By Libby Esterle, Senior Account Executive

Years ago, an old boss of mine described websites as “the new company trifold/brochure.” Nowadays, with almost everyone and everything having one, it’s hard to believe that there was a time when they were considered “newfangled.” But he wasn’t wrong—these days websites are typically the first place people go to when they want to learn more about your company or organization, just like trifolds were back in the day.

As part of a Cincinnati-based marketing and communications agency, I’ve worked on a variety of websites for our clients, representing many different industries. And whether it is creating a new one from the ground up or updating an existing site, I’ve learned a few things along the way that help the process go as smoothly as possible:

• The Name Game.We worked with a website development partner and our client’s internal team members to update their website. With so many moving parts and people involved, we came up with a plan to “name” sections on our documents according to an agreed-upon system. Things were rolling along just fine until some of the section “names” changed halfway through the project, causing us to have to go back in and re-name everything. It was busy work that could have been avoided, so lesson learned– always make sure everyone is on the same page from the start and clearly communicate, early and often, if anything needs to change.
• Call Security. While working with a client on their pay-per-click campaign, we ran into some major security issues on their new website, leading Google to rejectthe keywords and campaign content. After much back and forth, we called in the big guns to address all of the security issues in order to get the campaign up and running once again. So, it’s always a good idea to vet the security of your site regularly and partner with an expert to overcome any issues as needed.
• Cheers! Yes, by all means celebrate project milestones and project completion! However, it is also great to get together with your team members and partners outside of meetings to socialize and get to know one another on a different level, if possible. It can make a huge difference in understanding one another’s personalities and working style, as well as just making positive connections. So, meet up for coffee, lunch, happy hour or dinner and enjoy!

Looking for more best practices? Check out this link.