When is a Website NOT "Just a Website"?

To answer the above question ALWAYS! a website is NEVER “Just a website”. As a digital consultant I often hear agencies refer to a customers website as “Just a Website” this always fills me with dread as normally the person that utters those words really really do not have an understanding of what a website is and how its structure and presence can have an impact on a existing and future customers.

You will often find that the purveyors of the catchphrase “Just A Website” are unfortunately only interested one thing, wrapping you up a mostly beautiful website that looks “fresh” and “happening” in the current style of your businesses area of expertise, taking your money and saying thank you very much.

What this leaves you with is a pretty looking box, or as its the festive period right now a beautifully wrapped empty box.

Now what’s going to happen is your beautiful new website is going to sit there looking pretty and your existing repeat traffic will see the new wrapping paper as long as their usual route to your site hasn’t been removed and they are not shown a 404 error page. You will also definitely get new visits from those new business connections your hard working business development team and sales people building for you.

But ultimately more often than not your site will slowly lose ranking and move further and further down the google search results page, sure you could go back to the original digital agency and they my suggest that they can drive traffic with a PPC campaign so lets throw some money at it on a monthly retainer and see what happens. Which is a reasonable suggestion BUT only after you have constructed a well thought out and meaningful plan setting out measurable, achievable targets to ensure that you are getting a return on investment.

So what went wrong? How can we fix it?

First things first this was not your fault, many branding agencies/design agencies/web developers do not attribute the work involved in creating a performing functional website to its success. They are only concerned about the artistic element of the site and how good its going to look in their portfolio. Now don’t get me wrong a nice looking site is important and does help with your traffic bounce rates, but it is not the only element that will make a site work its just a piece of the puzzle.

When engaging with a potential agency to develop your website, here are some essential questions to ask to ensure they deliver a fully qualified website that considers the work that you may have already done to build traffic and most importantly how they will try to mitigate any effects on existing traffic sources:

Technical Expertise and Process

1. How will you analyse my existing website’s structure and traffic?
   Ensure they perform a comprehensive audit, including SEO performance, traffic sources, and user behaviour analysis before trying to restructure or design the new site.
2. What is your approach to preserving or improving SEO rankings during the transition?
   Look for strategies like implementing 301 redirects, maintaining URL structures, and addressing meta-data continuity.
3. Can you explain your development process and how you ensure quality assurance?
   Check if they follow best practices like code reviews, performance optimisation, and testing (mobile-friendliness, browser compatibility, etc.).
4. What tools or technologies do you recommend for this project, and why?
   Ensure their tech stack is scalable, secure, and aligns with your goals.

Design and User Experience

5. How will you ensure the new website aligns with my brand identity and appeals to my audience?
   Ask about their approach to user experience (UX) and how they’ll incorporate your brand guidelines, you may not have the answers but they should be asking you about your preferred audience. Unless they ONLY develop websites in your companies they probably do not have a full understanding of the nuances of your business.
6. Can you provide wireframes or prototypes before finalising the design?
   This ensures you can visualise the site and make adjustments early in the process.
7. How do you approach accessibility and inclusivity in web design?
   A compliant, accessible website can improve user engagement and broaden your audience.

Traffic, Analytics, and SEO

8. How will you transfer or integrate my current analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics)?
   Confirm they can maintain your historical data and track the performance of the new site.
9. What steps will you take to minimise traffic loss during the transition?
   Look for plans to maintain search engine rankings and user traffic through proper redirects and testing.
10. How will you optimise the new site for search engines (SEO)?
    Ensure they have a plan for technical SEO, content optimisation, and performance enhancements.

Post-Launch Support and Scalability

11. What type of training or documentation will you provide for using and managing the new site?
    Make sure they offer resources for your team to operate the website efficiently.
12. Do you offer post-launch support and maintenance? What does it include?
    Understand their availability for bug fixes, updates, and potential future enhancements.
13. How scalable will the new site be for future growth and feature additions?
    Ensure the platform can accommodate increased traffic or additional features.

Budget, Timeline, and Communication

14. What is the estimated timeline for the project, and how do you handle delays?
    Clarify project milestones and contingency plans.
15. What is included in your pricing, and are there any potential additional costs?
    Avoid surprises by understanding the full scope of costs, including hosting, plugins, or ongoing services.
16. How will we communicate throughout the project?
    Ensure they have a structured communication plan, including updates and feedback checkpoints.

Examples and References

17. Can you provide examples of similar projects you’ve completed?
    Look for a portfolio that matches your industry and website goals.
18. Can you share references or testimonials from previous clients?
    Speaking with past clients can provide insights into their work ethic and reliability.

These questions will help ensure the agency understands your goals, values your existing traffic, and delivers a website that supports your business objectives effectively.