Why a Website Redesign Isn’t Enough
I’ve worked at several digital agencies throughout my career so I’ve seen my fair share of requests for proposals (RFPs). I’m always fascinated when reading RFPs by what is propelling organizations to reach out to an agency and what they are asking for.
As marketing technology has evolved and customer expectations continue to rise, it’s no surprise that website redesigns stand front and center at the requests that agencies get.
While websites are obviously a critical component of the customer journey – serving as the main touchpoint to gather information about a brand, organization, product or service – I am constantly surprised by what people think a website redesign can do and the problems it can solve.
Sure, redesigning a website can give an organization an updated look and feel, it can represent a brand more accurately, it can better guide users to information they need to learn about a brand or build confidence in buying a product or establishing a business relationship.
A website redesign alone cannot generate awareness. Just because it’s redesigned doesn’t mean more people will naturally find it. You have to have a holistic strategy that engages people offsite and generates awareness that brings people to your website.
A website redesign alone doesn’t mean a huge increase in conversions out of the gate. You need to pull baseline metrics of performance for a newly designed site and identify areas where conversion rate optimization strategies can be effective.
And sure, re-platforming or redesigning a website can alleviate challenges with website content management, but a website redesign alone cannot solve foundational content challenges your teams and organizations faces.
So I am here to say that as you are thinking about how to revamp your digital presence, drive conversions and/or eliminate content management challenges, a website redesign is not enough.
We are in a time of ongoing digital evolution – not one-time digital transformation, and a website redesign is not synonymous with digital evolution. Leading organizations understand that the true catalyst for sustained digital success lies beyond a surface-level facelift. Rather than focusing solely on the visual allure and functionality of a website, forward-thinking organizations recognize the paramount importance of establishing a strong, fully integrated martech ecosystem, ensuring access to clean and actionable data and strategic content organization to support impactful omnichannel interactions.
In my opinion, one of the keys to unlocking digital potential involves an upstream investment in a content marketing platform (CMP), operating outside the confines of traditional Content Management Systems (CMS). This paradigm shift not only revolutionizes the way content is created and managed but also establishes a foundation for consistency across diverse customer touchpoints.
The Limitations of Redesign
A website redesign is like giving a storefront a fresh coat of paint – it may attract attention initially, but it doesn't guarantee a meaningful, lasting impact. Often, organizations focus on the aesthetics and functionality of their website without addressing the underlying content challenges that are a common catalyst for redesign projects. The result is a beautiful website that lacks the substance needed to engage and retain visitors.
To truly elevate an organization’s digital presence, organizations must shift their focus upstream to content organization. This involves investing in marketing technology and re-defining processes, oftentimes with a robust content marketing platform that allows for centralized management, organization, and creation of content outside of the confines of a traditional CMS. Unlike a CMS that primarily focuses on the technical aspects of website management, a content marketing platform emphasizes the strategic alignment of content with business goals.
Fast Content Creation
One of the main challenges facing marketers today is content – creating enough, creating it fast and knowing what’s working in moving people through their customer journey and a sales funnel. Key advantages of utilizing a CMP is its ability to facilitate rapid content creation. With a centralized hub for content creation, teams can collaborate seamlessly, breaking down silos that often hinder efficiency. By streamlining the content creation process, organizations can respond swiftly to market trends, emerging topics, and customer needs, ensuring that their digital presence remains dynamic and relevant while also feeding fresh content to the redesigned website fast.
Consistency Across Customer Touchpoints
In today's multichannel world, customers interact with organizations through a variety of touchpoints – websites, social media, email, and more. Achieving consistency across these touchpoints is a significant challenge but is crucial for building brand trust. Content organized upstream ensures that messaging, branding, and tone remain consistent, creating a cohesive and memorable experience for the audience, regardless of the channel they engage with. Your website redesign is no good if the messaging and content isn’t consistent with what someone has seen on a different channel, unnecessarily introducing friction into the customer journey.
Redesigning a Website, and Beyond!
While website redesigns undoubtedly play a role in enhancing digital presence, they are only one piece of the puzzle. Successful organizations recognize the need to invest in content organization upstream by leveraging a CMP (among other tools as well, but that’s content for another blog post).
Thinking beyond your website and focusing on the entire content lifecycle and content needs outside the site will ensure you have the right tech and processes that can accelerate content creation while also enabling teams to reuse and repurpose content across channels, fostering consistency and coherence in the increasingly complex digital landscape. As businesses evolve, those that prioritize content organization will find themselves not only adapting to change more effectively but also leading the way in shaping meaningful digital experiences for their audiences.
If you are reading this and in the midst of drafting an RFP or evaluating proposals, I would encourage you to ask yourself, is a website redesign enough?