10 Signs You Need a Website Makeover!

The following is the transcript of an initial conversation with a prospective client over email.

Client X (in email): XYZ referred me to you. We saw your work for Rouxbe and were impressed. We need a serious web2.0 redesign.

Me(in email): I would really appreciate it if you could complete our project initiation survey (it is only a few questions). This will help us to be better prepared for our meeting on Thursday.

Client X (in Survey): We want a best of breed, slick website that is just like myspace, linkedin, facebook, flickr and digg. Our site needs features from all of the above but be different.

Me (reading Survey): …Scratching head…

The above scenario is familiar to most designers. Everyone wants to be part of the big bandwagon called Web 2.0. Most have no idea what Web 2.0 is or it’s value. What they do know is that their current site doesn’t work and they want something better. I attended the DocTrain conference in Vancouver and the folks from Adaptive Path shared similar stories. In fact, they go one step further, and now use Web 2.0 as a shield to break through traditional bureaucracy. Tell people that what you are proposing is very web 2.0, and the cool, vague term opens doors for new ways of doing things.

This article is broken into several parts because this is a loaded topic, with lots of unknowns to unpack. This month, we look at how to know if it’s time to freshen up your website and redesign it. We will then make sense of the process of redesign and then apply Web 2.0 innovation , where appropriate, to bring the website in line with where we want it to be.

So…

Your company already has a website. And without knowing who you are, what your company does, and why you have come to DesignStamp to help you redesign your site, let me tell you what is probably wrong with your site right now:

1. Old, and Not In a Good Way:You had it designed about 5 years ago, and while it looked good then, it’s starting to feel tired today. It’s failing to display correctly on modern browsers, and the look and feel of the site is very 1990’s. Like a pair of jeans, it hugged your butt for a while, but now it’s starting to sag.
2. The Site Map ala the Winchester House .Time has taken it’s toll on planning as well, and every reactive addition to the website has resulted in several hundred orphaned pages. If you can’t draw a mental site map of your site’s structure, chances are your user most certainly cannot, so they may never find what they came looking for. You’ve inadvertently built stairs that lead to the ceiling!
3. Your Copy Lies About You. The market has done a 360°. Your customer has changed and so has your competition. You are no longer selling the same vision, and in some really bad cases, not even the same product(s). Your website is, essentially, lying about what you do and why you do it.
4. No Funnel, No Conversions, No Happy. Most websites that were designed in the 90’s and early 00’s lacked one small detail on their home page: stating the reason to exist or what the french call raison d’etre.Which means that while attention was paid to adding cool animations, we lacked the wisdom(that comes from failure), to make sure that people quickly understood what the website (and company) does, and then lead the user to the crux of the matter in the most targeted manner. See the home-page of Rouxbe.com: nothing stands in the way from telling people about the site and getting them signed up and all set to watch food videos. Now look at http://www.sap8.com/. Enough said.
5. Your Brand’s Clothes Don’t Match. Make sure the logo and colors of your website match with your biz card, your delivery van and the trade show collateral you just got designed. Your corporate identity are the clothes that your brand wears, and they need to match! A consistent, well-matched corporate identity builds trust and trust leads to the magic money-in-the-bank word… credibility!
6. You’re doing all the talkin’! In this brave new world, companies now have to have the courage to have a two-way conversation with their customer. So if your website features a lowly contact form as the only way for your customer to speak with you and create dialog, then perhaps, it’s time to consider creating a community around your website, and more importantly, around your brand.
7. Accessibility is a Dirty Word. Chances are that when your website was designed, the possibility of someone coming to your site unable to use a mouse was an edge-case not worth considering. There are several compelling business reasons to ensure that your website is accessible. One compelling way to think about accessibility and having xhtml standard compliant sites today is that they have a better chance of working on handheld devices and nifty little cell phones and Wii consoles. You never know where your customer thinks about you and wants access to your site.
8. Your Sales Staff Shudder, Your Tech Staff Dream Bad Dreams.Old websites usually have un-fresh first point of contact information and offer poor after-sales support. After all if the content is difficult to update then who will ever want to update it? And if the content is difficult to upkeep, your tech staff (or the guy who knows a lot about computers) is stressed out by just having to do simple text replaces in this very cumbersome website.
9. Your Competition Looks Better. While a me-too approach is never the best one, we do need to keep up with the Jones’ in this case. If your competition provides helpful features such as side-by-side comparisons, external online resources etc, they are stealing your online business from right under your nose. Your customer is turning to them as a trusted source for what they are looking for.
10. You Know It. Most organizations know that their website needs a refresh. While some may disagree about the extent of that refresh (a makeover, or a new beginning), most will acknowledge that the website has stopped meeting the organization’s needs. This checklist may just help you advocate internally for that change, and the need to hire professionals to do the job right!

Related footnote. I made a presentation entitled web design makeover in conjunction with VFS and Vancouver Public Library. Check out the PDF