You’ve got a B2B website, but it leaves a lot to be desired or it doesn’t accurately reflect your brand. What do you do?
Burn it down?
Pretend it’s fine and go about your business?
Try to prop it up with a few new pages?
It’s likely time for a B2B website redesign. It’s hard to believe, but a B2B website should be redesigned or refreshed every 3 – 4 years. Why? Often, strategies shift, business objectives change, and products or services evolve. Additionally, brand messaging may be adapted to better resonate with client needs, and technology solutions may change and become more robust.
In this article, we share tips and pointers on how to find the right agency to work with on your B2B website redesign project.
How to find the right website redesign agency
- Start with what you want and don’t want.
When selecting a website redesign partner, it’s important to ensure they have the skills and experience to meet your primary needs. Start a list of what matters for your website redesign. If that’s tough to assemble, start with what you don’t want. Things like “website needs to be on WordPress,” or “website needs to integrate with HubSpot” or even “website needs to have a strong careers section” are all great baselines.
- Set budget parameters.
Even if you are in the preliminary stages and looking for an idea to take to your CFO for approval, it’s good to start with a budget range. There is a big difference between website agencies that work on $3,000 – $6,000 projects and agencies that work on $30,000 – $50,000 projects. A range is ideal as there may be components you absolutely need while others may not be as important once you get into the project.
- Decide on a potential go-live date.
If you are aiming to have the website redesign completed by an important tradeshow or a shareholder’s meeting, make sure this is clear. When mapping out a project, it’s easier to work back from a deadline rather than rushing at the last minute to try to meet a new deadline. But don’t wait until the last minute. A thorough redesign often takes several months.
- Start shopping for agencies.
As a website redesign agency, we recommend companies talk to at least three to four agencies. This can help you better understand what types of agencies are out there and who may be the best fit. For example, you may want to work with an agency that specializes in rebranding or logo refreshes as well. Or, you may want to work with an agency that has worked in your industry and has copywriters familiar with the terminologies used in your business.
How to pick the right redesign agency for your B2B firm
- Look at their website.
This may sound obvious, but the website redesign agency should practice what they preach. Pay attention to what they have on their website, how easy it is to navigate, and if everything appears to be working properly. While design and visuals can be exciting and captivating, they end up being worthless if the website itself isn’t functional and provides the resources visitors need.
- Check out their portfolio or case studies.
What types of websites do they build? What companies have they worked with? What types of results do their projects get? Consider these questions as you look through their portfolio and case studies. If the portfolio projects appeal to you and the case studies speak to similar needs for your organization, then they might be the right fit for you.
- See if they offer end-to-end project services.
It’s important to note that not all agencies offer the same services and vary depending on the skill set of their teams. If you want an agency that will handle everything from rebranding to logo design to copywriting to design concepts to development and launch – take note of what their services include. Is SEO important for this project? Do they talk about that on their website? Pay attention to whether they are a branding agency that sometimes does website design or if they are a true website redesign agency that is familiar with branding and marketing best practices.
- Contact 3 – 4 agencies.
As mentioned above, we recommend contacting three to four agencies. (Pro-tip: contact them through their website and note the response time.) Three to four is a manageable number to give you a good idea of what types of services are available and how the companies operate. Interviewing more than four agencies can get overwhelming and muddy the water. Keep in mind that you want the agency that will be the best partner for you and not just an order-taker looking to line their pockets without concern for the success of the website.
- Ask all the agencies the same questions.
In our B2B website buyer’s guide, we outline a list of questions you should ask each agency you interview. It’s important that you ask each agency the same questions, so you get an apples-to-apples comparison. Consider how thoughtful they are in their responses as this is an indication of whether they know your industry and B2B in general or whether they are just trying to win the business.
- Review proposals.
Once you have met with the website redesign agencies, compare all the project proposals. Keep in mind the cheapest agency will provide the cheapest product and may not deliver all the things you need for a successful website. Carefully look at what is included and not included. You don’t want to go with the least expensive proposal now only to find out that halfway through the project copywriting isn’t included and will cost another several thousand dollars. The proposal should outline who you will be working with and what the process looks like. The effort an agency puts into a proposal and how easy it is to follow is a good indicator of the service they will deliver.
There are many great website redesign agencies out there. While there are some that are better than others, it often comes down to different skills sets and experience. What’s important is finding a website redesign partner who understands your business, who is looking out for your success, and has the skills you need to deliver on your project.
Ready to chat about your B2B website redesign project? Let’s chat!
Need more resources to guide you along the way? Check out these resources to help with your website redesign agency selection:
Here is a good vetting guide with questions to ask an agency: https://www.bopdesign.com/resources/guides/b2b-website-buyers-guide/
Here are tips on how to prepare for your B2B website project (whether you have worked on 10 new websites or none – this is for you):
Considering a re-brand and a new logo update as well? Check this out:
Is SEO a big part of your new website? Read this guide as well:
Further reading to get a deeper dive on what to consider for your website:
