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The cr*p people put up with when it comes to website design constantly amazes us. It seems that the same pattern exists for almost everyone you talk to. The same experience occurs repeatedly.
That experience is as follows: the website is delivered late. The website costs more than the quote provided. By the time it is delivered it feels like it's out of date.
The website is delivered late
It's a rule of the universe that no matter how meticulous you're planning when it comes to building a website, something will go wrong. That invariably results in more workshops, confused communications, and arguments with your suppliers (never a good look).
Even the best versions of the old-fashioned website designers can suffer from this problem, much less the more roguish of our colleagues out there. Often, it's just because the client asks for more features and issues that were not uncovered during the brief stages get added on to the end of the build.
But worst case is when the designer lacks the ability or organisation to keep clients with multiple competing priorities on track.
The website is over budget
The delay in the site's completion is now linked to concerns about its cost. It seems like every time you have a great idea for the website it just adds on to the cost. It doesn't seem like anything can be added without making the price go up.
This is a nightmare for obvious reasons but not least because as the website goes over budget other things surrounding the site like the marketing spend get sucked into the build. Now you not only have a website that is being delivered late and over budget, but you don't have as much money to support it as you thought you were going to have.
And don't forget the frustration that this causes. Teams work best when they fully collaborate and things like missed deadlines and missed budgets create enormous amounts of friction on both sides of the relationship. Many a positive relationship has been poisoned by these factors.
Your website is out of date
Most frustratingly of all is when the website doesn't live up to the expectations you had for it at the design stages or worse has become so curtailed by being late and or over budget that is simply not what you wanted it to be. Design fashions are one thing that can change quickly meaning what looked innovative and modern quickly dates, but you can also find the technology you've invested in has been supplanted by something better faster and cheaper in the meantime.
It's even worse to come when you realise given your usual design schedules you are stuck with that website for the next one maybe two years. And if it wasn't out of date by the time it was delivered it certainly will be by the time that period elapses.
You may find this article interesting The Brochure Websites Is Dead… Long Live The Marketing Machine & GDD
Website design is the disease, meet the cure
At Real Inbound we adhere to a web building strategy called Growth Driven Design. Based on an agile methodology it is simply and elegantly designed to overcome these three huge problems that most businesses face when it comes to creating a new website.
Fast delivery
We typically can have what we call your MVP website built and online within 6 to 9 weeks. The whole website package will be completed in 90 days. That includes strategy, the web build, and what we call the marketing machinery that turns your website from a brochure into a marketing machine.
Your MVP website will be a cut above whatever you previously had built on the superior HubSpot CMS (Content Management System) but it's not what you would call the finished article. In fact, when we build your website following the Growth Driven Design (GDD) principles the website is sort of never finished!
Rather your website is constantly evolving and iterating based on real time feedback provided by your audience and customers. If that landing page is not converting, then it gets fixed it's not left to the next redesign. If people can't find an important form on the website it gets changed.
In fact, we constantly optimise the site for response on a monthly basis meaning the site gets better the longer you work with us.
A fixed budget
The best thing about our growth driven design approach is that it is easy to budget for. Once we understand your requirements and have agreed upon the strategy a fixed monthly fee will be due. If we all feel there is no more value to be had in working together then the retainer simply stops.
But the idea is very much that Real Inbound works with you as a website partner every day on real time issues, your marketing current offers, and to fix problems as they arise.
At the beginning of the process, we will have decided the difference between what is immediately required (MVP) and what needs to be delivered for the website in the longer term.
The beauty of GDD is these new features are delivered by the return on investment the website is already delivering. So as the functionality of the website improves it is increasingly paying for its own development.
Check out this GDD Hands Down the Best Method For Results-Driven Website Design
GDD websites are at the bleeding edge
A benefit of this method is that your website remains consistently updated. Not only is the design always current, but as new technologies emerge, making desired features more affordable, they can be seamlessly integrated into the site.
Real inbound follows the simple ‘plan, build, learn, iterate’ mantra of the agile methodology. Marketing’s dirty little secret is that it's really hard to get things to ‘work.’ And it usually takes several attempts at a campaign to optimise and fine tune it for the best results.
That's one of the reasons why we say your website is out of date as soon as it's been delivered if it's going to be a static thing that's not refreshed until the next time your budget allows for a redesign.
In fact, with GDD your website is always ahead of your competition simply based on the design philosophy behind it.
Create your growth website
If you are interested in finding out more about our approach to website design, and how we optimise for results monthly, working with you as part of the team, just get in touch by clicking on the link below.
We can't wait to get to work with you!
