So, you’ve decided to redesign your website.  Maybe the look is outdated and stale, or perhaps some of the links aren’t working.  Maybe your business has changed, with new products and services—and possibly you just want to make a change because you’re tired of looking at the same old design, and you figure some of your customers feel the same way.

The Downside of Website Redesign

Redesigning your website might (“might” is the operative word) help you achieve your principal marketing goals, and that’s good.  Unfortunately, it also means your website will be in limbo for a protracted period, on average about 3 months.  Why so long? 

So Many Decisions, So Many Stakeholders

Well, a website redesign typically means substantial time for both planning and execution.  That probably includes a comprehensive content audit, consumer surveys and focus groups, site navigation analyses, and usability tests, among other actions you’ll need to take.  It also means, potentially, some rigorous infighting—fights with your CFO over cost, fights between your marketing and sales teams, and fights with other key stakeholders over who gets how big a footprint on your new site.

Even more important, a website redesign means putting key aspects of your marketing strategy on hold.  As Tom DiScipio, CSO and co-owner of Impact notes:

 

“Marketing—the reason why the site exists—is forced to shift focus away from normal activities to deal with these all-absorbing design issues in return for an educated guess, at best, as to how the redesign efforts will improve business outcomes after the site is launched.”

There Is a Better Way

So, what’s a business to do?  There are often good reasons to revamp your site, but you don’t want that site (and your business) to be down for an extended period of time.  Fortunately, there is an alternative approach—it’s called growth-driven design.

What are the different benefits of Growth-Driven Design?

Growth-driven design (GDD) is an innovative approach that effectively integrates design and marketing priorities.  It’s a more systematic approach that reduces the time to launch your redesigned site by focusing on those redesign elements which are most likely to positively impact your business.

Another benefit of Growth-Driven Design is that it also minimizes the risks and costs associated with site redesign with “continuous learning and improvement.”  That means your site redesign will be an iterative process, one which occurs through a series of sequential steps rather than all at once. Each of those steps represents an opportunity to learn and make process improvements.  Said differently, using GDD, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions about site changes based on actual performance rather than speculation or guessing.

By the Numbers

That sounds like a better way to redesign your site, but are there numbers to back up that claim?  According to Impact, one recent study (from Hubspot’s Luke Summerfield) says unequivocally, “yes.”  That study looked at traditional vs. growth-driven design, finding that, in addition to your site being back up and running more quickly, some of the other Growth-Driven Design benefits are:

1 – Cost

The average cost for traditional site redesign is as much as $150,000; the cost for GDD is as little as $2,000 a month.

2 – Strategy

The traditional redesign takes its cues from speculation and hypothesis; GDD, on the other hand, grounds strategy in demonstrated results.

3 – Process

With a traditional design, businesses on average need to redesign their sites every 2 years; with GDD, the model is one of continuous improvement

Conclusion

You wouldn’t buy a new car without first checking its features and doing some cost comparison.  You wouldn’t buy a new house without first anticipating what could go wrong, and how much those potential problems could cost you.  In the same way, you shouldn’t redesign your website based on guessing, or whims, or speculation.

Growth-driven design will increase the odds that your new site will provide the features your customers want, help you achieve your key marketing goals and obviate the need for substantial downtime.

One other thing:  you shouldn’t make any consequential decision about your business without getting some good advice from people who have the experience to get results.  To learn more about the ways our SEO, social media, web design, web audit and PPC services can help you boost sales and grow your business, contact us today.

Share This