Do not waste your budget and effort building a new website or implementing a website redesign that
merely looks lovely and fresh. As you plan your new web design, look out for these common mistakes
even the most seasoned publishers make:
1. Hiring a web developer who “does it all,” as opposed to one who specializes in the publishing and
media industry. A generalized web developer simply doesn’t know your nuanced needs and will miss
opportunities and key functionality.
2. Not prioritizing audience data. Your new site should remove data silos, centralizing audience data
from subscriptions, events, site registrations, downloads and more to help you be more actionable
and intentional with it.
3. Paying more attention to the appearance of your new site than improving the user experience.
Have you planned how all the content, product and advertising contextual relationships must
leverage each other and give the reader a successful experience?
4. Ignoring the backend processes and workflows that will support the redesign. You are about to
make big changes. See if you can use this opportunity to impact organizational systems in profound
ways.
5. Leaving calls to action as an afterthought rather than as a critical component. Proactively plan
when and where they will show up.
6. Not strategizing to guide readers from one area of your site to another with every page, using
context and audience data to offer them related articles, videos, podcasts and products. They
should never hit a dead end.
7. Keeping your revenue channels the same without taking the opportunity to add to, enhance and
diversify them. A redesigned site creates opportunities to add new revenue streams. Can you create
new advertising packages because you will have greater targeting capabilities with your audience
data? Can you launch a paid content product?
8. Neglecting to consider how a website redesign can amplify your visibility and positioning within
your industry and community. Your website should serve as the go-to for the industry or community
you serve.
When you embark on a redesign, a lot of elements are fighting for attention. Keep these eight common
mistakes top of mind so you don’t miss out on the opportunities for increased growth and engagement
that come with a redesign.
