Since opening our doors in 2009, GreenMellen has built hundreds of websites for clients in various industries. We can say with great confidence that no website we have created over these years has been identical, but one lesson we have learned is that the projects that followed the same process were the most successful.
What do we mean by successful? In this case, we’re not talking about website traffic, impressions, or conversions; we’re talking about the actual project of creating a new website from start to finish.
A lot of work goes into the websites we create (for both the clients and us), and our goal is to ensure every one of our clients has a seamless, enjoyable experience while we all work toward a beautiful, custom website.
Here are the biggest lessons we have learned to ensure a successful website project.
Share Your Needs/Goals Before We Start the Project
Every website has unique goals and objectives, and a web development team needs to know these goals as soon as possible (likely within the first couple of meetings). Your goals and needs will not only play a role in how this project is scoped and priced, but any undiscovered goals could lead to more time and money spent.
Let’s look at a hypothetical situation: Say you are a bakery and need a simple website to show your menu, contact information, and catering details. Halfway through the project, you have an idea to add online ordering to your website. After you bring this idea to your web team, they come back to you with a scope change that results in a 20% increase in the project price and six additional weeks added to the timeline.
Web teams like to avoid these situations as much as possible, so make sure you clearly understand your website’s goals and objectives.
Gather Your Assets Early
One of the top reasons a website does not meet its original launch date is a delay in asset collection. Assets for a website are anything from backend credentials to your existing website to photography and website copy. It’s important to gather all the assets your web team needs as early as possible to avoid delays.
Outsource Tasks to Professionals
From sales-driven website copy to visual branding pieces, there are some tasks that your web team may ask you to provide. The truth is that some of these tasks might be out of your wheelhouse of expertise or take more time than you are willing to commit. There is no shame in outsourcing these tasks to professionals.
What kind of items would you outsource? Photography, visual branding design, and copywriting would be the biggest examples. Of the three we just mentioned, copywriting is one of the top bottlenecks a web project will experience. There are many reasons why this is the case, but the most obvious one is that it takes a lot of time and dedication to write strong website copy.
Most web development agencies have an in-house copywriter, designer, or photographer on staff (or a reputable list of freelancers) who would be more than happy to take these pieces off your plate. Please share these needs while the team is scoping your project.
Be Prepared to Dedicate Time to This Project
We’ve found that the most successful websites were a collaboration between the client and us. They were heavily involved in just about every aspect of the project; even if they didn’t know the first thing about websites, they wanted to make sure this website reflected their expertise.
All of that being said, it’s worth mentioning that strong websites take time to complete. Your web team will regularly contact you to share deliverables, status updates, and team questions. No matter how they choose to share this information, it’s important to know upfront that you will have to set aside time to work with the web team.
Trust Your Website Project Team
As an industry professional, your recommendations and actions toward your clients are always centered around their best interests. Your website development team has that same mentality, which is why you should listen and trust their guidance.
Going off the previous point, we feel that the best websites are a collaboration between the client and us, but each side brings their own expertise to the table. You bring your knowledge of your target audience and the problems you solve for them; we create websites that clearly state how you can help your target audience and give them the best user experience while on your website.
At GreenMellen, doing what’s best for our clients is one of our core values. Whether that means adding a week to the design phase to perfect the homepage layout or offering suggestions on stock image direction, we want to make sure we produce the best possible website each time.
In short, trust your web team’s process and guidance. Everyone wants a beautiful finished product, and they’ll have a clear vision of how to get there.
Ready to have a successful website project?
Contact GreenMellen today, and let’s discuss your new website!
