Development Company Capabilities for Successful Website Renewals

Recently, we co-hosted an online seminar with BIGLOBE Inc. titled 'Corporate Website Renewals, Who to Ask? What to Use? Selecting a Development Company and Tools for Success". Being responsible for the first part of the seminar, I gave a presentation titled "Development Company Capabilities for Successful Website Renewals”. Thank you to everyone who attended as well as those involved in the organization of the event.

In this Column, for those who were unable to attend the seminar, I’d like to share some my presentation content.

My presentation opened with the following question:

“for a corporate website, or for web managers, how can a renewal be defined as 'successful'?”

When reading renewal project RFP documentation, an often-cited basis for updating the website is because the designs have become dated. So, based on this premise, if a post-renewal website is modern in appearance can the project be deemed ‘successful’?

While adopting a contemporary design could be considered 'successful' in one respect, the essential requirement of a corporate website is to make a tangible contribution to a company’s business. Assuming this, then determining success immediately after a renewal isn’t possible. Rather, project success can only be determined through measuring KPIs for a designated period and then subsequently comparing acquired data from both before and after the renewal.

Directly following a renewal, the website is a hub of hypothesis testing as web managers seek to determine whether "the addition of certain content increased conversions" or "if including certain features and functions has made the site more useful".

Even though each hypothesis is based on good reason, it’s only post-launch that it’s known whether the various assumptions prove correct. While we’d like all our hypotheses to be correct, if an untrue hypothesis is confirmed, we must, without remorse, immediately commence work on implementing improvements. Ultimately, regardless of whether hypotheses prove correct, continuous improvement of the website through post-renovation operations will sooner or later become essential. In this sense, perhaps the key to a successful renewal is a developing a website that facilitates both ease of modification and improvement?

This has been a consistent idea of ours since we published the Column "Operation First" (in Japanese) seven years ago, and it remains our slogan to this day.

Based on what’s been written so far, there are two capabilities that development companies should boast and provide to their clients: the ability to formulate evidence-based hypotheses, and, after testing the hypotheses, the ability to continuously implement measures to facilitate KGI/KPI achievement. Furthermore, website development companies need the capability to build solid partnerships with their clients. It is imperative that such partnerships cover the three aspects that must be recognized when building and operating a site: specifically, the nature of the business, users, and the web.

The reason being that it’s difficult to formulate robust hypotheses and make enduring, continuous improvements unless the above three aspects are embraced jointly and collaboratively. Moreover, if the same development company is involved in post-renovation operations, and if the partnership is maintained and continuously strengthened, the website will operate more efficiently and effectively, and further contribute to accomplishing various business goals.

With the evolution of various tools and services, websites can be created with little specialist knowledge. So, nowadays, it’s become necessary for development companies to possess the capabilities to deliver high-quality websites, particularly with regard to accessibility and display performance (for more, please see my Column 'Ready-made and Custom-made' ).

As a website development and operation professional, together with colleagues, I’d like to further to enhance our capabilities, so we remain a dependable partner for our clients and continue building long-term relationships of trust.