A business website is crucial for informing customers about products or services, acting as an influential tool to convert browsers into leads or buyers, and representing the brand with a positive browsing experience. To meet these objectives effectively, businesses must move away from traditional web design approaches.
Instead of viewing a website as a static entity that only undergoes adjustments with the launch of new products or services, businesses can embrace a more dynamic and responsive approach known as growth-driven design (GDD). This methodology relies on quantitative data to inform strategy development, steering away from guesswork. By adopting GDD principles, businesses can continuously refine and improve their websites to better align with user needs and preferences.
In this blog, we’ll delve into the intricacies of growth-driven design, exploring why it surpasses other web design practices and how it can be effectively applied to both new websites and website redesign projects. Through understanding the core principles of GDD and learning practical implementation strategies, businesses can enhance their online presence and drive meaningful results.
What is Growth Driven Design (GDD)
Growth-Driven Design (GDD) revolutionises website development by harnessing data and continuous learning to mitigate the risks associated with traditional approaches. Rather than relying on guesswork, GDD empowers businesses to make informed decisions based on real user data, ensuring that their websites evolve to meet both business objectives and customer needs. GDD typically unfolds in three stages, optimising the time from conception to launch. However, this agile approach demands readiness for adaptation as real-time analytics dictate necessary adjustments.
Growth-Driven Design vs. Traditional Design
When businesses consider a website redesign, the conventional method of web design often comes to mind. Typically, an in-house or outsourced team conducts an analysis of the existing website, proposes changes, implements them into a fresh design, and launches the new site, leaving it unchanged for years until the next redesign cycle.
However, this traditional approach presents challenges. According to HubSpot, only 49% of website redesign projects are completed and launched on schedule, with delays often attributed to the traditional mentality towards web design.
This approach proves to be a high-risk investment, draining budgets and demanding significant upfront time commitments. In contrast, Growth-Driven Design (GDD) challenges these traditional assumptions, offering a more efficient solution. GDD helps companies minimise risks and initial expenses associated with website launches, accelerates the launch process, and ensures continuous updates to keep pace with evolving needs.
Stages of Growth-Driven Design
Embarking on the journey of Growth-Driven Design (GDD) involves traversing distinct stages, each integral to your website’s evolution and optimisation. These stages encapsulate a dynamic process of continuous improvement driven by data insights and user-centric strategies. Let’s delve into each stage to understand how GDD transforms the traditional paradigm of website development.
1. The Strategy Phase: What Do You Want to Achieve?
Before diving into the specifics of web design or content creation, it’s crucial to establish clear objectives for your website. This includes incorporating essential content such as an “About Us” page and prioritising functionalities that cater to your audience’s needs, such as organising content for lead generation.
Beyond just website functionality, aligning your website’s goals with broader business objectives is essential. Whether increasing sales, expanding into new markets, or driving more traffic, ensure these goals are specific and measurable to optimise results.
As you outline your goals, prioritise them to avoid pursuing unnecessary web design strategies. Use analytics to guide your decisions and focus your efforts on areas with the most significant impact, such as creating a comprehensive content library or optimising pages for sales conversion. Additionally, conducting thorough research on your buyer personas allows you to gather valuable user behaviour data, effectively informing your design and marketing strategies.
2. The Launch Pad Phase – The “Doing” Phase
This phase is all about action. Armed with insights from the strategy phase, you start constructing your website, focusing solely on the critical features identified during goal-setting. Experts advise limiting your implementation to no more than 20% of your wish list. Establishing a month-to-month development plan is wise, aiming to enhance your current website in measurable ways.
In what is referred to as the “launch pad website” phase, perfection isn’t the goal; functionality is. This iteration serves to identify weaknesses for future adjustments, understanding that adaptability based on analytics is key to success.
While your website remains a work in progress, it’s crucial to uphold your business’s brand image effectively. Prioritise user experience principles, including:
- Color theory
- Font size
- Competing design elements
- Walls of text
- Load times
- Mobile-friendly responsive design
3. The Continuous Improvement Phase
Entering the continuous improvement phase means embracing ongoing enhancements driven by data insights. From the moment your launch pad website goes live, your primary focus is monitoring analytics to assess feature effectiveness and maximise impact. Typically, a minimum of one month allows for thorough behaviour analysis unless urgent issues arise.
Once top-priority items prove successful, you can gradually integrate additional wish-list features guided by analytics. There’s no rush to implement everything at once; instead, take a measured approach, introducing new elements over time and adjusting based on data feedback.
Traditional Website Redesign Challenges
In a traditional website redesign, the process typically starts with a comprehensive analysis and planning phase. Following this, a team of designers implements a wide array of changes across the entire site, culminating in the launch of a completely revamped website. These alterations are implemented with the expectation that they will endure the evolving landscape of digital marketing and visitor expectations until the next redesign is initiated.
Traditional website redesigns:
- Are high risk
- Require a large up-front cost
- Require significant time and resource commitments
- Often run late and over-budget
- Have unpredictable results
- Use a one-and-done mentality
- Leads to a weaker website over time
What Makes Growth-Driven Design a Better Alternative
A growth-driven website redesign initiates with an analysis and planning phase akin to traditional methods. However, GDD offers flexibility for gradual adjustments and budget allocation throughout the year. Launching a “launch pad” site, an improved version of the existing site marks the beginning. Subsequent enhancements, based on buyer persona behaviour data, occur incrementally on a monthly basis.
Growth-driven website redesigns:
- Minimise risk
- Launch quickly and continuously improve
- Launch on time and on budget
- Are an investment spread over time
- Implement data-driven changes
- See month-over-month improvements
- Leads to a stronger website over time
In traditional methods, extensive backend adjustments and rigorous focus-group testing often precede the launch of a landing page. Typically, a website redesign wouldn’t be rolled out so swiftly due to the time-intensive nature of the process. Engaging in months of strategy and design immediately post-launch is impractical. Therefore, in terms of time and budget, GDD offers a swifter path from concept to execution, minimising the associated challenges, particularly beneficial for small businesses with limited resources.
GDD’s flexibility enables swift adaptations to stay pertinent and adjust courses promptly. Utilising recent real-time data, often from the past few weeks, you gauge the performance of website elements. Conversely, traditional web design may rely on outdated data, potentially leading to decisions based on obsolete factors.
Common Drawbacks of Growth-Driven Design
While Growth-Driven Design (GDD) offers numerous advantages, it’s not without its drawbacks:
- Resource Intensive: Implementing GDD requires dedicated resources, including time, manpower, and budget. Constant monitoring, analysis, and adjustments demand ongoing commitment.
- Dependency on Data: GDD heavily relies on data-driven insights for decision-making. If the data collected is inaccurate or insufficient, it can lead to misguided strategies and ineffective optimisations.
- Potential Can Be Overwhelming: The iterative nature of GDD can be overwhelming for smaller teams or those with limited resources. Constant adjustments and refinements may strain the capacity of the team.
- Continuous Investment: Unlike traditional redesigns, where the bulk of work is front-loaded, GDD demands continuous investment over time. This ongoing commitment may not align with the preferences or capabilities of all businesses.
- Risk of Over-Optimisation: In the pursuit of optimisation, there’s a risk of over-tinkering with the website, potentially leading to diminishing returns or user fatigue if changes are too frequent or disruptive.
These drawbacks can often be mitigated with careful planning, resource allocation, a clear understanding of the GDD process and the help of web design professionals like Digital Rescue.
Launch Your New Website with Digital Rescue!
While GDD mandates a data-centric approach, its ultimate aim is to enhance web performance gradually, transforming your website into a powerful lead and sales generator that leaves a lasting impression on visitors. Effective GDD strikes a harmonious equilibrium, integrating new features while preserving strategic priorities from the initial launch phase.
Implementing GDD may pose challenges for the uninitiated, but our expert team at Digital Rescue specialises in translating your online vision into reality. With our expertise, we adeptly navigate the complexities of GDD, ensuring your website remains aligned with your business objectives through agile adjustments. Let us be your partner in achieving online success. Book a FREE chemistry call today!
