How to use growth-driven design to amplify your web presence

A significant marketing tool for business, websites are the virtual equivalent of a physical entity catering to billions of internet users. Having one can help generate leads, educate the audience, and streamline the business process. It will take time to update and redesign content once you launch a live site for a traditionally developed website. However, the behaviour and needs of consumers are evolving together with technology. Research shows a significant increase in internet usage and reliability; Statista reports that As of January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide, which is a 200% increase in user statistics from 2010 vs 2021. This is a call for action amongst business owners to take the next step on your websites if you want to get ahead of the competition and create a better appeal to the target audience.

Why Shift to GDD?

The phrase “Traditional web design is broken” has become the very core of shifting into Growth-Driven Design (GDD). Technically, it requires an immense time investment and up-front cost in a traditional web design and also runs very late once launched and redesigned again. It also has an unpredicted result given that it is built with a “set it and forget it” method. GDD is a smarter approach than the high risk set traditional Design; when it comes to investment, it can be spread out over time, launch on time, and is within a reasonable budget. GDD also eliminates headaches for the team–given more detailed planning, and drives optimal results using data.

Growth-Driven Design is all about the long-termness; to attain that, it entails consistent and flowing improvements, escalating impact over time. Most importantly, it is seen as an investment–a functional tool in this digital era, rather than an expense.

How does it help your business grow?

Growth-Driven Design is a web design methodology that initiates augmentations and modifications without spending a large number of resources in modifying or developing the Website. GDD helps a business understand its customers better about how they think throughout the period and identify what is needed in the process employing it in the web design that will eventually improve business operations.

Technically, the performance of several elements in the website sections will be analysed; then, updates will be implemented in real-time. Say, for example, the performance of the elements or pages is not optimal; several tests can be administered depending on the varying consumer trends. The Website may easily adjust its Design to promote growth and conversions. In essence, GDD allows a business to efficiently acclimate to the marketing and sales objectives through strategic design, launch, analysis, and optimisation.

Stages of Growth-Driven Design (Methodology)

STAGE 1: Strategy

The goal is to establish a solid framework for the entire design process. Initially, identifying buyer personas allows the team to set a foundation for implementing future strategies. It is also ideal to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely)–based on historical results obtained and the needs of the teams/departments. There is a need to perform quantitative and qualitative research to identify specific goals, in other words, administering a “Web audit”.

• Buyer Personas – A Persona is a fictional representation of the business’s ideal customer. It is having a clear understanding of the prospect’s role, motives, pain points, and demographic and psychographic information. This is a critical part of the strategy since GDD pivots around the user. Creating in-depth persona profiles will commence the platform for future activities.
• Buyer Journeys – Develop an outline of the buyer’s journey for each persona profile; it is ideal to have an optimised and accessible content when mapping out each experience.
• SEO – Another critical stage in designing is incorporating keywords and phrases similar to those entered in the prospect’s search bars. Analyse what the prospects are searching for and integrate the business content, including blog posts, page content, guides, videos, and others.
• Positioning – This aspect answers the question: “What do customers gain by working with you?”. It ensures the business’s strengths are aligned with the prospect users’ needs by simply communicating what value the brand can bring to them.
• Wish list – This list will outline all the things the team would like to add to or modify. In this part, actions will have to be prioritised based on their impact on the site’s performance.

STAGE 2: Launchpad

With everything provided from the initial phase, this stage immediately develops a functional and more improved website that delivers the most critical value to the prospects–but take note that this is not the final output. This second stage helps validate assumptions faster than a traditional web design. With immediate results, it allows the business to get value from it. Several methods can be employed in this stage, such as Refresh, Kick-start, and Launchpad and Expand.

• Refresh – For relatively new websites, it is important to look critically at the existing site to determine if it truly aligns with the new strategy. Instead of doing a complete change, the team can start by realigning the Website’s significant items.
• Kickstart – Outdated and misaligned messaging leads to creating an entirely new site. This method provides an ultra-fast approach to redesigning by using templates and pre-built assets. It may save time and money, but it will be limited to what the templates offer.
• Launch and Expand – This method is applicable for companies with large websites–by constructing sections according to priority. Through compartmentalisation, the process makes each task separated from the other to concentrate on the task at hand.

STAGE 3: Continuous Improvement

Once up and running, the team collects actual user data and distinguishes the high-impact operations necessary for the business to thrive. This stage’s main concepts are lean thinking and the agile process–which are also essential in the whole GDD methodology. Digital22 defined these two central concepts clearly; Lean Thinking aims to maximise efficiency and value to customers by reducing risks and eliminating waste. The Agile Process is a collaborative means to deconstruct complex projects into small portions. This stage aims to go through a cycle, re-evaluate the process, and then adjust accordingly.

The Cycle Process

• STEP 1: Plan – Evaluate the current performance to be apprised in any significant opportunities; review site analytics and form insights that will make the best decisions about the changes to be made. In this step, the team is encouraged to continually brainstorm for its wishlist items, thus arranging it according to priority for further implementation.
• STEP 2: Build – Implementing the changes identified during the planning stage and prioritising them based on their potential impact. In this step, the team will have to start completing each item selected in the planning phase and closely monitor its impact on the Website’s performance.
• STEP 3: Learn & Transfer – Review site performance against the goals; the information may be used to update the existing wishlist. This stage centres on conveying any impactful information that the team learned during the cycle towards other parts of the business.

And so, let the cycle repeat itself. Moreover, Growth-Driven Design ensures that businesses create more innovative content for their users continually. With an efficient and practical design, you gain a deeper understanding of your customers, having the opportunity to continuously improve what your business offers to your leads, users, and returning visitors.