So, your current website is a bit tired? You know it could really use an update on design and definitely some refreshed content. All things being honest, your business needs a new website.
Now what?
- Do you do it your self?
- Hire a freelancer?
- Find an agency?
Before you go running off researching website builders, getting referrals for freelancers or researching agencies we recommend you start with this simple checklist. Not only will it make you well prepared to start your business website redesign, but it will also help you save time and energy throughout the process.
Determine your business’s website needs and website goals
This may seem like a no brainer or trivial task but it has great value to your business. Knowing what you want to achieve with your website redesign and what your new website must do to reach those goals is a very important step. Seriously, create a list or document even if it is just scrolled out on a bar napkin. This will help you in the long run.
Examples of website goals:
- Enhance your professional appearance
- Educate customers about your business and services
- Generate leads for your sales team
- Grow your staff with online applications
- Expand your influence to new markets or customer types.
Clearly defining your goals helps you understand what the website needs to do! Examples of features your website needs in order to achieve your goals may be:
- Collect webform submissions to your business email
- Integrating a scheduling tool like Calendly, Doodle or 10to8.
- Connecting your email marketing and CRM systems to the website like MailChimp, Constant Contact, Pipedrive, HubSpot and Active Campaign.
- Collect online payments like subscriptions or donations or even a full e-commerce shopping cart.
Once you have your goals and functionality requirements you can also prepare your softer requirements. These are things like design aesthetic, search engine optimized content and navigation.
Doing this early groundwork will make you much more prepared to start the work of redesigning your business website. Especially as you consider who will help you in the process.
Get your budget and timeline requirements together
Thinking about your budget and timeline is important especially if you will be using a vendor to help you. Here is where a healthy dose of reality can help you stay on course with your business website redesign. Often times speed and cost are intrinsically linked so it is best to work on them in tandem.
Creating a timeline.
Timeline relates to when you expect to have your new website live. Giving yourself more time will help you have better control over cost and also allow time for custom design and development to be done correctly. A good timeline is anywhere from 90 to 120 days to expect a website to be live. Shorter timelines can put a strain on the process and may require higher expenses.
This is where having detailed information on your functionality requirements is very helpful too. A simple content website with almost no functionality may be easier to launch in faster timelines while a complex website with many integrations and functionality requirements can take many months to finish.
Another thing to consider as you plan out your timeline is the amount of time it may take you to shop around for vendors. If you want a website live by a certain date on the calendar be sure to build time into the timeline to find the right vendor.
Building a budget.
Going out into the website design industry without a budget in mind can lead you to make poor decisions about who to work with. Knowing the general range on what you can afford to pay will help you avoid feeling pressure to buy more than your comfortable with and also help you properly vet the vendors you do talk to.
It is also important to realize that web design and web development are two very different things with very different costs. Though these terms are often used interchangeably they are in fact very different. Many designers will use third party widgets and plugins to add functionality to a website thereby avoiding the actual cost of development but these third-party tools can have serious costs down the line where maintenance and security are concerned.
This leads us to the idea of the total cost of ownership for a business website. In addition to the costs of the initial redesign and development, there will also be the cost associated with hosting, maintenance, security and updating the website.
Bringing a longer-term mindset to how you budget for your website will help you ask the right questions and ensure you're prepared to work with the right website service provider.
Finding the right partner
Now that you have your website requirements and goals written down and you’ve figured out a timeline and budget you are ready to find the right partner for your business website redesign. Aside from using DIY website builders, there are traditionally only two options. Working with a freelancer or hiring an agency.
Finding and managing a freelancer
Working with a freelancer can be a great way to handle a website redesign project. They are often able to provide reasonable pricing and good quality workmanship. Depending on the complexities and timeline requirements you will have to think on how to manage and communicate with a freelancer especially if they are remote. It is also important to remember that designers aren’t necessarily great developers and vice versa.
Often times freelancers will rely heavily on DIY template tools and third-party plugins to meet the functionality and timeline requirements and still retain good profit margin on their hourly rates. This can be a great thing if they are experienced in managing a website over time. It is important to talk with freelancers about how they intend to support the website after the initial project.
Ask yourself if you have the time and technical understanding to be able to manage a freelancer or a team of freelancers. If the answer is yes they may a perfect fit for your business.
Working with an agency
Hiring an agency is another great way to get high service and a lot of other assets for your redesign project. Agencies handle managing the team of designers, copywriters, developers and branding specialists a good redesign project will require. They can also handle additional services to help the new website be a successful element in your sales and marketing strategy.
Be sure to talk to the agency and find out how they source their workforce whether they use internal staff, subcontractors or freelancers. As many of these agencies carry overhead be prepared to pay a premium for their services and expect longer timelines as they have more layers to their processes and staffing, but you can also expect a high level of communication and service as you go through the redesign process. Also as many agencies use more robust tools and methodologies they can generally be relied on the continue to update and maintain the website over time.
Webriq Studio
Webriq started our company because we noticed a big gap between freelancers and agencies. Many businesses struggle to manage freelancers but lack the budgetary resources to work with an agency. If you find yourself in this camp you may find our collaborative approach to redesigning business websites right up your alley.
And now, we have made things even better and more convenient for you.
We now offer the Webriq Studio.
It is a custom landing page and microsite builder for all kinds of businesses and website owners. Discover more about it here.
To summarize, it is a new evolution of a landing page builder. It is far beyond the old-school tools used to build websites. It is super easy to use. Simply drag and drop the components you like to create your own bespoke website. Modify each component on the fly without headaches.
Then, you can enjoy:
- Blazing speed - pages created through the W-Studio will load super fast
- Comprehensive components - not only are website components available, but you can also easily make contact forms, payment gateways, and other intuitive and versatile Headless Commerce features as well.
- Future-proof websites - your whole website will be built on a forward-thinking and revolutionary tech stack.
So ditch the stressful website-making experience. Get rid of clunky templates and the old way to build websites as well. Try out the Studio today!