Food Magazine May 2015 | Page 17

4 KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE REDESIGN
• Web Analytics
• Customer Service
• User Testing
• Internal Resources
Identify Internal Stakeholder Needs Your internal team members have needs , recommendations , and design ideas that need to be heard and if the data agrees , acted upon .
Internally , ideas are going to be thrown around loosely and the multitude of visions for the site will cause the project to unravel quickly .
Developing buy-in across departments isn ’ t easy and may require compromises , but it is necessary to actually launch the new site . Once the site is launched , testing and refinement offer opportunities to revisit any Stuck Points™ prior to launch .
Be armed and dangerous While supporting your internal teams is important , you shouldn ’ t do so at the expense of your customers needs .
This is where you , as an e-commerce manager , need to lean in , with all your weight , on the data you have collected .
Arm yourself with answers to these questions :
• What does a typical new user arriving on your site want ?
• What does a returning customer who already knows what they want to buy , want ?
• What does an engaged email opener visiting your site want ?
• What does a user clicking through an affiliate discount code to your site want ?
• What does a user who visits your website after learning about your brand from a friend want ?
Let your online users drive how content is prioritized and how the website should be laid out .
Your job relies on conversions from customers , so don ’ t let the noise of outside influences disrupt the ultimate goal of serving those that make or break your goals . Otherwise , you will end up right where it all began with another underperforming website .
Tom Pritchard is a digital strategist and producer for The Good , an ecommerce and lead generation advisory . He writes regularly to help brands of all sizes improve their online sales .
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