It's easy to start once you have decided to redesign your website. Ideas are thrown out, the creative juices are flowing and we want to see the new design sketches at right away. Is that how you feel? Glad you are so psyched about redesigning your site. But take your foot off the gas and put a destination in the GPS first, otherwise we don't know where we are going.
Start with a goal
It's great to have a “full-speed ahead” attitude - but that's not the only thing that will take you all the way to the moon, as we say here at iGoMoon. Instead, we need to start with the goal in mind, to develop the blueprints for your rocket.
Make it SMART
Without SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound), you will not manage to connect a clear business purpose to your website. If you don't know what you want your site to do for you, what is the point of investing money, time and energy to redesign it?
An example: Let's say you are a service that aims to make your new website designed to support your sales organization with several new leads. Then we adjust the content, form, calls-to-action and landing pages for that purpose. Another example might be that you're a software company that wants to increase the conversion of inquiries for a demonstration of your software. Then the lead flow is adjusted for that purpose. By looking at these examples, it's clear that the site's purpose is the right place to start, not design, look or feel.
What's the purpose of your website?
What business challenges can your website help you solve? Is it new leads, customers, support or recruiting? Various parts of this site may of course have different purposes. Be inspired by other websites. But remember, to not just look at what the competition is doing. If you want to experience a website with a clear purpose you can check out dropbox.com. It's very clear what they want visitors to do on their homepage. Many companies put all the focus on the site's design, but completely misses how the page should resolve a business challenge. What is the purpose of your website?
Checklist for Goals
- Set clear goals for the site and ensure that each goals fills the SMART criteria.
- Write down these goals.
- Clarify how the website is designed to support your business.
- Determine which KPI (Key Performance Indicator) numbers you should measure the site's success on.
What's your thoughts on this topic?
Please feel free to download the guide below to learn more.