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Our website overhaul taught us some valuable lessons that we want to share! Are you thinking of a redesign? If so, stop right there and read this. We worked with three partners, one of which was the award-winning digital marketing agency Infinity Nation. These guys were responsible for the smooth running of the website, SEO and a general check and balance to ensure our new website hit the ground running. This is what they had to say …
Own your purpose
"You have to convey your story, your values, and your USPs clearly," says Stacey Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Infinity Nation, “and this can be a lengthier process than you would at first think”. Indeed! Like us, you may need a rebrand first to ascertain your identity. We enjoyed working this out, looking inwardly, ripping everything apart, and rebuilding it with clear knowledge and purpose. It was enlivening, fun, and refreshing, and the team was fully invested in the process. Having an external team looking in (we used Glide) helps you understand your story's uniqueness, unearth those inherent values, and identify your USPs. “Absolutely," says Stacey, "it’s all essential groundwork for a successful website redesign."
Social proof
“Social proof is important whether attracting business or consumer visitors," says Stacey. "You need to share stories in multiple formats like video, images, and reviews to build trust”. And that's why our website starts with case studies laced with testimonials: it’s a great way to build trust. Happy customers. That's why review sites like Trust Pilot and Trip Advisor do so well, they build trust. Video content is another big focus for us as we gather authentic video footage of media, brands, industry professionals, and influencers having fun at our events.
Quality Content
Sam Smith, SEO Manager at Infinity Nation, advises always striving for high-quality, relevant content for your audience and remembering to keep it fresh. If you don’t know your target audience, how can you understand their pain points and curate your content accordingly? “Understanding who the primary users will be enables you to design the website to meet the needs and preferences of this audience," says Sam.
Useful Backlinks
Content is also a great way of building backlinks via guest blogging or even budgeting for high-quality links. Why do you need backlinks? Because they improve your rankings. SEO views the quality and quantity of links as a mark of authority and votes of confidence from other websites. Therefore, the more backlinks your website has, the higher it can rank for search terms. Plus, it’s fun collaborating with great people for mutually beneficial content, you learn so much! Check out our interview with Nadeem Perera, founder of the acclaimed diverse, outdoor community, Flocktogether.
Analytics and Monitoring
So many businesses don’t give their website a second thought once it’s launched (we were one of them) but there are so many free tools out there and a raft of data buried in your website visits. It’s all just awaiting harvest! Implement tools like Google Analytics to track user behaviour and website performance and regularly review and analyse data to make informed decisions for improvements. For example, if you have a blog post that’s really nailing it ask yourself why and do more of it!
Good luck! We hope you enjoy the journey.
How we did it …
- We enlisted the help of Glide Consultancy and tapped into Giles Polito's infinite knowledge base. Giles carried out an audit on our business, the market, and our competitors. This gave us a template with which to move forward. It also helped us design a brief that we could send to a list of carefully selected branding and website experts.
- After a pitching process with 3 branding and website design agencies we decided to work with Base Camp Studios. These guys clearly understood our market and had some great ideas. We worked with Charlie Smith on both our rebranding and website design.
- We used Infinity Nation, an award-winning digital marketing agency, to ensure that our website performance was SEO optimised and that we weren't missing a trick.