Thinking of having your website redesigned? There always comes a time when your website needs to be given a face-lift either to enhance it’s UX or core features. There are a number of steps that our design team follows to make sure that customer needs are met and that the project is completed in a timely manner. Another important thing we do is make sure that the client is well educated on this process at every single step of the redesign process. In this article, we breakdown the steps we take in redesigning a website.
Phase One: Discovery
In this process, the first thing we do is spend some time learning what your business or brand is all about. This is usually done by us asking you to fill in a questionnaire and in some cases sending one of our support staff to ask you a few questions about your business.
The second thing we do in the Discovery phase is to take a look at your competitor’s websites. This helps us to understand who you are competing with by getting to know what they are offering and how they are presenting it on their websites.
The third and final thing we do in this phase is to ask you to give us a list of five (5) websites you like. This helps us learn about your aesthetic expectations. We’ll also take a look at websites you like, so we can learn about your aesthetic. After we have this compilation of websites, we will ask you about what features you like on these websites and if possible, which features and layouts you would like us to use on your website.
Phase Two: Design
Our design phase involves the creation of a mock-up website. A link to a mock-up website is emailed to the client. This mock-up website is designed using the information that is obtained from the discovery page. The mock-up website will pretty much be how your website will look like in the end as this is the structure and layout it will have. Of course, a few things are added and removed along the way as consultations in which the client is made on how the layout should be like.
After most of the layout and structure on the mock-up website has been completed to your satisfaction, we will ask that you take some time and really review it in detail with all your decision-makers and evaluate what you like and what you don’t like. This is a very important step as it helps us to get feedback about what you think of the overall project and also what additions or subtractions need to be made.
Phase 3: Development
Once you have approved the design of the mock-up website, we switch to the development aspect of the redesign process. What happens in this phase is that we begin to build the website using the content (images & text) you provide.
When the mock-up website is completed, you will be able to test it on your computer, your tablet, and your phone to make sure it looks and works how you expected.
Phase 4: Testing
This phase will allow you to test the website while it is still in the development phase to make sure it looks and acts as you expected. This is a time that you and your team should use to browse the website on every device and make sure it looks great. You can also take this time to read through all the text content and make sure the grimmer, spelling and all is correct. Test all the buttons, call-to-action links and check that all the online forms are working.
Take note of everything you feel is not right and we will correct it. Please note that is not the time to come up with new design ideas! That should have been done during phase 2. Once you finish reviewing the site, you’ll send us an email highlighting any changes you think need to be made on the mock-up website before we migrate it to your URL. If there are any change requests made, we will ask you to go through the site one more time prior to launch to make sure it’s perfect. We aren’t perfect, so it’s always good to have a few sets of eyes making sure nothing was missed.
Phase 5: Migration & Launch!
This is when we migrate all the contents from the mock-up website to your active URL. We will ask for your FTP credentials so that we can upload and migrate the mock-up website to your hosting environment. Once the migration is successful, we will notify you of this and launch the website so that it is accessible by everyone.
Phase 6: Training and Support
After the migration and launch of the website comes the aspect of end-user training. This can be done remotely via a scheduled Zoom meeting or in-person by one of our support staff. This is also a time we get to talk about on-going website support and maintenance. Gone are the days of “set it and forget it.” Your website will need constant care and maintenance services as there are plugins and themes to constantly update and backups to run to make sure that your website is functioning at it’s best. We offer a variety of Website Support Plans to help you as much or as little as you need.
What about SEO?
If you’ve also hired us for our SEO Services, then we will have been working on that during this whole process. SEO has its own set of phases from discovery to on-page optimization and monitoring.
One thing you get from Exponent Technologies when it comes to website design is a personal touch. We are going to be with you throughout the process. We’ll answer your emails, we’ll get to know you, and you’ll feel comfortable working with us. We want our clients to feel like they know us as well. Although most of our communication will be mostly via email, we want you to know that we’re here for you when you need us, we don’t think your questions are stupid, and we want you to succeed.
Need a new website design? We can help! Contact Us today!