I get contacted all the time by small to mid-sized companies who tell me they need a new website. So I ask what seems like an easy question…..why? I ask what is the impetus for the redesign? What are you trying to accomplish? What isn’t working? More often than not, I get no answers. Instead I hear how old the site, how the design is completely wrong, and how the new boss doesn’t like it.
Design is not just pretty pictures and navigation buttons. Design, in many cases, is your first opportunity to engage someone with your brand. It is your chance to connect with your audience and communicate with them without speaking. Quite simply, it often is the difference between marginal campaign success and through and through winners. Does the design evoke the right feeling? Does it engage and draw in, but not distract? Does it move people to do what you want them to do? These are the questions that matter, because I guarantee any CEO would trade a design he loves, for one that converts at double the rate, in a heart beat!
To get to the bottom of what is right and what is wrong with a website you need analytics. Don’t get scared. We’re not talking rocket science, I need a PhD in math analytics. We’re also not talking break the bank analytics. What you need is something as simple as Google Analytics, which is free by the way, setup by someone who knows how to analyze the data and deliver recommendations for improvements. Once you know how people move around the site, where they back out, where they get hung-up and what paths tend to produce the highest conversion rates, then you can determine what you need to do to improve the design of your site.