You’ve made the decision to build a new B2B website for your firm. While there is a lot of work that goes into building a new website and it does take time, the end result is usually a vast improvement. At the end of the day, the most important step in the project is to make the website live.
What can you do to speed up the website launch and make it live?
Let’s take a look at how you and your team can streamline the process and get that awesome new B2B web design approved and live.
Before You Begin
Web design isn’t your job or your industry. You aren’t a web design firm so it can be tough to know where to start and what you need. As an experienced web design firm in San Diego, we’ve launched hundreds of websites. Before we begin working on a design project for a B2B firm, we ask what type of functionality the website needs to have and what are the main necessities of the project.
Define website functionality and list basic necessities.
We often advise firms in the very beginning stages of interviewing web design agencies to have a solid understanding of the functionality and basic necessities of the website. This makes choosing the right web design firm easier and ensures the agency is the right fit. For example, if the website needs a shopping cart feature, you can choose an agency that has experience adding shopping carts to websites.
Have a Content Plan
Whether you are having the B2B web design agency write content for your website or you are writing the content internally, you need a content plan.
Determine:
- Who’s going to manage the content process?
- Who has the bandwidth to write or edit the copy?
- Who has final copy approval?
One of the biggest factors that can delay a website launch is not having the final content ready to go. The delay can be caused by various factors. In some cases, the person(s) elected to write or edit the content doesn’t have the bandwidth or time to do so. In other cases, the final reviewer or technical reviewer isn’t available or has other priorities. The best way to avoid these types of delays is to have a plan and get buy-in from the decision makers and doers that will be involved.
Limit Decision Makers
It would be wonderful if all the decisions for a website could be made by one person. Very rarely does that happen. However, it is possible to nominate certain individuals to be the main decision makers if the objectives for a B2B web design project are clear.
Elect capable, responsible decision makers for the web design project
While a team of people can provide feedback on a new web design, the ultimate decision should only rest with a handful of people.
Don’t Aim for Perfection
A great B2B website is a continual work in progress requiring updates, additions, and deletions. It will never be a perfect thing that can be left to run on its own. Expecting a website design to be absolutely perfect can be a major inhibitor for the actual launch of the site. There is a quote that we often refer to:
Perfection is the enemy of progress.
This quote is often attributed to Winston Churchill. Whether Churchill made this statement or not, it’s highly relevant to B2B web design projects. Now, make no mistake, our web design firm does not want to launch a flawed website. However, it’s simply a fact of life that the longer you look at something and review it, the more changes you will want to make. When a website gets to the point where the content is great and the design is finished, it’s time to launch it.
Letting Go
If you’ve spent the last 3-4 months working on a brand new website, you are highly invested in its success. The great part of a B2B web design project is that you will have this wonderful website to show for all your efforts. The catch is that you won’t have anything to show for it until it’s live. Letting go of the website and launching it is easier said than done – but is a necessary step to launch. Remember:
It’s always possible to make edits and changes to a website after it’s live.
If a new web design is far superior to an existing website, it’s time to launch it. If 24 of the 25 employee bios are completed and up on the website but the last employee is on vacation and won’t complete his or her bio for another few weeks, it’s time to launch the website. If a website is 99.9% complete and all you are waiting for is one paragraph buried deep in the website to be edited, it’s time to launch the website.
Get Internal Buy-In Early On
You are happy with the web design and are ready to see it live, but you can’t get internal approval to launch. This can be very frustrating. A great way to avoid this type of issue popping up and delaying launch is by getting internal buy-in from decision makers and contributors early on. We advise clients to make sure the IT team is ready and on board and to get all their specifications at the beginning of the project.
A major delay can happen in development if the back-end specifications are not clear or not communicated properly.
By bringing in IT and other decision makers early on and getting their sign-off, you can smooth the way for launch and put all the necessary parts in place to support an effective launch.
Make It Live
As a San Diego web design firm, we want to make a website launch as easy and seamless for a client as possible. We’ve launched a lot of websites and fine-tuned the process to eliminate common problems. Find out more about what you need to know to have a smooth web design project (link to download).
Ready to get started on a new B2B website for your firm? Schedule a free consultation today.
