8 Tips to Take Your Website from ‘Meh’ to ‘Yay’!

  WASHINGTON, DC - 02/21/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Take Culture Media which specializes in creating award-winning communications strategies and multimedia content that help strengthen clients' brands today shared tips from its own website redesign process.

“Whether you plan to redesign your website in-house or source it externally, play an active role in managing the process,” said Ufuoma Otu, who worked closely with a project manager and developers at a Phoenix, Arizona-based company to redesign Take Culture Media’s website. “This is the first tip we give to growing small and medium-sized businesses because the initiative you display on the front end and the attention you give to communicating the site’s vision early on will help drive momentum on your project and ultimately help make it successful.”

Other tips, Take Culture Media shared include:

Know what you want This helps saves a lot of time, effort, revisions, and increases the likelihood of you and your developers creating a finished product your team is happy with for a long time. Well, until it’s time to redesign your website – again! Carve out time to peruse various websites you like, figure out various elements of them you can integrate into your site to enhance your users’ experience.

Commit to an effective review process The website redesign process is only as complicated as you and your team make it. Yes, the process may vary based on the size of the website, company or project it’s being built or redesigned for. Will you communicate changes primarily – by phone, email, in-person meetings? Who are the stakeholders who will green light progress and changes? For example, in smaller companies, the C-suite is more accessible and will play a more active role. In larger organizations, department heads may wield more influence on changes and updates to be made.

Usability is king It used to be content is king – it still is. So is usability. Welcome to the user experience kingdom.  Always think of how your users will interact with your site. Envision this, test it, implement, and test again – on different devices and platforms. The general rule of thumb is: use fewer words, more photos or graphics (depending on your industry), and intuitive navigation. The point is to make the user experience as smooth as possible. Keep testing until you go live.

Be flexible Stick to your process – yes. But on the flip side of that, be flexible.  Creating or redesigning a site is a dynamic process that happens in real-time and in tandem with changing needs, market changes, and other factors that are not always within your team’s control. Provide vision and guidance, but be open to your team’s interpretation of the vision expressed.

Honor the creative process It is a creative endeavor; recognize it as such and not simply as a to-do item on your list. Or you can, but you may end up with a site that lacks essence. Lead with praise before offering constructive criticism, and the next iteration of the site could very well knock your socks off.

Make it a visual canvas The most stunning websites walk the fine line between eye-catching colors and white space. This makes them visually appealing but makes the content easy on the eye. Nowadays we look at screens all day long, so adopt an elegant site design that is simple and users will be glad to use - and even simply admire.

Share it What good is the most well-designed website no one knows about? Once you finally have the website you are proud of, share it! Let everyone in your organization know about it. Don’t forget your clients, social media community, and collateral materials.  And remember to update your relevant keywords on search engines.

About Take Culture Media

Take Culture Media specializes in creating award-winning communications strategies and multimedia content that help strengthen clients' brands through digital content services. For more information, please visit: www.take-culture.com.