Starting a web project can feel overwhelming. After all, this could be the first interaction someone has with your brand. Do you find yourself asking questions like:
If this sounds like you, don’t worry. You’ve landed in the right place. Infinity’s experienced web team has built an easy-to-use blueprint to help you create an effective, engaging website for your company without all the headaches. Let’s get started!
First thing’s first. You always want to look at data. Does your company already have a website? Does it have analytics associated with it? Google Analytics is a great tool to help you understand what users are doing on your site and the most popular journeys they’re taking before dropping off. This can tell you the what.
But what about the why? Whether you have a site up and running or if this is your first website, see if you can find the time and/or budget to study your target audience. This can be done through field studies, user interviews, or competitive analysis. By observing your target audience and the competition, you should be able to collect insight on what’s most important to them.
The last part of discovery is taking the data you’ve gathered to your team. Present your objective findings, and then ask them to independently write down what success looks like for the website. Have them answer questions like:
By doing this independently first, you’re allowing the team to think without influence from others. It also allows you to see what’s frequently being requested. Once the team has had time to discuss and decide on a direction, it’s time for exploration.
Exploration happens in three phases:
Wireframes give you a rough sense of how the website will look and function without being super time-consuming. Mockups should come after wireframing and should include the final website copy and images. These are high-fidelity and should give a clear picture of the website’s aesthetics and functionality.
Unlike a printed piece, your website is going to be viewed in a multitude of ways. It’s important that you have control over this and not the other way around. Before the website goes live, you’ll want to take three basic steps:
If conversions are the main goal of your website, make sure to run some A/B tests once your website is live to see what users are more likely to click on. Some thought starters would be to test button colors, button styles, button locations, and CTA language. Whatever you choose, just be sure to change one variable at a time. If you change multiple elements at once, it’ll be difficult to tell which variable led to better results.
Whew! You got all the approvals you needed, the website is launched, and you can finally mark this off your to-do list. While you should pat yourself on the back for a job well done, it’s important to realize your website is a living, breathing thing. Check in on your Google Analytics and see if you can spot positive or negative trends. Ask for feedback from your users using a third-party vendor. You can even send out an email to your existing customers asking for their thoughts. The users will ultimately decide how successful your website is, and it’s their opinion alone that will lead to your company’s success.
And that’s it! By following these four simple steps, you can launch your next website with confidence. After all, you’ve done all the research, you’ve asked all the right questions, and you’re committed to making those ongoing optimizations that will set your site apart from the competition. Just remember: The customer (or user in this case) is always right. Be sure to keep your customers’ needs and wants in mind when making any revisions to your website.