2011 May Be The Year Of The Website Redesign

By Author: Sue McCrossin
Total Articles: 739
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IT Budgets are expected to rise around 3 percent in 2011, according to Inc. Magazine.If your Philadelphia company has been holding off on a web design due to budget constraints in the last few years, your website is probably due for an overhaul. Technology hasn't stopped moving forward, and advancements in open source programs and mobile platforms may have your company website looking a little dated.

Define the Reason for the Redesign in Writing. On the other hand, you definitely don't want to begin a website redesign just to keep up with your competition! Therefore the number one goal before a web redesign is to create a list of quantifiable goals. During the process of creating this list, it is very important to research both the current traffic on your site and the target audiences needs. You can do this by reviewing website analytics data and looking for trends, and by surveying your own visitors and looking at your competitor's sites.

Interview loyal visitors on additional functionality
List competitor's functionality
List any user complaints or questions
...
... The idea is to come up with a concise list of new features that should be included in the website redesign.

Define the project. After you have your list created, the next step is to define the scope, budget, and resources necessary for the redesign project. From the list, you can create a scope document defining the project. You will probably already have a set budget for the project, and the juggling will be in making the scope fit within the budget. Personnel Planning:

Plan for one person to be the project manager and work with the web development team, and plan for several people to reread and edit the current content on the site and update it. This is the perfect time for a website content audit.
You may need to add more people to the project if the new functionality of the website is going to add or change personnel responsibilities. These people can work to create procedure documents.
If new videos, photos or audio are needed for the new website, these man-hours should also be noted.
Some personnel may also be needed to re-populate the web pages if it is a content management system. All these people should be identified and notified so that they can schedule time for the project.
Review the available technology that can be used for the redesign. After this review, factor in the cost of the technology, hosting, and development.

Solicit Ideas: The best way to achieve a successful redesign is to get feedback from your users, so that they feel like they were included in the redesign process. This way they can make their requests and ideas known, and you can get their buy-in, which is critical to the success of the web redesign.

Use Wireframes: In the case where the redesign is an overhaul of the website, it can be very beneficial to create a wireframe as well as PDF files of the design. Wireframes (a sketch of the website layout with notes about where links connect pages together and data that is shared between pages) help to organize the elements of the web pages and visualize how the pages will work together to perform their desired functions. Using wireframes in conjunction with PDF files containing graphic representations of the pages (and their different states when visitors mouse over or click) allow designer, programmer and client to assess the web pages and their flow before the actual coding begins. This helps to decrease revisions during the programming process.

During the website redesign process, it is important to make sure that the functionality desired in the future is also addressed.If the site is going to need major revisions a few months after it is launched due to something not addressed during the design, this can be very costly.It is better to try to prepare for all possible features and functions during the design process, whether or not they are actually coded. Planning for the future can save money and time later because the technology chosen will reflect the future growth.

Keep the website dynamic! After a site is redesigned, tested, and live, it is important to evaluate the traffic patterns to ensure that the pages are working as they were intended.Testing and refining pages is important, as is the addition of fresh new content.

Sue McCrossin is owner of Boomtown Internet Group, a company focused on internet marketing and web design Philadelphia.For more information on Philadelphia web design visit our website.