How to Ensure a Smooth Website Build

Make sure your company's project representative can free up enough time to do the project justice.

Most likely there will be one person in your organization working closely with the design firm; let's call her the Project Representative. Perhaps the hours she spends working on the website will be in addition to her regular 9 to 5 duties. It's easy to underestimate how many hours a Project Representative will need to devote in order for the new website to be robust, engaging and a modern online destination.

The Project Representative will need to put aside anywhere from 40 to 60 hours to help get the site launched. The busy times are at the beginning when much of the planning, meetings and asset gathering are taking place, and at the end when the site nears launch. If she plans on managing a copywriter and photographer, this alone can consume an additional 20-30 hours.

If these hours are not available, begin by letting the design firm manage copywriting and photography. Of course, you will still be kept in the loop on these two items, but the firm will handle the day-to-day direction and communication with the required contractors. Also, limit the number of pages on your website. Be ruthless in deciding what needs to be said, and what can be ignored. To deliver a hospitality message, and to meet SEO requirements, a hotel site needs only 12 to 15 pages. The rest are there because the hotel management feels it is necessary to mention certain topics. But is it?

Establish stakeholders and make sure they are present.

Main stakeholders need to be involved from the beginning in contributing to, and approving, plans for a new website. Even when the Marketing Manager, for instance, is managing the build of the new site, if his boss has final say in the end product, his boss needs to be included early on in the process. This doesn't need to take a lot of time; a high-level stakeholder can appear solely for key milestone moments such as the concept presentation and the final round of design. There is nothing quite as destructive to a website build as a key stakeholder who appears late in the game and has "missed" early crucial phases such as the establishment of the Creative Concept and the Site Architecture. Sure, you can have the owner of your company come in at the last minute and make a bunch of changes, but your website will suffer, and Wallop will be sad.

Avoid a design-by-committee scenario.

A large part of the build of a new website falls into the category of subjective creativity. Sally might hate blue websites, while John might love big bold fonts. Neither person is wrong or right. However, when a large committee of people is passing judgment on the design and build of a website, it's easy for the site to become a rag-tag collection of whims, opinions, and compromises. In other words, having too many stakeholders affects the quality of the finished product.

Hopefully, your design firm is leading the charge aesthetically (and certainly technically). Hopefully, the firm is basing their decisions on an agreed upon short-list of goals for the site (read more below about setting solid goals). For example, if the website is to communicate the feel of your desert resort, and a way to do this is through a tan and "dusty" color palette, then whether or not Sally likes the color blue is of no relevance.

We have yet to see a design-by-committee scenario run smoothly. Even if a committee is involved, have one point person who not only has the authority to make the final call, but who also has the ability to manage feedback and the confidence to sometimes turn it down if it does not fit within the bigger picture of the site's concept.

Establish solid goals, and stick to them.

At Wallop, we start every project by determining the goals of a website with our clients. These goals are repeated at the top of every document we produce throughout the build of the site. They help answer many design and planning decisions that need to be made. For instance, if it is important to communicate the excellent location of your hotel, then the planning of your Location page and the possible tools used on it (for instance Google Maps) will be a major focus. On the flip side, if building a page about your hotel's history does not support one your site's goals, then maybe a history page doesn't need to exist.

It is important to make sure that all stakeholders agree with, and remember, this list of goals; doing so will insure your website stay on message and remain uncluttered with unneeded information and pages.

Set a smart site architecture.

Your site architecture, or site map, is the foundation of your website. It is the architectural plan for your new house. The site map needs to be well thought out, discussed, and debated. The naming of your pages and sections is key as well; the wording of your navigation should be short, concise and self-explanatory.

Wallop requires that you eventually commit to and sign off on your site architecture. Changing a site architecture later in the build of a website costs time and money, and it often hurts the design, concept and message. However, before you sign off, we help you make decisions by providing examples of typical hotel site maps, answering questions, and giving advice. We will set up the first draft of your site architecture, and then we can all work at manipulating it together.

Use a copywriter.

Writing for the web is a specialized discipline that has its own rules and conventions. While you may be an expert on your subject matter, it's always a good idea to hire a copywriter who understands the many nuances of this emerging discipline. Keywords help your website rank high with search engines, and these must be woven into the text on your site without seeming too obvious. Keep in mind that 'writing' and 'editing' are two separate disciplines – a good writer is not necessarily a good editor, and vice versa.

On the web, good copy is rare, and if your site has it, your website will stand out and be easier to find. At Wallop, we almost always provide a short-list of copywriters to use on a website build, and in the same vein, we offer to manage them, too.

Be devoted to your copy.

If on the other hand, you the client is managing the copywriter, start early, and get the copy to your design firm long before launch. Sophisticated websites have copy laid out like a magazine. Sometimes, there might be several columns on a page; or, the length of a certain paragraph might be tied to the height of a photo. It takes time to lay out every page of a new website like this, and so it is important that your design firm have final copy well in advance of your launch date.

In this digital age of "edit > undo" we have become very accustomed to tweaking and changing our digital media until the cows come home. Not surprisingly, many clients expect that it is possible to make changes to their website up until the day the site goes live. Well, it is often possible, but it also hurts your site's design. Think of your copy as you would when having a print piece developed. Write it (or have it written); provide feedback or edit it; pass it around to other stakeholders; do a final proofread; and then leave it alone – until site launch a month or two later.

Don't wait until the last minute to pay close attention to your copy.

Your launch date could be the end of the project, but it shouldn't be.

An engaging website continues to grow and change well after its initial launch. Attractive websites have content that changes periodically. For hotels, this means that at the very least the packages, specials, calendar and press sections should be updated regularly. While your design firm will most likely implement tools to help you do this easily, it still takes time out of someone's day to make these changes, especially if a chain of approval is required.

If you are using Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter to communicate to your customers, these satellite sites will also require some hours of love if they are to remain useful. Expect someone from your team to devote 1-5 hours a week for web maintenance.

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