I began the process of redesigning my own website (http://www.outboxonline.com) today – Version 4.  In the next couple of weeks, the new design will be rolled out on the site:

There are lots of reasons that I’ll enumerate below for this redesign, but the most important is the evolution of my business based on the needs and wants I hear about from my existing and potential clients.   The last time I redesigned my website, I was moving from doing both user experience design for software and web design & development, to doing mostly web design & development — so the website reflected that.  I kept the Portfolio section as updated as possible with recent projects, but otherwise it remained the same for about 2 years.  That’s a long time in the life of an online portfolio!

Since then, along with the evolution of social media platforms and people’s understanding of them, blogging platforms have also made huge advances, and as many people are looking for partially-custom budget-friendly websites as are looking for bespoke, unique websites.  Additionally, more and more people better understand how important web marketing is, and how social media can help spread the world about their businesses.

Based on all of the above, here are the things that will change about my website and why:

1. There will be much less text on the Home page: The text on the Home page will be streamlined to efficiently explaining what I do and how to get in touch with me. I had already streamlined text on the last iteration of the design, but I wanted to do it even further in this case to get down to only what is essential. There will be further details in other places on my website, and the job of the Home page is to engage people enough so that they click through to read it. In most cases, people visiting my website want to see examples of my work, know a little bit about me & what it’s like to work with me, and decide whether they want to contact me to work with them. This is different than visitors to my blog, who are looking for information about how to do something, or resources for their project(s). I know this because I’ve regularly checked in on what people are checking out on my site via Google Analytics.
2. The services I offer will be much easier to identify: There’s lots of overlap when it comes to the skill set necessary to design and develop web collateral. And not every designer and developer does the same thing. Often, it can be very confusing for people looking for someone to hire — they don’t know exactly the skill set they need, they just know what they want the end result to be. So, it’s important to be as clear as possible about what I do, and talk about it in terms of what people want the end result to be, eg: blog, website, logo, etc…
3. There will be a better & more efficient way to know how much something will cost: Since there are so many variables to consider, it’s very hard to give someone an estimate without having a conversation about what they need and want. But the form they fill out to get in touch with me can gather more specific information to help me get them a quote more quickly. Also, I can offer semi-custom packages with very specific elements that can be added a-la-carte so that people with a limited budget can choose only what they need/want.
4. The blog will be a part of the site, rather than a separate entity: Beyond the technology change of having the whole site built in WordPress, I want the blog to be an integrated part of the site rather than a stand-alone entity. Since the blog content I create is closely tied to my the work that I do, and because I want it to be easier for people to jump from the blog content to my portfolio and back again, I’m presenting a consistent navigation across the whole site.

Next time, I’ll talk about the decisions that went into the aesthetics of the redesign & any changes that happen while moving from design to development and why. Stay tuned!

Related posts:

1. Your Own Worst Critic: Designing for Yourself
2. Finding your online identity.