Tips to Ace a Web Design Project as a Marketing Director

So you just got your first job as the Marketing Director and you are pumped.  The CEO hands your first task: create a brand new website.  You know that this can be a daunting task; updating the design, finding a vendor, updating content, figuring out what direction the website will take, and figuring out the best time to launch the company’s new website.

We are going to put together a short list of 5 things that you will need to do in order to make this project successful.

Get the “Buy In”

Many times in the business world you will be handed a project that doesn’t require a lot of input from your executive management team, but in the case of the website that is not one of those times.  It would be wise to make sure that you are keeping the key decision makers up to date on the progress of the website.  You don’t need to go into the nitty-gritty but make sure that they have the “who, what, when and why’s” covered.  This would be particularly useful if you are planning a major re-design of the website.

Alternatively, if you are the owner running this lead on the website re-design you don’t need to worry about this…just kidding.  You will still need to get the buy-in from your employees much like the marketing director reporting up, you will do the same reporting down.  But you will be giving everyone the highlights of what the new website will be. Take their input into consideration, and also listen to the web design company you are working with – as you chose to work with them for their expertise.

Content: Divide and concur…and recycle?

Developing content can be a huge burden for one person to take on alone. But just like you have been taught, many hands make light work.  Figure out who in the company can help you generate and refresh content on the site.  You will find that some of your subject matter/product experts are great writers.  Even if the content provided can’t really be published…at least you have a good start.   Also, you may have some old content that can be recycled.  Look to see if you have old blog articles, white paper, news that can be re-purposed.  You could use that content to help write a possible compare and contrast article, an entertaining article, or even lead to developing a new article on the site.

Set those deadlines…and stick to them.

Deadlines can be a tricky thing.  A website re-design is one of two thousand things on your plate at that moment, and time can slip away very easy.  And unfortunately some businesses that have an old website don’t have a sense of urgency to launch a new site.  But that notion can totally de-rail the website design process.  Make sure you set goals and a realistic time frame. It can help to decide on your launch date first and plan an outlined schedule in reverse to see if you can reach the milestones leading up to it in a timely fashion. Make sure that your website design team knows your timelines too.  This can help you target in on that goal and avoid any potential headaches.

You need input…but not that much input

Most people have heard the expression, “too many cooks in the kitchen.”  As I said in the previous few points, you need some level of collaboration to get the project completed but you don’t want to get buried in the weeds.  If you have the luxury, limit the input to a team of people that you know will help you with this project. Nonprofit web design Try to eliminate any “nay-sayers” or on-lookers and making sure everyone on the team has a task all the way through the project. Input is helpful to reaching the best final product, but make sure it’s clear who is the final decision maker and trust his/her decisions.

What should the new website do?

Gone are the days of a website acting as a giant phone book ad.  With the ever-increasing amount of products falling into the “Internet of Things” users are expecting your website to do more things as well.  That could be something as simple as providing updates on your industry or product, or something as dynamic as full on eCommerce platform for users to buy your products and services.  Whatever the case may be, most users will look for the website to function in a way that provides them information about you or a service they need – which will then turn them into your new or returning customer.