1. Prepare Content and Assets Early
Delays most often stem from waiting on content. Written copy, images, and videos should be ready early so designers and developers are aware of the amount of assets we are working with. Start cataloging assets as soon as you can, and share as much as you can as early as you can.
2. Assign a Dedicated Point of Contact
Feedback that has to pass through multiple layers of approval slows progress. Assign one person to communicate, consolidate feedback, and make decisions swiftly. This individual should have the authority to finalize decisions or escalate issues promptly. This is something a lot of startups and smaller businesses struggle with.
3. Be Clear About Goals and Priorities
Unclear goals often lead to revisions. We will help guide you, but don’t be wishy-washy or delay decisions. Having the team aligned and strong convictions is always a great way of keeping a strategy intact and ultimately guiding the project’s direction (which is the purpose of the strategy).
4. Provide Prompt and Specific Feedback
(Related to #2) Vague or late feedback can derail progress. Be specific about what works and what doesn’t, and stick to agreed deadlines. Use collaborative tools for clarity and efficiency.
5. Leverage Training Sessions
Delays often result from unprepared teams. Actively participate in CMS training sessions to ensure smooth management pre and post-launch. In addition, helping generate content and going through the process prior to launch is an essential way to make sure you’re comfortable with the systems.
6. Plan Internal Resources
Content creation, QA, and testing require significant client involvement. Allocate time and resources to these tasks to avoid bottlenecks.
7. Limit Scope Changes
Frequent scope changes during design and development phases cause delays. Stick to the initial plan, keeping a list of “nice-to-haves” for post-launch. This may seem obvious, but I believe clients feel like once the website is live, it’s harder to make adjustments. In most cases, this is just not true. We will help determine what’s easy to integrate and what’s better left for post-launch (segue way to…).
8. Trust the Experts
Micromanaging can hinder progress. Focus on high-level direction and trust your agency’s expertise. Believe me, after decades of experience, there are no surprises.
9. Test Early and Often
Catch issues during QA with structured, consistent testing. Addressing problems early is faster and easier. The more eyes, the merrier… recruit internal staff to do spot tests.
Like I said, we’ve done this hundreds of times in our 18 years of business. We have a process that has proven itself to be effective, but agile enough to allow for the creativity that’s needed in a web design project.
Learn more about our website design process.
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