You have many reasons to celebrate this new project. After all, in a digital world, your website is your organization’s doorway to the world. It is where your target audiences will discover your added value and how they can engage with your mission. Whether through social media posts, your newsletters, or your professional activities, all of your communications actions will lead to it.
This project is important in the life of your organization and its planning deserves special attention. Needless to say, it is a major investment whose benefits must contribute to your organizational goals.
For Riposte, the redesign of an NPO's website is first and foremost an opportunity to shuffle the deck and integrate a more fulsome vision. If you are in this process, following are some elements that could help in your planning.
Much more than a website
Very often, the first reason that motivates NPOs to redesign their website is to improve it’s design. Another common reason is to address its maintenance and upkeep limitations. These are good reasons. However, they are not sufficient to properly inform a redesign project. Having a beautiful website and being able to easily manage its content are the minimum goals that every NPO should strive for in their project.
Before you begin, we recommend that you take a step back and make a list of the benefits you wish to achieve. As few questions to ask yourself:
- How will your site concretely contribute to your business goals?
- What actions do you want your stakeholders to take?
- What are the expectations of these same stakeholders in terms of experience and content?
- How will your website integrate within your business processes?
- How will your site contribute to your mission?
- How can your site help control costs and limit technology sprawl?
- How do you measure the success of your redesign?
The answers to these questions will help to inform the site architecture, the services that will be offered, and eventually your technological choice and the type of partner that best suits your needs.
Build your specifications
You can compare the redesign of your website to building a house. No one would embark on such a project without an architectural plan. And yet, for each of the functionalities available on your future website, a description of the expected behaviors must be made. For example, what is the process surrounding membership, registrations, and payment for your activities, what is the structure, and the use and interactions with your database?
The outcome of your analysis phase will influence the creation of your specifications. This functional analysis will also guide you in the choice of technology and will help avoid surprises along the way.
As you can see, it is preferable to have a detailed plan in hand before launching your call for tenders. Don't hesitate to ask for assistance in this step as it will have an important impact on the success of your project.
Define your budget
There is no secret here, redesigning a website that truly contributes to your goals requires a substantial budget. It can vary depending on the type of support your service provider will offer you. The size of your new website, the technology used and the desired design will all have a significant impact on the budget required. To control the associated costs, distribute your budget according to the priorities defined in the analysis phase. This will allow you to obtain clear quotes.
Beyond the creation of your website, don't forget to make room in your budget for SEO optimization and configuring performance measurement tools. Too often, this aspect is neglected by NPOs. However, it is through the magic of SEO that you can position your content on the web and multiply the chances of being seen by the right people at the right time.
When creating your specifications, remember that the clearer and more precise your short, medium, and long-term objectives are, the easier it will be to obtain realistic quotes.
Make a technology choice
The choice of technology is of paramount importance. This choice must be guided by specific factors:
- The cost of using the solution
- The native functionality available to meet your needs
- The amount of custom development required to accomplish your plan
- The longevity of the solution
- The ease of use
- The quality and reliability of the technical support offered by the chosen supplier
At Riposte, we believe in limiting technological dispersion. Here is some additional information on this topic:
Choosing your service provider
Once you have gone through this process, you will have all the information you need to choose your service provider. Since this is a significant investment and your relationship with this provider will be ongoing, you will need to ensure the following:
The provider's expertise in your industry. This will allow you to take advantage of the experience your provider has gained over time, and will greatly add to the consistency and strength to your project.
Creativity. The graphic design of your website plays a vital role in the success of the project. It is important to choose a provider who understands how to bring your brand to life.
Reputation and customer satisfaction. Take the time to validate the level of satisfaction of a few clients with a similar profile in the supplier's portfolio.
Post-project services. Will your provider be able to support you in the long run and help you use the digital space wisely?
Technical support. What type of technical support is offered by the supplier and how much does it cost to use?
Instilling a strategic vision to the project
A new website is not an end in itself. It is the beginning of an adventure in the digital space. You'll have to make it known and attract the right people. In an ideal world, your website is one of many elements of a robust digital strategy. If you'd like to learn more about our approach, give us a call!
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Team Riposte |
