Customers come to you because they have a problem, a need or a question and they think you can help. If you give them what then need when they are more likely to buy from you. If you give them a memorable experience that exceeds their expectations then they will recommend you to their friends, colleagues and random people on social media. Read more about how you can manage a content-first website redesign.
Find out who your customers areYou will sell more products or services if your customers can find you, know how you can help them, and want to buy from you. This means that you need to know a lot about your customers. Just knowing what you'd do in their place is rarely enough. Content strategy helps you focus on user need, which means testing key assumptions about your customers at an early stage in the web redesign process.
Decide what key messages you want to communicateBy developing a hierarchy of communication goals early on in the web design process, you will ensure a consistent and memorable user experience. Site visitors will know who you are and why they should buy from you and not a competitor no matter what content they look at. They will experience a seamless blend of content and design that all persuades them that you are a credible and authoritative brand.
Give customers the information they needYou should aim to give customers the information they need it, when they need it. Considering you probably have a number of customer types with different needs, this can be a tricky process. However, if you want your website to attract and convert customers then you need to do this job effectively. Wireframes with real content can help, as can user personas, user flow diagrams, site plans, and user testing. Shoving content into the spaces designated by a designer is unlikely to deliver the best results.
"Hannah is a fantastic content strategist, she brings a flexible approach, combining content strategy, marketing and copywriting which is the backbone of any successful marketing campaign. What I find particularly impressive is that she will listen to what my clients want, take on feedback and endeavour to produce work that satisfies all stakeholders, without costing the earth. I highly recommend Hannah. Andreas Voniatis, managing director of Artios.
Stay within budget by delivering a website that works
Launch on time without unnecessary diversions
Prevent project creep and 'seagulling'
Avoid confusion and 'I think this...' arguments
I begin with an on-site card sorting session, which we'll use to develop a message architecture for your company. This will comprise 6-10 actionable qualities that we want to convey to customers across all content.
My next step is to find out as much as I can about your customers, which includes looking at email queries, customer support questions and social media interaction, as well as drawing on your team's experiences. As an optional extra, I'll contact some of your customers – or people like your customers – to find out exactly what they need from your website.
I'll then draw up user flow diagrams, which sketch the journey that your typical customers will take through your content – starting from how they hear about you and finishing with what happens after they buy your product or service. These diagrams will help us focus on user need at every step of the web design process.
I'll finish this user research stage by drawing up a basic site plan that takes into account these user journeys. This way, your site will be based around user need rather than around your business structure or what everyone else is doing.
£340 a day – This stage can take between 2-5 days depending on the size of your website and how much information you have about your customers.
Building on stage 1, I'll wireframe key pages of your site, and write copy. I might also need to pair write with some of your team, or with your subject matter experts, to make sure that the content is both factually correct and compelling.
I'll aim to get early stage feedback from you to make sure that we're are on the same page in terms of what you want to achieve.
We might also test the wireframe with potential customers, because at this stage it's cheap and easy to make corrections or to pivot if we need to.
Prior to wireframing, I might also suggest we do a content audit of your previous site to determine what content you already have and whether it can be transferred to the new site in its current form.
£340 a day – This stage can take between 3-6 days depending on the size of your website and the complexity of your content.
Get in touch at hannah.adcock@gmail.com so we can talk about what you need.
