Why most website redevelopments fail to move the needle

Every year, businesses dedicate significant budget to redeveloping their websites with the expectation that a better design will deliver better results – from improved sentiment and engagement to leads or sales. 

Yet in the months following the launch, many organisations find themselves asking why nothing has changed. 

The reality is that website ROI is driven by three factors: traffic, content and conversion. If your redevelopment doesn't improve one or more of these areas, it is unlikely to deliver meaningful business results. 

Too many website projects start with design concepts before determining how a businesses’ potential customer searches for products and services online. The result is a beautifully designed website that isn’t structured around search demand and struggles to attract the right traffic.  

The most common reason for this is a lack of strategy. A new design will rarely fix a growth problem. A website without search visibility is just a static digital brochure. If your audience doesn’t resonate with the content you create and the journey within your site isn’t clear, users are never going to perform the actions that help you meet your objectives, such as contact you, make a purchase or recommend your business to others.  

So, where should you start with your next website redevelopment? 

The first step is building your strategy around your business and website goals, as well as your audience. Knowing what content your audience is looking for in your industry or community, understanding what information they need to make decisions, and identifying the criteria they use when making a choice are all fundamental.  

Once you have this understanding, you can consider it against your business goals to draft your content plan. This includes building your sitemap, page titles and content themes around your customers’ needs, with a focus on best practice for SEO page structure.  

Next comes content creation: copywriting, designing infographics, creating downloadable resources and producing videos. All of these should align with your customers’ needs to help inform their decision-making and encourage them to choose your business. Sub heading structures within pages also need to be carefully considered (and often are ignored in design-led projects) to optimise your site for search engine indexing.  

Only when all this has been carefully considered, is it time to enter the design phase.  

Website design is crucial to your website performance, but not if it hasn’t been informed by the strategic work in each of the above steps. Pages may be visually appealing but fail to contain the content your target audience needs or lack a clear direction that helps the user move easily from one page to the next, building their knowledge and perception of your brand.   

The most successful website projects don’t start with colours, graphics and page layouts. They start with understanding the audience, defining business objectives, and then creating a content and search strategy that supports both.  
 

Belinda Hamlyn

Hughes | Senior Social and Digital Consultant