Category: Strategy & Design

Where do you go for web design advice and development inspiration?

This is a question new clients sometimes ask, particularly if they’re starting from a blank slate or want to completely change an existing website. Naturally, we’re happy to work from scratch and narrow in on concepts as we go. However, it’s always helpful to understand what client preferences are like from the beginning. We are inspired by who they are and the big ideas they’re embracing. But with any big idea, it’s less about the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ and more about the ‘how’. 

If you’re wondering where you could or should look for creative inspiration, or advice on features and functionality, here are five good places to turn.

#1 Your Colleagues

Your colleagues can tell you a lot about what has and hasn’t worked for them in the past. They can also share their sense of what customers respond to. That’s true even if they aren’t in the same field or industry. In this context, a colleague could be someone who has a similar role in a different type of organization. Their goals might not be exactly the same as yours, but a lot of the challenges probably overlap. 

#2 The Competition

It’s unlikely that your top competitors are going to tell you what they really think you should do with your website. They’re just as unlikely to be honest about how successful they are or aren’t with their own. However, by examining their websites and strategies (particularly over time) you can probably figure out which ideas and campaigns are paying off. This should go without saying but don’t copy anything from another organization. A little bit of reconnaissance will give you a more complete picture of the market. 

#3 Vendors Who Serve Your Business

It’s easy to overlook vendors when searching for advice and insights. However, they can be a valuable resource for information. Remember, they have a different perspective on your market than you do. Moreover, some of your vendors might work with the competition, or other businesses trying to do some of the same things you are. They may even have firsthand knowledge of success stories and failures. There’s nothing to lose by asking their opinion.

#4 Your Best Customers

The best thing about soliciting advice and feedback from your best customers is that they think just like the people you want to impress. That’s because they are the people you want to impress. What’s more, they probably know others who can buy from you. So, if they make recommendations about the layout of your website, the focus of your online marketing campaigns, etc., you should pay attention. It’s their experience, after all, that you’re crafting your new web project for. 

#5 Web Design Professionals

It’s clear that a great, experienced web design and programming team can give you a great deal of guidance about your project. So why include the professionals last on the list? Partly because we want to encourage you to develop your thoughts and impressions before you start getting advice from creative teams. Also, because we want you to be careful. Web designers only give good advice when they put your needs ahead of their desire to win a contract.This should be the standard practice for all creative teams. The best will always prioritize their client’s needs and vision in every situation. But, when it comes to winning a contract, some might not be so ethical.

Each of these five groups can give you good advice, or at least a nudge in the right direction. Just remember, though, that it’s up to you. No one knows your company, your customers, and your organizational plan better than you do. So, take what works and then apply it to your situation in a way that moves you toward your goals.

Looking for a web design partner who can help you come up with a results-driven strategy? Atlantic BT has a team ready to go who will always focus on your needs and goals. Contact Atlantic BT today to schedule a time to talk!

When it comes time to improve your website, you may find yourself without the resources to do so. To hire a team that will best help you achieve your goals, you’ll need to write an RFP (Request for Proposals). This short document is an invitation to creative firms to bid for the project by sharing their process and how they would approach the job.

A successful RFP gives both the client and their web design team a head start on the work at hand. A poorly written or arranged RFP can lead to confusion and miscommunication. Without the right information and details present, you might struggle to make connections. Qualified teams will be less likely to offer up proposals, leaving you empty handed.

How can you write the perfect RFP for website design? Believe it or not, the beginning of this process focuses on the end.

1. Think in Terms of Outcomes First

Before you write a single word of your RFP, one thing should be clear. You must understand what it is you’re aiming to achieve with your website development project. What is your ultimate goal? The more clarity you can provide a potential vendor, the better. What do you imagine the finished website to look like? Consider the project in terms of size and scope. How should the website function? Most importantly, what kind of measurable goals do you need to reach? RFP writing essentially becomes part of your planning process. 

Any creative team you hire will want to know what your biggest success indicators will be. They’ll need to understand what they’re helping you with before they can figure out how to act. This allows them to know what kind of assistance to provide or which resources to deploy.

2. Give Vendors Context

For RFPs, ‘context’ refers to anything you would want a web design team to know about your organization. When you write an RFP for web design, remember that this project is about you. Your vision and who you are as a company is, of course, integral to the heart of the design process. You might include your history, leadership, branding strengths, or even your marketing personality. If you have initiatives that center on certain pieces of technology or social goals, state that within your RFP as well.

This is more than an introduction to your company. This is an opportunity to let potential bidders know who you are. When they know what you value and see the same big-picture that you do, they can make stronger connections. These details can give them clues about the scope of your work. They can also know if they’re a good match for your organization’s culture. When client and vendor personalities align, a big web development project is off to a strong start.

We’re Here to Help

If you still have questions about how to write an RFP, would like to see some sample RFPs, or feel like you need a bit more guidance, we’re here to help. Contact our creative team today. We can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to talk about what’s on your mind and give you the answers you need.

When you’re putting together a puzzle, there is no feeling more glorious than the triumph of adding the final piece. This bodes true for web development projects as well. The last bit of design, coding, and content all come together to make a complete whole. It’s exciting to finally reach that moment. At the finish line, executives are often anxious to see their new pages go online as soon as possible. However, there are a few details to take care of first, even with a finished website.

We let our clients know about these steps before we even start creating mockups or designs. That’s partly because they’re so important. And because they’re so important, we want to set the right expectations from the outset. Executives need to know these extra steps are part of the plan. This helps to avoid a lot of understandable frustration. If they had to wait extra days or weeks to start seeing returns from their web design investments, without knowing why, that wouldn’t be fun for anyone.

What would be so important that we would hold up the launch of a new website we were proud of creating? Here are four vital steps to follow before your new website can go on to the Internet.

#1 Final Review

#2 Website Testing

#3 Software QA

#4 Launch Playbook

Complex Web Design is About Precision

A creative team that can manage details, logistics, and deadlines can be your greatest asset. Especially so when you’re facing a large web design and development project. The larger the project, the more important it is to have an experienced team on your side. At Atlantic BT, you can be sure that your pages and apps will look and perform the way you expect them to. Call our experts today. We’re ready to get to work for you.

We’ve written ad nauseum about the ins-and-outs of taxonomy. Which is important, but as dry as a talk on the Dewey Decimal System.

Why Web Design Doesn’t Always Translate to Profit

Sometimes people enjoy stating their personal worldview as a generally accepted fact, as in, “Bob, everyone knows you can’t skin a beaver with two shakes of a lamb’s tail.” You should be skeptical of statements of “fact”. In other words, take the following statement with a grain of salt:

You don’t have to have a pretty website to be successful.

We have physically seen multiple websites and datasets that prove sites can compete and win business despite being ugly, dated, and not matching an aesthetic that anyone enjoys looking at. Sites that continue to win business despite seemingly ignoring what their customers want. Of course, the assumption is that good design is what people want.

Winning Customers In Spite of Bad Web Design

The problem with arguing that a site should be redesigned is, in many cases, your customers just don’t care. They aren’t looking for someone with an immaculately crafted website or even good brand. A customer who needs a plumber doesn’t care about site design; they want someone who can reliably fix a clogged pipe for a relatively cheap price. An organization who wants in-depth customer analysis doesn’t mind a bland-looking site; they want a company with proven expertise in data analysis.

In both these examples, the customer need can be so specific that it transcends the website (really only one portion of a much larger brand). There are all kinds of scenarios where a new website may not be the answer.

1. Your Consumers (and Business) Are Local

If you offer a local service (like electricians or plumbers) and most of your customers are local, you can probably get away with having an exceptionally ugly website and still be successful. Why? Because most people have bigger concerns. According to Consumer Barometer with Google, Price, Proximity, Quality, and Past Experience with Business were the biggest factors in how customers choose a local business.

This is especially true when you consider how having good reviews and local listings play into converting customers. We already know that quantity and quality of reviews play a factor for local SEO (meaning oft-reviewed businesses are more visible). But even more to the point, an estimated 50% of consumers make a very quick decision on whether to hire someone based on reviews and may not even visit your website. 

We’ve personally seen this in our own data sets—phone call conversions represent up to 50% of all conversions with no corresponding website visit.

2. You Rank Well on Google (or Your Brand Is Well-Known)

Sometimes, you’re so successful at marketing that you succeed despite your disheveled digital appearance. Let’s pick on Oak City Landscaping, a Raleigh landscaping company, as an example of a dated website that still does well for SEO.

This site is dated. Our educated guess is it was originally put up around 2010 (according to WayBackMachine) and doesn’t appear to have fundamentally changed since then. It’s still using Flash, meta keyword tags, and isn’t responsive. Despite all that, it still ranks 9th on Google for “Raleigh landscaper”.

We have no idea how well organic traffic drives results for this company, since we don’t have access to their analytics. However, it is a good example of how design, even if it’s unappealing and outdated, does not necessarily prevent a website from reaching and converting its customers.

We’ve always believed making consumers aware of your company is the first step towards making them a customer. Awareness of your brand, even through non-digital sources, can effectively nullify the importance of your site.

3. Re-engagement and Loyalty

We talk to so many clients who act as if customer loyalty is some great mystery they will never understand. Take email marketing as an example. Despite its low cost and relatively low barrier to entry, many companies fail to use simple emails to reengage past customers. The worst examples are email-only newsletters with no attached website.

You want to keep customers aware you exist by updating them about a particular service, seasonal event, or concept. Forrester Research showed the potential return on investment for customer loyalty programs could range between 42% to 61% (despite companies continuing to invest in acquisition over retention).

Whether you’re offering referral bonuses, incentives for continued loyalty, or educational materials to keep your customers up-to-date, loyalty matters. It places the emphasis on actual interaction and brand experience versus merely the experience of your website.

Do I Need A New Website?

We’re going to blow your mind right now: if you go to an organization that sells something, they’ll probably try to sell you that thing. If you start a conversation with a web design company, they are likely going to recommend a new website to improve your bottom line.

Our argument is there are many cases where your business goals may be better fulfilled with things that aren’t another website. This is the explicit promise of our Discovery Process, which we designed to assess the most appropriate things needed to accomplish business owner goals, rather than hawking you website design you don’t need. If you’re interested in starting the conversation about what will best accomplish your marketing goals, feel free to contact us.