We’ve all heard the old adage, “The customer is always right.” From time to time there is push back from frustrated designers and developers suggesting heresy; the customer is, in fact, fallible. We must be at this part in the cycle because I’ve seen several blog posts lately regarding how the customer isn’t always right and what to do about it. Aside from the obviousness of it — that no one is always right — trying to assign right or wrong to the situation doesn’t address the core of the issue – avoiding confrontation with the client.

The best way I have found to avoid confrontation with clients while remaining in a position to guide website projects is to bring the client into the project team. Here are some tips to accomplish that:

First round draft picks
Putting the client on the project team sounds like a given, but many managers forget to inform them of this during the kick-off call. They just assume the client knows. I would coach you to lay out your team structure during the first call and reinforce it as often as applicable. Continually use the pronoun “we.” Make sure they understand that their participation, not just cooperation, is key to the project’s success.

The starting line-up
You can’t profess to someone they’re on the team if you leave them on the bench. The first reaction to assigning the client work may be, “But, isn’t that what they’re paying us for?” They’re paying you to launch a website, and no worries. You’ll be doing the heavy lifting. Tasks perfect for the client include providing style guide and logo files, reviewing and reporting on analytics, setting up merchant accounts, providing feedback, etc. If you attempt to shoulder the entire project, you risk alienating your client. Keep them engaged.

Be a heavy hitter
The important differentiation here is to be an expert going into a project, not just say you are once it starts. Check your ego at the door.

One surefire way to demonstrate this to the client is by backing up claims by citing sources. No one expects you to know everything, and you’re better off giving credit where credit is due. Another way is with empirical data. Numbers may paint pictures, but they rarely lie.

The All Stars
Establish the rest of your team as experts, too. This is another reason to leave ego out of this, because even if they are your employees, the other team members have valuable insight and specialties. Graphic designers know aesthetics, UI designers know information architecture, and programmers know how to make everything work.

Never throw one of your team members under the bus. It’s important that your team is disciplined enough not to enter debates with the client, but if a point is contested; you can do irreparable harm by not backing them up. Your best bet is to immediately follow up your team member’s comment with agreement and additional support before the client counters. If they are wrong, handle it privately, and let them document the correction. Never reprimand them in front of the client. Some enjoy this because it boosts their individual authority, but all you’ll do is undermine your team.

The more the client perceives you and your team to be experts, the more likely it is they will listen.

Play to their strengths
Your client is an expert, too. It’s your job to tap into it. There are several areas of expertise they likely bring to the table, including their customers, sales cycle, competitors, and company goals. Elevate them if they don’t take initiative to do so. Their information is critical.

Have a big locker room
If your client consistently invites other people from their company onto calls or email chains, start looking for ways to bring them into the team. Utilize their colleagues, subordinates and even their boss. The more they contribute, the more it feels like your client is on a team. They’ll reinforce each other and act as built in reminders. If it’s your client’s boss in the picture, you may not want to assign them much to do, but be clear that you respect their opinion and insight. Provide concise, to-the-point status updates and paint a positive picture. Reinforce that they made a good decision when they approved hiring you. Always make your client look good to their boss.

Go pro
Be dependable, positive and a good listener.

Many ultra talented designers don’t have a solid foundation of business basics. You must communicate well, oral and written. Do you want clients to perceive you as “right”? Start by being dependable and not dropping the ball on anything. Avoid making careless errors; deliver your milestones on time like wire frames and development sites, and embrace the QA process. Mistakes serve as distractions.

As hard as it is sometimes, stay positive. Your attitude can undermine you. No one wants to listen to a Negative Nancy, and they will begin to tune you out. This means you have to learn how to handle critiques.

Being pro also means listening. If you want your client to listen to you and value your words when you speak, you should do that for them first.

Sometimes you strike out
Regarding receiving recommendations, I’ve often heard people say the worst a client can do is say “no”. I beg to differ. The worst they can do is stop paying you. That doesn’t make the client right, but it does mean you have to be gracious. You can do everything right, have all the best supporting evidence, and the client still may say no. If they reject an idea, you have to lead by example, even if that means you need a couple minutes to regroup. You should never “pick a hill you are willing to die on,” because Cufon font replacement or JavaScript drop down menus are the most important thing ever. If that’s your mindset, you’ve already lost.

Put your heart into it
Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “Sincerity is everything. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” If you believe that, chances are you consider most of this blog post a waste of your time. That belief will only get you so far. As a team leader, you need to get involved in projects at a deep level. In many cases a simple way to do this is through research, listening, and understanding. Once you reach that point, you can honestly start recommendations with, “If this were my site, I would…” When that happens, clients tend to listen. You can’t really teach someone to care, but you can encourage it and hire team members that are capable of it.

The trophy
Bring a client into the team requires tact, patience and finesse. Much like Web design itself, this process can be raised, like a trophy, to an art form. Follow these suggestions well and you’ll face fewer and fewer “The client is always right” losing battles.

Three old ladies huddle around a burger with a massive bun and a tiny patty. “It certainly is a big bun.” says one. “It’s a big fluffy bun!” says another. Meanwhile the third stares grumpily at the sandwich and then says, “Where’s the beef!?”

She clearly wanted a real burger — not a bun, not an air sandwich, and she didn’t want to be full on just some fancy baking. No matter how good the bun looked, or tasted, it was ultimately useless without the big, beefy burger she wanted.

Similarly, this is what happens when you have designed a smashing layout with a high bounce rate. If your grids are tight, your typography is engaging, and you are getting loads of traffic, but you have a big bounce rate, then your customers are saying, “Where’s the beef!?”

No matter how fancy your site may look, if it doesn’t convert to sales, your site is lacking serious beef. A few tips to adding beef to your website:

1. Be relevant. If a visitor comes to your site expecting one thing and gets something else, they’ll leave your site with a bad taste and will likely never return. You may dress nice, but you MUST be relevant.

2. Engage users. Do this with relevant content, impeccable design and a clear call to action.

3. Provide quick value. People’s time is valuable. Make sure to give them what they want quickly or else they’ll bounce. Offer enough value so they’ll want to spend time on your site and come back again.

4. Clarity. Explain your product, how it works, what you do and why the user needs you in just a few words. The clearer your message, the quicker the reader will take action.

5. Offer Expert Advice. You can do this through blogs, white papers, webinars, etc. This lends credibility to your brand and provides a purpose behind your website. It also helps with search engine optimization by providing fresh new content, and establishing your site as an expert in your industry.

What is the next phase? While I would argue that content is king and good content strategy accounts for 3/4 of the success for a site, the remaining 1/4 rests squarely on taking that content and making it deliverable and engaging.

You need to take that valuable nugget of information, that hamburger patty you lovingly crafted, and garnish it. Present that information in a clearly legible manner. Use practical infographics that compel the visitor to sit up and pay attention. Engage them with interactive elements to help them really understand what it is they are looking at. Make that game the most amazing thing they have played recently. Compell them. Teach them. Guide them. Don’t make them think.

The New York Times is a great example of great content leading the way for great design to seal the deal. Apple is another but with a more product oriented approach. ESPN is a great example of a leisure brand excelling at this. This final step will set you apart from the rest. If you are not sure how to speak to your user through these means, hire an expert. There are designers out there who speak this language so well they can engage users without them even realizing it, and these subtle successes are often times the most potent.

Never underestimate solid design backing great content strategy.

This one two punch — opening with a focused quality content, and driving it home with a grand user experience — will ultimately lead you to the top of the charts on a given search engine. You will keep the users you gain, lower your bounce rate, raise your conversion rate, and leave no one questioning the substance of your idea, event, or product.

3 clues of what your site may be missing.

I have a buddy who once had a crush on a girl friend of mine. But in all honesty, he simply did not deserve her due to some bad decisions and a rough personal history. So I found myself trying to explain to him that to be with a girl of that caliber, he had to be the kind of man she would want to be with. He had to “deserve” her.

No, this is not a lesson on relationships. However, the idea of attracting website visitors is similar. In search engine optimization, and with our websites in general, we do things with the intent of deserving a good ranking. We use a number of methods to target a specific market and we seek for quality links to link back to our sites. But do our sites really deserve it? Do our sites really deserve to rank well? Unfortunately, we live in an age of entitlement, and all too often people think they deserve things without having to do the work to merit the prize. Sometimes we make bad site decisions, or sometimes we do nothing at all, and yet how many of us still entertain an expectation that we deserve better rankings, or that people should notice us?

Think about it for a minute or two, and forget about what matters most to the Search engines. What attracts you personally to a website? A need or a want of some kind? The design? Images? Usability? Obviously a good website will satisfy the individual in some way and entices them to return. So do we really care how poorly designed a website is as long as it satisfies our needs, offers a certain level of enjoyment, or does not require much effort on our part?

I am not advocating poorly designed sites. Search engines may not care specifically about what your site looks like on the surface, but people do. And perhaps this is where my concern comes to light. If we are not careful, we can get warped into a paradigm of search engine optimization which tends to optimize solely for search engines and not for the people who use them. So I think it is fair to ask whether our SEO efforts are as much for humans as they are for search engines. Maybe we blame the search engines or maybe we blame ourselves for the tunnel vision; but either way we are not going to deserve high conversion rates or a return on investment (ROI).

It is often easier to market a site through paid links, submitted links, and advertisements than to produce a well-optimized website that naturally attracts attention. But perhaps we create a false sense of “optimized security” when we run a PPC campaign, or a link building campaign. Are we merely trying to compensate for our site’s shortcomings by using superficial antics to build up links or paying to try and woo the good rankings? Sure, you can generate a lot of links and maybe even drive a lot of traffic but if those high bounce rate statistics are any indicator, your site likely needs some work to retain your audience and entice people to keep coming back.

So what is the solution? We should remember that SEO is not a dichotomy of search engines and site design. Nor should it be. Good site design is an inseparable part of SEO. So what can you do to help your site deserve more attention?

1)    Site Redesign or Facelift? Think Simple.

Does your site still look the same as it did 10 years ago? And if your site is not that old, does it look like a website from the 90s? A complete site redesign may not always be plausible for some businesses, but you should consider those things that can be done to give your site a modern digital facelift.

Making your site more “current” does not mean adding every bell and whistle known to modern Web technology. Small site upgrades done right can fit in naturally and go a long way to upgrade your online image. Just look at the DrudgeReport.com, it has had practically the same simple design for the past 10 years and it still receives droves of traffic in the millions. On the other hand, design changes done wrong can be quite noticeable, – have you ever seen someone with bad or overdone plastic surgery? Of course there are other factors that determine whether or not you receive traffic, but investing in your website design is a key part of the equation.

2)    Write Great Content

Why does great content on your site make a difference? It has been shown that a majority of people respond primarily to web site looks and visuals, but great content keeps your visitors coming back for more.  This might include such things as interesting articles, blogs, videos and other media.  Incorporate something unique and intriguing to make your site stand out.

Equally important to the type of content on the site is the manner in which it is presented. Is your content high quality? Does it offer something of value? Is your blog article readable and easy to understand, or full of grammatical errors?

3)    Establish Trust

Trust. You often hear this word a lot in regards to the online presence of websites. Establishing a good reputation requires hard work and a lot of time, and doing what is ethically necessary to make your website stand out as something exceptional and credible.  With the exception of a few lucky sites, the status quo might not cut it anymore.

On another note, get active in social networking. Get to know others in the business and your industry, and use social networking tools to promote your online presence.

I fail to understand how some people who have badly designed or outdated sites will pay for SEO services, but all they want to do is build links. I suppose if that works for them then so be it, but there is more to SEO than just link building. You can put as much makeup and cologne on a stinky rotten fish as you want, and link to it from a thousand locations; but a painted rotten fish with links is still a rotten fish.

Become the site that truly deserves the good ranking. What good is being number one on Google when no one wants to stay on your site because it stinks?

In my previous work experience, I designed and created pages and graphics for a company’s intranet. In this context, SEO practices were not number one on my list of priorities. Adding a few keywords to help the internal search engine sort through the pages was enough.  Coming to SEO.com from this environment has been eye-opening to the importance of applying good SEO practices during the design phase. Unfortunately, optimizing content for search engines can often lead to challenges in maintaining a desired design.

Text Rendering: SEO vs. Design

An area of uncertainty that I would like to focus on is the rendering of text, since text is also an important contributor to a page’s search rankings. It is important to try to keep page content coded in HTML with the appropriate tags (h1, p, etc) for search engine and accessibility purposes. How might this limit a designer, when text is coded in HTML and styled with CSS?  As with the range of available operating systems, browsers, screens, and settings, all of which can alter the way a web page is displayed, there is variation in the fonts that viewers have installed on their computers. Consequently, choosing a particular font does not guarantee that your text will actually display in this font to all of your users.

Why does it matter if text shows up in Times New Roman instead of Papyrus? Well, it doesn’t necessarily, but if you’re at all concerned with the user experience (And why wouldn’t you be?) then it certainly does. The fonts you use can, for example, emphasize important text, establish your site’s branding, or make content more or less readable, affecting how long a viewer stays on your site and what they decide to do. What, then, is the best way to display the fonts you want while maintaining compatibility with multiple systems and staying search engine friendly?

CSS

First of all, CSS does have a catch if there is a font you wish to use that a user does not have. You can list the name of the desired font, alternative fonts, and even a font family that you want applied to the text if your first choice is not available.  However, if your ideal font is not the one that ends up being displayed, layout issues can arise due to variations in font spacing and sizes.

Image Replacement

Another way web designers cope is through image replacement. You can create an image of the text in the font you wish to use and this image will display the content instead of coded text.  Problem solved, right? Not necessarily. Using images with “alt” tags will make that text less relevant to search engines than if it were coded and tagged appropriately.  There are some work-around techniques for coping with this issue, including placing images in the background and indenting coded text off of the page and out of view, setting the display of the coded text to “none”, or using the CSS layout to hide coded text behind images.  However, Google does warn that “Hiding text or links in your content can cause your site to be perceived as untrustworthy since it presents information to search engines differently than to visitors.” It is therefore possible that even these adapted techniques can negatively affect your search rankings, as well as interfering with screen reader accessibility.

FLIR

FLIR (Face Lift Image Replacement) plays off of the concept of image replacement, but does so dynamically using PHP. Text can still be coded appropriately in HTML for search engines even though it is being swapped out with an image for the viewer. Possible downsides of this method include its reliance on PHP, and the fact that text cannot be selected, which decreases site usability.

sIFR

Another method is to use Scalable Inman Flash Replacement (sIFR). This method combines Flash, Javascript, and CSS to do dynamic text replacement as well.  Like FLIR, text remains SEO friendly but the text is replaced with a Flash file instead of an image. This technique, like the others, is not without its drawbacks which include increased loading time and a reliance on the viewer having a Flash Player installed.

Cufon

Cufon is another popular method which can render fonts using Javascript. This technique allows for faster load times, but uses embedded fonts, which can cause copyright issues with certain font license agreements.  Also, unlike sIFR, the text will not be selectable.

CSS3 and Embedded Fonts

Browsers are beginning to support the next version of CSS (level 3), which also allows for fonts to be downloaded from the web.  Copyright violations are also a concern here as well as possible security issues.

Conclusion

Although none of these methods are perfect, new technologies and techniques come closer every day to addressing the need for both good design and searchable content. At this point it is up to the designer to navigate these options and adapt their design based on the requirements of the project.

Read more about these web typography techniques here:

http://thinkclay.com/technology/cufon-sifr-flir

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/fonts-and-the-web/

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring(CMS) to rule them all, One Ring(CMS) to find them,
One Ring(CMS) to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Recently I worked with a fellow employee on implementing SEO site optimizations for several clients. To our frustration, we found that the Content Management Systems (CMS) they were using never seemed to have passed SEO kindergarten. Obviously, every system has a certain learning curve involved but it was like trying to floss and brush the teeth of a cave troll.

While not all Content Management Systems serve the same purposes, many aspire to SEO greatness and do a fairly good job. But where is that one perfect, all-encompassing SEO Content Management System? Does one exist? Is it hiding somewhere in a reclusive programmer’s basement cave, waiting to emerge at the right time? Well now would be a pretty good time. If you are familiar with the Lord of the Rings, then you might agree that we need an SEO Sauron to create one CMS to rule them all.

A web Content Management System aims to provide a simple application wherein the average user can create and manage website content. Therefore, the CMS should be user friendly and make it easy for non-technical people to manage the web content. How many CMS offerings truly accomplish this? In addition, many claim to be SEO friendly, but how many actually could be considered as such, and what does that even mean?

In certain terms, any Content Management System that could be considered SEO friendly should allow for, and accommodate any changes necessary to make the site SEO compliant. Any CMS that prevents or lacks that ability falters in its search engine friendliness. Furthermore, the term SEO friendly CMS may be a bit misleading since there are so many facets to search engine optimization. A CMS may possess features which can appease certain SEO factors, and miss others, yet they often prove to be anything but friendly to use even for experienced users. Of course with the right skills and time one can usually customize things as they please.

Perhaps you have already found that one Content Management System to serve all your needs. Great. It is not my intent to promote any one CMS, or generate a specific list of recommendations at this time; but with SEO in mind, let us consider several ideas that may help when looking for a CMS:

a.    Built-in Management to Prevent Duplicate Page Content

I recently worked on a site using a particular Content Management System which used a template system that literally created multiple URLs for every page due to the various templates. Nothing was built-in to correct the problem.

This issue creates an SEO nightmare of duplicate content and possible duplicate URLs; not to mention the headaches when trying to implement fixes using redirects and base tags. It is like looking out the window and noticing tens of thousands of threatening, dirty orcs at your doorstep.

b.    Customized URL Structures/Redirects

The ability to customize or define your own URL name and structures is a must. In addition, many users are not familiar with mod_rewrite or similar redirect tools so it is nice when a CMS provides user friendly solutions for implementing redirects where needed.

1)    Do I Really Need a Content Management System?

Consider the purpose and goals for your website and maybe begin by asking some honest questions. Will you be updating the site content frequently, maybe more than once a month, at least? Are non-technical users going to be updating site content? Ask yourself, what do I really need? What can I do without?

You may discover after answering some of these questions that a Content Management System might not make sense. On the other hand, system preferences are generally relative to different business structures, goals, and markets, hence the choice of a certain CMS becomes very subjective, if not relative, to each individual. What one business website may require, another can do without. For example, a Wal-Mart site requires a completely different system than Joe Schmo’s Football Card Shack, based out of his garage.

2)    CMS Inherently Implements Good SEO Practices

A Content Management System designed with SEO in mind should cover the basics, by default: customizable titles, headings, and meta tags for individual pages, implementing correct tags in general, and allowing for them to be customized if necessary, among other basic things.

How many systems really provide common SEO friendly features out of the box? Many require add-on modules just to accommodate the numerous demands of an optimized site. With that said, “add-on modules” offer a great structure for anyone that does not desire a full-fledged solution, but would rather prefer to modify the system according to their needs. So when we discuss a one-and-all CMS solution, perhaps it is important to keep this “module” concept in mind.
At present, two of the biggest problems I have run across with several CMS based sites include the following:

3)    Blogging Functionality

Many, if not all, Content Management Systems I have come across support some type of blogging functionality. Search for something which enables you to setup a blog and also provides options to incorporate RSS and social media tools.

4)    Open-source or Proprietary?

While a proprietary CMS can be specifically tailored to any one site, keep in mind that any modifications you may need at a later time can be costly. You may not have the resources or ability to make the needed changes to the system once it has been implemented.

Open source systems generally can be found for free and they receive wide support from a large open source community. They also will often provide a number of modules and templates to accommodate your SEO needs and changes, including documentation that can be quite helpful.

In my experience, people tend to over complicate things, including websites.  I am not without fault here.  Why build a boat when you can simply swim across the water? Likewise with websites, why use an extremely robust Content Management System when something simple will do the job just as well and avoid all the overhead.

So if you conclude that you require a Content Management System, which one do you choose? It would be wise to research and find out what others generally have to say about a particular system; keeping in mind that everyone has their own opinions. But usually you can get a good feel for the features and overall issues that a CMS might have with SEO. You can then select several that seem to fit your purposes and try them out, if possible, to see if any make the cut.

So is there one CMS to rule them all? Perhaps I may be too neutral here, but I would suggest it is mostly subjective and that each CMS really is relative to each individual. Understand that not every CMS can be everything to everyone. One CMS might be everything to one person, while another works just as well for the needs of someone else. So with that said, I conclude with an invitation for others to share their CMS experiences. What CMS has worked, or not worked, for you and why?

There are many ways to screw up a web development project, and it all starts with not helping the sales managers.

You got this one
When you’re working for a studio, web development projects are team efforts. That team includes your sales staff; they’re the front line. Here’s some tips on selling them out and getting things off to a bad start.

Skip the meetings
After the sales lead comes in, usually a meeting is set up to talk about the project. Go ahead and skip that meeting. It’s highly unlikely that any thing important will be discussed, such as their goals, target audience, and metrics for success. Even if it were discussed, you certainly don’t need this information first hand. Why make informed decisions and recommendations for the project when you can make assumptions and propose template solutions.

Send a questionnaire
Now that you’ve skipped the sales meeting, it’s time to cut corners on the analysis. Nothing spells personalized customer service like a lengthy questionnaire. Be sure to lead off with simple questions to boost their confidence, like their company name and URL. This proves to them that even if the sales person already got this information, you’re just being thorough. More importantly, ask really hard questions that require essays for answers as well as significant research into their sales numbers and web analytics. Customers like to jump through hoops. They probably have nothing better to do with their time any ways.

Copy Paste
Proposals are easy. Just have the sales guy copy some text from the last couple your company sent out and paste it into a new file. Make sure to change the date on the cover and footers. Most importantly, have sales just recycle the last estimate that sounds about right.

Don’t approve the estimate
The proposal is ready to send to the customer, you should review and approve it, right? No, but I can see why you’d think that. You need plausible deniability and a scape goat if something goes wrong. Practice saying, “I dunno what sales was thinking, they just sent it out like that before I saw it”. So, go ahead and be committed to the estimate and time line in the document. It’s probably close enough.

It’s important that the client has expectations for the project and you don’t know what they are. That keeps it interesting.

Send comps
When the customer asks for three or four samples of possible home page designs for their new site, oblige them. Without a proper discovery process, its a shot in the dark, but it’s sooo worth it. They might like yours. Don’t let not understanding how they want the site to work, the target audiences needs, or even what content you’re working with hold you back. Guess.

Have a poor contract
That mumbo jumbo at the end of the proposal probably won’t ever come into play. Go ahead and use lines like “the final payment is due after approval” and see how long it takes before a client realizes the loop hole. Besides, intellectual property rights and limitations of warranties and liabilities are just fancy words that lawyers use.

Take any project
Why be picky when you’re awesome. Your solution can fit any company. You especially want the clients that have a tight budget, pressing deadlines, and a spec that only has one phase. Typically, the client can pick two out of three; cost, time line and scope. As the design and development studio, you get the third pillar of the project. That’s just being greedy, and you’re better off letting them control everything. It’s best to never think about which client’s problems best fit you’re studios skill set and expertise.

Now that you realize you’re in a world of hurt, it’s time to look back at the questionnaire and proposal and start pointing fingers. Maybe you don’t “got this one”, but there’s always next time.

We’ve all made some mistakes. What have you done or seen done by others that’s a sure fire way to screw up a project?

Ten years ago, websites were largely brochure-ware and widely considered disposable. It was not uncommon for a company to roll out a new website annually. Eliminating waste is a popular topic these days, and many companies are employing strategies to get the most out of their online budgets.

Today, it is not uncommon for a website to last years. Companies are stretching their dollars by investing early and adopting the process of steady, ongoing improvements.

Spending time and money early in the life-cycle of your website has greater impact on your business’ success. Not only do the decisions you make have longer shelf life, but the process is also cheaper at this stage.

Set a winning strategy

Good web development teams approach your project with purpose.

You’ll want to reach a deep understanding of your company, your brand, and the target audience; run through a competitive analysis to set the playing field; and outline your online strategies and how they fit into your overall corporate mission. Many refer to this as the discovery phase, and essentially this is when the team does its homework. These are all great investments of your time.

The result is you will get better recommendations on what creative and technical tactics will best support your goals, meet your objectives, attack your competitor’s strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

Rally the troops

This is the time to get opinions from within your company. Before the first pixel of your website is onscreen, there will be consensus on what the team is setting out to do and why. The value of later choices will be measured against these early decisions. This will save waste, therefore minimizing costs. Anyone who opts out of participating in these early stages of web development shouldn’t get to cast votes during beta testing. If they’d like, they can cheer lead from the sidelines.

The storm before the calm

You’ve got the team dressed. You know your opponent’s playbook. The excitement in the locker room is palatable. But, you’re not ready to charge out and take the field. It’s time to wire frame the most important pages on your website and storyboard technical components. Planning is critical. Would you live in a house erected by an architect who built it without blueprints? Would you be confident enough to drive a car that rolled down an assembly line without plans?

At this point in the process, change is rapid and cheap. Figuratively speaking, it’s only on paper. Think, get opinions and feedback, work and rework ideas, explore options, and make changes as until the team is satisfied. Approving a wire frame or storyboard is not a point of no return, but it is the last time “what if…” and “hey, what about…” are cheap questions to answer.

It’s all over but the shouting.

Now it’s time to build without second guessing yourself. The team already knows the site is being built correctly, so any change will be minor. The development environment is not the cheapest place for change, but it is cheaper than fixing the live site in a panic. Additionally, any major change will negatively impact the budget and time line. Since you’re already planning on iterative improvements, major changes can be built into the game plan for later phases, or simply avoided.

As exciting as launching the site will be, for some it will be anticlimactic.

Ok, more shouting.

Once your site is built correctly, you can minimize your website expenses and concentrate your efforts on marketing and promotion. This is where the money rightfully should be spent in order to maximize your revenue. You can confidently drive traffic into your sales engine, knowing it’s built to win.

The road to relevance

New websites are no longer the key to being perceived as fresh and relevant. Today, we know that’s the responsibility for writers, bloggers and marketers and in many cases consumers themselves as we engage in two-way conversations.

Learn from the examples of some of today’s web giants, like Amazon.com and Apple. I bet you can’t remember the last time you saw a major change on either site. Both have effectively looked the same for years, but, I bet they made small improvements last week. The best websites don’t need to be redesigned unless their purpose changes.

Change is cheapest at the beginning of the process, and progressively gets more expensive. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to invest early and make improvement a steady, iterative process. After the foundation is set, you study metrics, analyze conversions, and act accordingly. Very rarely do you make a mistake through this system of checks and balances, let alone one you can’t recover from quickly. This approach is better for your brand, your budget and your customers.