If you find yourself needing to redo a site, you’ll be looking at a great undertaking. Many decisions to make. A thousand options that are difficult to disentangle.
What is a website these days? A showcase? A space to communicate with the public? A store? You can certainly make it all these things, but the quality of the result also depends on not falling into certain tentations, dictated by trends, lack of expertise or lack of planning.
Your business website is like your résumé. It must be sincere, consistent, stand out strengths, not be wordy, but at the same time give all relevant information in a clear and easily accessible way. In short, your site should reflect your company’s image, values and strengths.
I’m sure you’ve already completed some of the steps. You will have drafted one or more documents with:
- the basic data of the web redesign project
- an overview of your business and your current online presence
- commercial objectives and KPIs to be considered
- the audience and target market (buyer person and/or market study)
Maybe you went above and beyond by also preparing all the technical information to pass on to whoever will create the site:
- what features are expected
- a study of keywords
- the ideal site map
- examples of i call to action (in Italian only)
- etc.
But these are just the first steps. There are some vices you must not indulge in, or else you will fall into the hell... of failed web projects!
Pride
The first capital vice you need to suppress is that of pride.
It’s normal for you to have a strong opinion about what you want for your business site. Likewise, it’s easy to overlook some important aspects that escape those who don’t design sites by trade.
When relying on a professional, you should maintain a humble attitude and appreciation towards the person who is helping you with the project.
It’s not worth saying “I pay, thus I demand”. Arrogance and airs of superiority ill-match team projects. The development or the redesign of a website are complex projects, involving various professionals and touching different aspects:
- site architecture
- graphic design
- photography and illustration
- technical design
- content writing
- marketing strategy integration
- UX design
- etc.
just to name a few. Even where a small firm or a team of freelancers is involved, these people bring together skills beyond those of the client, so they should be treated with due respect.
I take it for granted that you relied on a professional team and didn't succumb to the second sin?
Greed
Don’t let greed limit you. Small companies and especially micro-businesses, for lack of human and economic resources, often choose the path of do it yourself.
In recent years, numerous platforms with drag-and-drop interfaces have sprung up, where you simply drag and drop elements (text boxes, images, columns, etc.) onto a blank canvas to build a website.
Some of these platforms work in their own right, such as Squarespace (which we’ve talked about in the past), Wix, Weebly, etc.
Others rely on existing CMS, such as WordPress or Joomla.
As convenient and affordable as these systems are, especially the latter, those that rely on existing CMS, have the unintended effect of adding a layer of complexity to the base system.
For example: the well-known Elementor framework, used in many WordPress themes, stands between the theme and the WordPress functions. As a user, you’ll have to not only master the interface of WordPress and understand any additional options introduced by the theme, but also learn how to use Elementor.
And when something doesn't work, I challenge you to trace it back to the cause, as the error can occur in any of these three levels, WordPress, the framework or the theme.
The flourishing of these subscription-based site development platforms makes web design seem like an affordable business. Unfortunately, it is just an illusion.
If you chose to do it yourself, you risk wasting time and getting results that don’t meet your expectations. Offering a different image on the site than the real thing is counterproductive.
But greed is not just economic greed. It also often results in eternal unsatisfaction. Never be happy with what you have. This attitude is also risky, especially if you pass it on to the rest of the team. Frustration and conflict can ensue. Be pleased with what you were able to achieve.
Lust
Lust is indeed the uncontrollable desire for sexual pleasure as an end in itself, but in a broader sense it also represents the excessive attachment to earthly goods and the reluctance to separate from them.
In the case of the restyling of a site this vice is expressed by the inability to control their emotions, often linked to the feeling of extreme attachment to the past.
If you’ve made the decision to revamp your site, I take it for granted that you had good reason. There is little point, therefore, in clinging to certain decisions taken previously, or entrenching oneself in immovable positions regarding the design of the new site.
Is the web designer telling you that a certain colour has gone out of style and ages your site? As hard as it may be, give it a listen. He knows more than you do. And that’s why you put him in charge.
Envy
I’m sure you too have felt envy towards others’ sites, especially towards competitors. The advice is to turn unhealthy envy, the kind that makes us become green, into healthy envy. Analyse competitors’ sites to gain insights you can apply to your own.
Surf competitors’ sites. Look at what others are doing. For example, choose 5 companies similar to yours:
- The industry leader
- One in your area
- One a little bigger than yours
- One a little smaller than yours
- One from a different industry, but with a similar business model to yours
It’s an exercise that, as painful as it is (“Look at those beautiful pictures! Ours don’t hold a candle to that...”), it will broaden your view of the market and help you understand how to structure your pages.
Without this analysis, you risk getting stuck in a biased market view.
Most importantly, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself what information they would be looking for, if it’s easy to find, and if the site conveys the desired message to them.
Spending a few minutes analysing other people’s sites to find out what mistakes to avoid is very useful. Doing it on your own site is much more difficult and we tend to be more forgiving. But with competitive sites, we can go wild. Are the photos of good quality? Are these stock photos bought by the pound? Are the colours, text, and information clear and readable?
However, envy, no matter how healthy, can lead to gluttony.
Gluttony
Gluttony, or gluttonousness, occurs when we lose our sense of proportion, when we become insatiable.
In a web redesign project, it’s easy to get carried away with the excitement of renewal and plan huge changes: “Let’s add five languages to the site! Let’s throw in the chatbot too! And the blog with a new article a day!”
This over-hope can also influence the choice of technology. The release of a new system for creating sites (I’m thinking of Squarespace or Webflow, just to name a couple) and the glittering examples shown in the galleries can lead us to make structural changes when, in fact, they are not necessary.
Technology is constantly evolving, new versions of the various CMS are released periodically. Just think, when you choose one, you’ll be bound by the frequency of updates for years to come.
And I say this from experience.
One of the reasons why we renewed our site was the fact that the graphic theme we chose was not compatible with the new versions of CMS. The previous version of qabiria.com was developed in Joomla, with a custom graphic theme. The developer of the theme for a while released updates for new versions of Joomla, but at some point abandoned the project, forcing us to actually renew the site.
WordPress is not so different, quite the contrary. Its development is unstoppable and you have to deal with updates not only of the basic package, but also of all plugins, widgets, templates, etc.
The release of a new plugin might make you fall into the temptation of adapting your site around that particular plugin. But what if the plugin development then doesn't keep up with the rest?
The most popular technology is always gluttonous. The “social proof” also intervenes in this regard: if everyone is using it, there must be a reason. But the spread of a system doesn't necessarily mean that that system is the best, and more importantly, that it’s the best for you.
WordPress or other CMS offer undeniable advantages if your site is frequently updated and if you need functions that only a certain add-on can give you. But there are alternatives for small to medium-sized sites that require less maintenance, such as a CMS flat-file or a headless one.
Don’t get suckered into the latest technology just for the sake of it. Explore the options with serenity and with the help of an expert, just like you do at the restaurant when you get the right bottle recommended by your friend who knows about wines.
Wrath
Once you’ve started the redesign project, as explained in the section on pride, be careful not to get caught up in wrath in case of hiccups.
Many variables come into play in a web development project. Things can go wrong. There can be misunderstandings at many stages. Like when your vision as a client is finally translated into a mock-up by the graphic designer: the result may be different from what you had in mind.
Keep calm.
Stiffen up with your suppliers won't make them work better or faster, quite the opposite. If you think you can’t hold back your temper, delegate communications to someone on your team who is more level-headed.
But be careful not to commit the opposite sin: inaction is just as harmful.
Sloth
We all suffer from a bit of sloth, it’s undeniable. Especially when the things you need to do are complicated, heavy, or seem unnecessary. In those cases, it happens that we indulge in abulia and relegate these activities to the bottom of the to-do list.
In the case of a web redesign project this can be insidious. In fact, there are some activities that should not be overlooked, but often take a back seat:
- provide developers with the materials they need (text, images, business data, etc.)
- maintain an open communication channel with developers
- documenting site-related functions and operations that are not intuitive and straightforward
- schedule system updates
- perform the appropriate usability tests
- test the site on different devices (smartphones, both iPhone and Android, tablets, desktops at different resolutions, etc.)
Of these, site testing is undoubtedly one of the most important.
Usability is the area in which many websites would fail. Again, the advice is to rely on those who do this for a living, but - as the experts say - with only 5 users you can detect the majority of problems. In short, there are no excuses that hold.
Ask a certain number of people to browse the site, to try out the links, the buttons, all the forms they have to fill out, to see if the behaviour is as expected.
To sum up: the gates of hell of a bad site are closer than you expect. Resist temptation and don’t commit the 7 deadly sins. This is the only way you will reach the heaven of a successful makeover!
If you need help redesign your multilingual site, contact us for a non-binding quote: we will be happy to analyse the project with you.
