How to Review a Website Design

More often than not, a company website is a consumer’s first interaction with a brand – so it’s essential to make a strong first impression. Sure, twenty years ago, you may have been able to get away without an online presence – but that’s no longer the case. The internet has gifted us with smarter, lazier shoppers; people want as much information on a potential purchase with as little effort as possible. A well-built website can provide just that. However, if your clients don’t know how to review a website, the finished product may not be the site they thought they were getting.

Why Websites Matter

A website frees visitors from the 9-5 workday constraint; they can browse anytime, anywhere. Websites also provide visitors with a centralized location to find everything they need to know about your business, including store location, contact information, reviews, and social media. And with all of your advertisements leading back to the site, interested individuals won’t have to research to find out how to take the next step in the buying process.

Perhaps the most significant reason to invest in a website is credibility. A 2018 study found that the bulk of shoppers, 87%, start their product search online. In a sense, if a company has no website, it doesn’t exist for a large portion of people. If you’re ready to take the plunge and develop a site for you or your company – you’ll first need to know how to review a website and what your site needs.

Good Design Matters

Everyone knows the aphorism, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but that’s precisely what we do when it comes to website design. Adobe found 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive. Web design accounts for 94% of first impressions and 75% of a company’s perceived credibility. With nearly three-quarters of businesses investing in branding design, a well-made site is no longer optional for businesses who want to keep up with the competition.

Functionality Matters

Investing in a poorly functioning website is like investing in the 2008 housing market – a brutal mistake. There’s no shortage in competition; why would an interested customer waste their time on a frustrating site when there are so many others from which to choose? 88% of people are less willing to return to a website after one bad experience, and what constitutes a bad experience in the digital age is always growing. Today, one out of four website visitors will leave a site if it takes longer than four seconds to load.

A robust website is accessible to people of all abilities, has intuitive navigation, and makes information easy to locate. Of course, this is easier said than done, but you can build anyone a spectacular site, if they know how to review a website throughout development properly. This, of course, will need to include an organized, sufficient review and approval process.

How to Review a Website

Be Iterative

Website development and review should almost always be iterative; this allows for faster, better design. With an iterative process, you can bring multiple ideas to the table without investing too much energy into those that ultimately won’t work out.

The first thing that requires approval from stakeholders is the sitemap, which generally takes the form of a diagram describing a website’s flow. The sitemap is a rough outline of the site, laying out all of the different post types a site will have, so it’s essential to approve it before delving too deep into a plan with no future.

Once the sitemap is stable, we can move to the next stage: the wireframes. Like sitemaps, wireframes provide another rough draft for your website – but these are a little more specific. Wireframes are a blueprint for what each page on the site will actually look like; typically, they show a layout of all of the post types approved in a sitemap. While wireframes don’t include color or specific imagery, designers use these blueprints when creating the actual site, so it’s crucial to ensure they look just right and contain all of the necessary elements.

Once the sitemap and wireframes are fully approved, we move to the copy. Here, you are looking for messaging that matches your brand voice, is easily understood, and provides readers with a clear call to action (such as Sign Up Now, Learn More or Subscribe to Our Newsletter).

Finally, we get to put it all together – the full site build including imagery, video, colors and icons. This step is only fun when the previous steps have been thoroughly completed and approved. Without an iterative approach, late edits to a finalized site could send you back to square one.

Review the Site in All Forms

• Mobile readiness: 63% of internet use is conducted on mobile devices, so a site suited only for desktops effectively bars over half your potential visitors.
• Responsive design: The site should adapt for optimal experience across devices, with buttons and navigation scaled appropriately.
• Information hierarchy: Keep the most searched-for content easy to find, especially on mobile.
• Desktop view option: Some users prefer the desktop version even on mobile devices.
• Accessibility: Font size and color adjustments, alt text for images, and other assistive features should be built in.

Don’t Leave Any Surprises

Surprise your client with how impressive the website is, not with the content. Changing items such as photos or graphics without first getting them approved will ultimately slow down the review process. Prior approval helps ensure the site is exactly what they asked for.

Let Clients Review in Context

Nothing is genuinely approved until it is approved in context. Your client may love the copy and photos you showed them but dislike them in their final placement. Letting clients review the content in context prevents endless revision cycles.

How to Review a Website With Ashore

Ashore has everything you need for your website review and approval process. We offer:

• Contextual commenting tied directly to a point on the page.
• Options to show pages at varying pixel widths to preview device-specific layouts.
• Automated reminders to keep approvals on schedule.
• Proof timelines to track when and what revisions have been made.

We believe website design should be fun, so our platform takes care of the tedious tasks – leaving you to focus on building beautiful, functional websites.

Sign up for free today and get back to creating!