The 6 Components of a Winning Web Redesign

What you need to know to get the most value for your design dollars.

John Whalen, PhDDirector, User Experience and Design, e.magination

You’re not alone: typical redesign requests:

“We just need a quick site refresh.”

“Our customers think our site is stale and out of date.”

“Our design is so antiquated that people don’t trust our site.”

“We have tons of great information, but nobody can find it.”

“We need to increase traffic and conversions.”

“We’re not interacting with customers.”

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

A story about strategy

“Once upon a time there was a little site with some links…”

A story about strategy

“…it grew and grew and grew”

A story about strategy

“…it grew and grew and grew”

A story about strategy

“…it grew and grew and grew, until one day…”

A story about strategy

“…it was a big mess!”

A story about strategy

“…finally they strategized…”

A story about strategy

“…and Yahoo and Comscore lived happily ever after.”

Strategy

• Which do you want as your site?

Strategy: Critical

• Prioritize– Business Needs– Audiences– Audience Tasks

• Ensure team “gets” user-centered design

• Build consensus on goals of site

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

• Nice white space, but where are the things I need?

• Clear steps to get help

• Find help and location

• Fast facts• Connect

with people in video

Compelling Content

• Does your site satisfy the needs of your target audience?

• Are the answers I want obvious?

• Does the site persuade me to act?

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

• Didn’t track their web hits, search clicks, etc.

• Not clear how to define success or progress.

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

• How can you ensure your strategy was a success?

• What are the key indicators?– Visitors– Sales Inquiries– Social Networking– Reduced Phone Support

• Make sure this is covered in the strategy session!

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

Visual Redesign

• Build trust in your site.• Build your brand.• Make sure the design

effort is consistent with your target audience.

Visual Redesign

Visual Redesign

Visual Redesign

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

SEO Tuning can make a dramatic difference

Google Top 300

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BeforeAfter

SEO Tuning can make a dramatic difference

Google Top 300

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BeforeAfter

• Simple IA• Targeted landing pages• Used social networking

– LinkedIn– Facebook– Youtube– Flickr– Twitter– Blog

• Regular content updates• Low cost, quickly done.

Before:

• Do you have books on ADHD?

After:

• Brought forward content• Visual cues to different types of navigation• Improved SEO for targeted words

The 6 components of a winning web redesign:

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

Before

• No interactivity

After:

Interactive:• YouTube• Google

Maps• Yahoo

Groups• All no/low

cost• Improve

SEO

Consider

When you hear…

“We just need a quick site refresh.”

“Our design is so antiquated that people don’t trust our site.”

“We have tons of great information, but nobody can find it.”

…think about…

Clear Strategy

Compelling Content

Analytics / Web Metrics Plan

Visual Redesign

SEO Tuning / Simplify IA

Social Media Integration

Postscript: Interesting sites we mentioned

archive.org Compete.com

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