Website Redesign – Don’t Do These Things

This week we’re not adding things to your to do list, but offering up a few items to remove: Three Things NOT to do when redesigning or reworking your website:

1) Don’t let the technology lead. We’ve written before about the difference between tools and strategies: the fact that your tech team can build it doesn’t mean you should use it. Make sure the strategy is leading the technology decisions, not the other way around. Figure out what you want to do, then work with your tech team to identify the best tools to help you do it.

2) Don’t make content commitments you haven’t already staffed for. Yes, that new “today’s news” blog feature on your home page might be cool, but unless you’ve already worked out what you’re going to put in that spot every day, and who’s going to put it there, don’t make that content commitment. Going a bit further, don’t make content commitments that you haven’t linked to your strategy. Even if you’ve already identified the perfect person to be responsible for updating “today’s news” every day on the website, don’t put him or her on that task until you’ve clearly defined what it’s for, why you want it there, what part of your audience will look at it, and how you’ll make sure they’re looking.

3) Don’t forget your primary mission. Shabbir Safdar asks “what would you clear your homepage for?” to focus his clients on their mission when they’re considering what do to with their websites. It’s a great place to start: if your website could only do one thing, what would it be? What would be the single call to action you’d keep, if you had to get rid of everything but one?

And that’s our Three Things for this week. What do you think – any other pitfalls you’ve successfully avoided in your website redesigns? Let us know in the comments…

And, as always, if you’ve got Three Things you’ve been dying to tell the world, shoot us an email – we’d love to share your ideas in this space!

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