Redesign Starting Points for the Not-So Insane

The website stakeholders for your organization constantly mention that "the site doesn't seem fresh anymore."  "It's outdated." "It's boring." "It needs oomph!" So, you sit in a meeting one morning to discuss an upcoming campaign when someone says, "We need a....

This is gonna hurt....

.. a redesign. yeah. Freshen things up a bit." Ouch! That hurts!

Now you can jump out the window, go crazy and have them haul you away, or you can get to work. But you aren't suicidal or crazy. You just need to get through the redesign, a project that can seem monumental, cloudy, vague, pressing, and arduous. You know this is a big task; your website is your store front window to the world. People will judge your organization on your homepage alone (and most likely leave from your homepage in large numbers; check your logs). The new site needs to be organized, cool, serious, smart, helpful, urgent, and has to impress one of a dozen audiences and groups that have an interest in your organization.

There are a million project management ideas on gathering resources, creating benchmarks, testing, launching, etc. But, here are five good ways to get started and avoid insanity:

Interview all the players:  Get right to work scheduling interviews with all the major players in your organization. There's lot of politics involved in a website redesign and hurt feelings can create impasses. Get their buy-in early. Take them to lunch or get coffee and ask them what they would like to see on the site. Write everything down. Do this with every major player in your organization. It will make the redesign much more palpable for everyone. 

Preparation is everything: If you aren't prepared down to the tiniest column on the most insignificant page, you or someone won't be happy with the results. Document every piece of content, site behavior, and functionality. Steal from the best! Demand perfection! Just make sure it's documented. It's called requirement building. It can be a long and arduous process, but it will help think clearly about what you need to put on your website.

Spend the money, get a good designer: OK, unless you have a top-flight designer in-house, you can't do it. Don't think you can just because you or your assistant has a cool MySpace page or blog. Think big-time. Don't break the bank, but realize that good designers know they are good and will demand a price. You can haggle a bit, that's fine. Maybe you can reach out to a major donor to help sponsor the project. But, make sure your CFO knows this is an investment. Money in will be money back down the road. Get to work on that RFP now!

The donate button: A key reason for having your website. Make sure you brand your site with consistent donation language. That donate button should be in the same place on every single page, branded consistently with the same look and language. Get it in your specs now and let your designer know you are serious about it. Don't mess with the money button.

Build a marketing plan: Don't let all this upcoming work go to waste. Work with your marketing, development, and communication resources to build awareness about your newly redesigned website. Promote it in offline member communication pieces, distribute a press release, buy some Google AdWords, anything to create a buzz. And do it before you start the redesign. This will give the machinations time to get going and think of some creative ways to promote the website and it provides you with (cue dramatic music)... a deadline! Yes, you need one.

Now that you know these things, you can start cranking out those great ideas. But get these five things under your belt so you know where you are going.

Here are some other helpful resources:

• MarketingSherpa's Interview: Website Redesign From Hell - Lessons Learned, ROI Tips & Practical Advice (login required)
• Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog: Back to basics: 4 web site tweaks (great info for donate buttons, thanks to Olga for the forward)
• 10 Tips to a Successful Website Redesign from University Business
• Designing Inward Out - A great blog that details how one nonprofit redesigned their website. Great stuff.

Need input or more help? Have a question? Contact me. I promise you'll get through it. 

Comments

[celeste w, studio 501c blog]

Thanks for linking to my blog. I plan to use this particular article for a project we're doing at work.