites do I find usefull and user-friendly?
9. Are any of these websites close to being my competitors?
10. What features and aspects of my competitor’s site do I like?
11. What I want the website to achieve?
12. How much am I willing to spend?
13. Do I have time deadlines and if not make it a point to have a time deadline.

Deciding if the site needs to be redeveloped or tweaked

After having listed the answers to the above questions you should either request or appoint an expert to give you an unbiased opinion of your website or decide that you do not need to do much about your website. If you do go ahead to get an in-depth report check to see if their report points out any of the following:

1. The site has usability problems
2. Information or content on your site is hard to find
3. Actions that need to be performed on your site are not performed by visitors as they do not understand these actions or find it too difficult.
4. The design is too cluttered
5. Users are not following a certain navigation path that you wish them to take
6. Pages take too long to load
7. Search engine optimization has not been catered for
8. Navigation flow on the site is not planned out well. This is crucial not only for a human to navigate through your site but also from a search engine point of view.

It is important to realize that your present website may not need a complete rework if the business goals are to simply make the site design to look good. If however you want all aspects of your website to function and in it’s current state they do not function then you probably have answered your own question. Yes its time to have a budget and plan in place to move forward.

Once you have got your report you need to take time out to analyze the situation before making the final decision

Goals from a Visitor point of View:

You goal should be to have your visitors
1. Find what they want easily
2. Get what they want easily
3. Easily perform the appropriate actions that you want the visitors to perform.

To accomplish this, the website needs to have:
1. An excellent navigation system.
2. The website should be user friendly. For example, does the website have a natural flow while placing an order or does it make it difficult for a visitor to handle this process.
3. The most important actions should be accessible within one or two clicks.


Goals from a Search engine point of View: Please note the below points are a rough guidelines as this topic is vast.

Flash : If your website presently uses a lot of flash consider the following before making a decision to redesign or redevelop. Most search engines cannot read text inside a flash animation. If core elements of your site such as your navigation menus are in flash you need to rethink about this. Consider a site whose navigation menus are all in flash. A search engine would not effectively index the pages on the site as it cannot read the flash links to each page. That is unless you also provide a duplicate navigation system without flash.

Incorrect or poorly structured HTML: If you are not very IT savvy and do not understand HTML. It is wise to have the HTML code reviewed roughly to check if there is any incorrect HTML code or overlaps as this has a negative affect on your search engine ranking. This can also confuse search engines.

Java Script: Again while most search engine can read java script, they cannot cause the javascript functions to activate. This can have a negative impact if your site navigation system is javascript based with no alternative. It is safer to have text links then have buttons which depend on Java script as otherwise your navigation links may be hidden to a search engine.

There are many other important factors such as: The use of frames or IFrames; Cross browser compatibility, Huge blocks of encrypted viewstate text at the beginning of each page; etc…

Making a decision to have the complete website redone is a tough decision as you need to have the right developers who understand your needs and not theirs. I have noticed many companies after realizing that the first development cycle was not the best they go about redeveloping the website by what I consider patch work.

Patch work can be affordable if the site does not have major errors or shortcomings, but if it does it is advisable to have the application redone or implemented using other off the shelf packages. The rationale to this is that you have a website already which needs to be improved so a development company or a developer can have a better understanding of what you require and the dos and don’t for your business. It is important to remember that especially in the case of website re-development it is the quality of the work that matters and not the size of the development team. A development company with a good project manager and true geeks in the development team is one that will get you places.

I hope the information here was useful is some way. If you make up your mind to do something about your website spend your budget wisely by first listing the objectives the site needs to perform for the next 2 years and what functionality is the bare necessity and what functionality is a nice to have. Speak to your existing clients and do not waste too much time in planning that the cost of planning exceeds the actual cost of implementation.

Redesign Your Web Site But First ...

It’s a familiar story. Your Web site was designed around the time when an upstart named Google was just getting their foot in the door of the Search Engine market. At the time, it was a great Web site. It might have even had some cool new features like some JavaScript rollovers or maybe even some Flash.

Unfortunately, times change. Those image rollovers that you used to think were innovative are now horribly outdated and your competition seems to have redesigned their Web site about every 6 months since yours went live several years ago. It’s time to redesign.

It sounds like such a great project that it couldn’t possibly go wrong, but trust me—the best of intentions can sometimes lead to costly business mistakes. The entire redesign process would take several of these articles to properly explain, but I’d like to talk about my 4 basic rules to remember BEFORE you start the process of a Web site redesign:

1. Determine EXACTLY what you want from your new Web site and be realistic.
A Web site redesign project can be as big or small as you want it to be. Some times the written content might be fine and a freshening of the interface is all that’s in order. Other times some Web applications might need to be developed to take online orders or allow members to log in.

No matter what you decide you need, remember that everything that you do needs to accomplish your businesses’ overall goals of increasing sales and retaining current customers. Anything outside of this might not be necessary.

Also, don’t be afraid to do things in phases. A lot of my Web design clients do things this way because it allows them to focus on immediate needs first. For instance, a client might have very poor Search Engine rankings because their old Web site was poorly developed and their tags are no good. But they also want user forums where their clients can discuss and ask questions. We might do 2 phases for a project like this. The first would get their Web site up to date with the latest Search Engine Optimization techniques, and once that is done and the Search Engines are re-indexing their pages, we will develop the other features that they want on their site, such as the member forums.

2. Choose a Designer wisely.
Choosing the right Web designer is obviously a huge part of your Web site redesign project. Even large corporations with a creative department will outsource this job to an outside firm a lot of the time. The right Web designer will display creativity, but will also be sensitive to the context in which their designs are going to be viewed.

For instance, for a high-priced law firm in Manhattan, a singing, dancing animated character, executed in Flash, would not be the right way to go. Make sure that the Web designer has made work that fits the client’s personality and vision, and not the other way around.

A lot of clients that come to my firm inquiring about a Web redesign want to see only work that is in THEIR industry. I think that finding a designer that ‘knows’ your industry is a valid one, though a GOOD designer will put the time and effort to learn an industry. To me, it’s more important that someone has the sensitivity and understanding to be able to work with ANY industry. Some times firms that specialize in only one industry begin to suffer from ‘tunnel vision’ or possibly even lose their creativity altogether because they are no longer challenged with learning new things.

Either way, taking an extensive look at a Web Designer’s portfolio will tell you a lot. And you might want to call a few references as well.

3. Don’t give in to fads and eye candy.
As a Web Designer, it is my job to keep up with the latest and greatest software, plugins, trends and design ideas. While some of these are great tools, with every project that I tackle, I need to ask myself: “Does this tool—as cool as it looks—accomplish what the client wants to accomplish?” A lot of times it does, some times it doesn’t. For instance, I am a proponent of Flash because of the amount of interactivity and interest that it can add to a static Web page. But it only works when it is used properly and when it fits with the rest of the Web site. There are some times when animation, sound or video will just NOT work.

4. Remember why you’re doing it in the first place.
You are redesigning your Web site because your company wants to increase sales and retain current customers. If every single feature of your new Web site does not contribute to that, you need to reconsider why you are doing it. It’s not enough to just have a facelift every once in a while. A good Web site redesign can be costly and unless it is directly contributing to the growth of your company, you could easily put your marketing budget to better use.

The best Web site redesigns are the ones that take a company’s ideas and vision and portray it in a way that is attractive, easy to use and memorable. The features you add to your Web site that truly benefit your potential clients and current customers are the ones that will pay off tenfold in the long run.

Best of luck in your Web site redesign process.

Launch your site, before it is finished

Launch your site, before it is finished. 

When you launch a site, you face three major problems: The search engines don't know you, the users don't know you and you might not have any meaningful amount of content. These problems can cost you time, before your site starts to pay off.
Three solutions to hit the ground running on launch day.

Waiting for the search engines
Telling “Google” your new web-address is only getting you a spot in its sandbox. The sandbox is like a queue. You line up until your have gotten to the front-gate. Only if you are passed it, will your site be spidered. Word on the web is that this takes 6 months - regardless of how fancy your submission technique is. There are of course other search-engines who process you faster. But can you afford not to be found in “Google”?

Once your domain is listed, they need to be found by their spiders and ultimately by the user. Although your DNS entry should cascade very fast around the globe, there are bottlenecks. It can happen that you wait for the update a couple of weeks - regardless of your TTL-definition. Nearly unbelievable, but it happens. You should get a very wide dissemination within a few days, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

Getting the users to the launch
Every web page is made for its visitors. If you don't get them, all your efforts and money spent have been in vain. Unless you have a substantial marketing-budget for your launch, it takes time for users to reach your site, to tell other people, to list it or to write about it in blogs. The shorter the time you need to reach that critical mass of users, the sooner your site pays off. Also you will quicker get to the point when it is really fun to look at your web-stats.

Welcome to our empty pages
Users will not repeatedly visit your site just because it is nicely designed and structured. You need enough content already on launch-day to have something interesting for most of your visitors. Any “coming soon” on a fully operational site is very likely to be a frustration to the user. A database of 2 articles does not inspire confidence. It is like peeking into an empty restaurant on a Saturday night - you might think twice about even looking at the menu.

Waiting for the search engines, having very few users visiting your site and not offering any content will unlikely result in a good start.

“Under Construction” revisited
What was considered very bad form some years ago, might just be one way of solving the problems. When development work begins, you need to set up a page or a mini-site. When search engines are visiting they have a place to go. At the same time it solves the DNS update delay you might encounter from some backbones.

Unlike the classic “shovel and hard-hat” logo, even this simple page or site needs an identity and content. It will be visited and looked at by your potential costumers. Have you noticed how real-world construction-sites start to be tidy and nicely wrapped up - sometimes even following corporate design guidelines. Many people are walking past construction-sites - and they just might link the image of the company to the piles of bricks carelessly lying about. Sometimes you even find a little description what the new store will look like, offer and when it will be opened - a smart move.

The visual design can be much reduced, but still should convey the appropriate message. Have your designer create a layout, using your corporate identity or claims. The visitor, even the search-engine, should know on an emotional as well as a factual level what will be up and coming.

The best thing would be to have some content available. Put up an article every week for example, a review, a recipe or whatever content is related to your site. This shows search-engines that something is happening; boosts your placement and the visitor sees some activity. And you will already have some content ready for the day your site goes really life.

Getting the users to the launch
There is no other way but to directly address them. Most effective is some meaningful content, not simply a note that your site will start in three weeks time.

The indirect approach might work best. If you receive an email by someone you know or someone who has a positive reputation, it is likely to be read. Find some opinion-leaders related to your products or services. Maybe you can get this person to write content and distribute it to the community while linking to your site? You could organize an event together or simply ask for input - they might just have this great idea that you can use to make your site known before it is even fully life. Blogs are often published by “opinion leader” and you can find them as strong voices in forums.

The goal is to increase you link-popularity, get email-addresses and get access to a network of people who can avalanche information from your site to their communities.

Having Content
It is not likely to have on launch-day the same amount of content like a site that is already up for five years. But usually you only have one chance to interest and satisfy a fist-time user. One key element here is having content available. Empty article-listing or three reviews are simply not enough to interest me to delve into the site. If you would launch a print-magazine, you would also have every page filled with the best content available - the same applies to the new site.

Another advantage is that search engines love content - especially if it changes. If you have a reasonable turnover, your chances for a good ranking are high.

If you can't create content in-house, articles and reviews are relatively easy to get. You can either peruse article directories or collaborate with blogs. The quality of the content reflects on your site. Editorial-work and selection is essential.

A word of caution; It is easy to republish what is already out on the web. But original content is still best. Since you cater to the interests of your prospective visitors, the article you re-use was likely to have appeared on a site similar in target to your own. Quality over quantity is still what counts.

Launching a site starts well before you put it online. A well prepared launch will let you hit the ground running and might save months in getting the visitors you need.

Think before you select the right logo design company?

All business establishments and companies should have a logo representing them. The right logo provides a graphic representation of your company’s identity to your clients. There are thousands of logos around us, it is up to you to create the right logo for your company.

New businesses have to go about creating a company logo for them as they are the ones competing with established companies. With a quality and right logo, it is possible to gain credibility and professionalism in your area of expertise right from the start of your business, when you need it the most! The need of a company logo for your business can be rightly seen by the fact that the right logo attracts customers away from their competitions.

It is always better to enlist the services of a company logo designer to create a logo for your company. This is because though you may be able to create your own logo design, the end product of the logo designer is bound to be better than your own logo design. There are some points that have to be kept in mind while creating your company logo design.

The main objective of the logo design is to attract attention and to leave a favorable impression on the prospective client. It is through this logo that the customer may get interested in meeting you. While creating the right logo for your company, you have to not only work with the company logo designer, but also do some research on logos. The best way of doing this is by collecting other logo designs and noting what exactly it likes and don’t like in them.

While creating the logo for your company, you have to keep it in mind that the logo will not only be appearing on stationery; it may also appear on uniforms, trucks and the yellow pages. So the right logo will be one that is flexible enough to be put in both large and small places. It is always better to design your company logo with only two or three colors at the most. This is because though a more colorful logo appears to be attractive, in reality, it costs more! not only that, if a colorful logo is printed on stationery, when any mail is Xeroxed or faxed, the receiver gets only a black and white logo. So what’s the point of adding so much color to the logo design?

Always create a logo for your company that is simple so that it easily remains in the minds of people. The right logo has the right font on it. Choose a font that is not only distinctive, but also easy to read. Sans serif fonts like Arial and Veranda are the best choices. So to get the right logo for your company, lots of planning, with the company logo designer is needed. So go ahead and create a stunning logo for your company with your company logo designer!