Thinking of buying a new car, its time to go and test drive. Considered moving house? You start to look at estate agent websites. These both seem logical moves when you're looking for something new and this would be the same for a new digital agency.
Well, we believe it's a little bit different with digital agencies.
By being responsive to a need you're being reactive with your business and not proactive. Being reactive doesn't always allow for the same level of planning and preparation. Being in some cases less effective.
So, looking for a new digital partner should start when you're not thinking about upgrading but lots prior, and here is some information on it.
Just another statistic
Currently most businesses look for a new digital agency when they are already unhappy with their current site. The first step in that new relationship is usually to throw all existing web property out of the window and start from scratch.
I dare say it’s obvious that even the worst websites out there can reveal interesting insights into the way users interact so long as they are analysed properly. With that in mind, it’s painfully obvious that whoever designs the new website should really get to grips with the existing website before pushing a single pixel. But alas, the website owner is already sick of the existing design, wants a new one ASAP and probably won’t be happy to be told to live with the current one for a second longer.
So what happens? The new agency designs and builds something that – despite rounds of strategic scoping, speculative wire-framing and emphasis on UI/UX standards – is essentially a ‘best practice’ website. The problem with best practices is that they amount to ‘one-size-fits-all’ thinking. They are defined by ever-evolving averages; and as a result tend to generate mediocre results.
But marketing is all about differentiating, so sitting on the fence won’t ‘wow’ anyone; website owner included.
Your current site, no matter how old and tired, is still a resource. It’s a learning tool. Don’t throw it out before your new agency gets chance to glean some insights from it.
Creating issues by fixing issues
So the first sin is usually the creation of a mediocre website because you’ve thrown out the old site too soon. The second sin is is then trying to improve that mediocre site.
Don’t get me wrong, we absolutely believe that it’s best to make constant improvements to websites – UX, SEO, brand, etc. “Never stand still” is a mantra we repeat to customers every day.
However, you need a half decent starting point, otherwise as the website is pulled and pushed from pillar to post the original design concept and user experience becomes too diluted. That includes all of that hard work on best practice mediocrity done right at the start; it includes the subtlety of the online branding. Ultimately, you end up with a Frankenstein’s website that could have been coded, designed and marketed much more effectively had the strategy been right in the first place.
A year or two later, the website isn’t performing as well as the owner now sees it could have, love has therefore been lost in the relationship and the time comes for yet another redesign with a yet another digital agency.
Conclusion
The most common process driving website redesigns is currently as follows:
- Wait until desperation sinks in.
- Frantically chase unreliable quotes from agencies that have not had enough time to truly understand your unique requirements and goals.
- Get rid of all statistical data that could help direct the creation of something unique and tailored.
- Create a mediocre website that adheres to best practices rather than offering optimised UX.
- Chop, change and distort that website.
- Get sick of it and start the whole process again.
The more efficient way to go about it would be:
- Find a new digital agency when your website is performing fairly well or when you have exhausted the creative thinking of your incumbent agency.
- Give your new agency access to all of the tools at your disposal to help them understand how your current website is being used.
- Also help them to understand where you want to take your business/brand over the next 5 to 10 years.
- Co-create a brief and conduct a GAP analysis, combining your vision and hands-on experience with their technical knowledge and affinity for practical solutions.
- Begin to redesign and redevelop the site when the historic data is understood and the long-terms goals are defined.
- Hey Presto! Your new website hasn’t even gone live yet, but you’re already immersed in the most intimately involved digital agency relationship you’ve ever had. As a result, things will be much less likely to go awry post-launch.
- Make small improvements on an ongoing basis to gain more traffic and keep the site optimised for users, so you have even better data to base decisions on next time you decide to replatform, redesign or rebuild.
The best defence is a good offence!
Success in the digital world depends entirely upon foundations and your online brand simply cannot grow without a sustainable approach. The aim is to build on what you have before you get sick of it and feel the need to start from scratch.