Have you noticed a new look around these parts? A couple of weeks ago I stupidly excitedly accepted a weekend site re-design challenge with some fellow Genesis WordPress users. A proper site redesign had been on my mind for months and this was the perfect kick in the pants to get me moving.
Anyone care to join @cdils and me in the weekend #genesiswp redesign challenge? Or take my spot? Because that’s ok, too.
— Megan Gray (@HouseofGrays) February 16, 2013
Before I share the details of the redesign with you, I have a confession to make: I started on Thursday night. (In college days, Thursday nights totally counted as the weekend. But just in case that doesn’t fly these days, don’t tell Megan.)
Operation: Weekend Redesign
I offer redesign services for clients ALL THE TIME, but am my own worst customer when it comes to strategic thinking about my site. As a matter of fact, I’ve been so frustrated with my lack of attention, I’d even considered outsourcing the site design.
So, you can see the timeliness of the Weekend Redesign Challenge! Once I said out loud I’d participate, these were the two biggest hurdles I wanted to overcome with my site lift:
- Direct my audience(s) to the right content
- Clearly communicate my service offerings
My Audience(s): The Challenge & Solution
You want a website design to attract and engage your audience. No brainer, right?
My challenge is that I have TWO audiences: My first (and biggest) audience is…YOU, my blog readers. You come here for helpful information and WordPress tutorials, but most of you aren’t looking to hire me, which is fine.
That brings me to my second audience…potential CLIENTS. Generally speaking, this group couldn’t care less how to create an archive template for a custom post type; they’re looking for someone to make a website.
I know from Google Analytics that most of my visitors arrive via search to a specific blog post (my first audience), so it made sense to tone down my blog presence on the home page (where my second audience is more likely to land) and make it more portfolio and business centric.
I also redesigned my About page to help funnel visitors in the right direction.
Will it work? My bounce rate has decreased slightly and conversion rates on my contact forms have increased. There’s still some tweaking to do, but I’m pleased with the results so far.
My Services: The Challenge & Solution
I’ve offered a variety of print and web services a looooong time, so there’s a lot of things I can do (and have done) for clients – everything from designing trade show banners to guerrilla marketing campaigns. But just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I want to do it (or even that I’m great at it).
Before the redesign challenge popped up, I’d already done a lot of soul-searching about what my “sweet spot” in business is. And you know what? I really freaking love working with WordPress, tweaking the heck out of Genesis themes, and teaching others along the way.
My pre-re-design site was a clustered mess of service offerings, not representative of the work I most enjoy, and confusing to potential customers.
Steve Woodruff over at Clarity Therapy has some great blog posts on clarifying and communicating your service (or product) offering. Chris Lema also wrote a thought-provoking post on saying no to work that’s not in line with your core offerings.
Those blog posts, coupled with other research and a dose of inspiration from Bill Erickson’s site, resulted in a hefty redesign of my Services page.
I also remodeled the intro to my site with a clear statement of who I am and what I do on my home page. No more guessing, dear readers!
Will it work? After just ten days I’m getting higher-quality leads through my pre-project review form (and by higher-quality I mean that the work requested is spot on with my newly refined service offerings). I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking, but so far so good. And Robert Neu gave me a big fat compliment on that page, which made me feel pretty good.
Hitting the Finish Line
Megan and I weren’t the only ones participating the Weekend Redesign Challenge. Despite my small cheat of starting early, Susan from Real Girl Designs finished first!
First out of the gate this weekend with a #genesiswp site redo is @affordpassions with bit.ly/YyCLcz! Well done, Susan!
— carrie dils (@cdils) February 17, 2013
I rolled out my site later that Sunday. It’s still a work in progress (and always will be), but I’m pretty excited to have covered so much territory in just a weekend. Next up on the chopping block is my Portfolio and completing some long-overdue project write-ups.
Ok, it’s not so much a “redesign” as a “thorough moving in to a theme.” bit.ly/150BtfC #genesiswp
— carrie dils (@cdils) February 18, 2013
Megan and I both based our redesigns on the Modern Portfolio theme from StudioPress. She’s got mad design skills, so it was really fun to see her interpretation of the theme.
ok, my friends. #genesiswp 24-hour redesign mission: accomplished. (still monday in CA!) my little work-in-progress: itsmegangray.com
— Megan Gray (@HouseofGrays) February 19, 2013
How About You?
What is it you’ve meant to do but haven’t gotten around to because of _________ ?
Maybe it’s a site redesign, maybe it’s getting off the couch and going for a run, or maybe it’s cleaning out the garage. As we head into the weekend, make a plan to start your project.
Leave me a note below and let me know what you’re starting. Say it out loud on the interwebs. GO!
Girlfriend, this speaks to me!! I’ve had a redesign (and redesigns of the redesigns and so on and so on…) in the pipes for 2 years. I too have considered outsourcing it!! lol
I love your design! Good job!
Get out there and DO IT! Consider this your swift kick in the pants.
*kick received* I have to admit, I’ve been more excited about it since that theme came out!!
(also: Modern is what I had planned to use for my most recent ideas too
A total consolidation/rework of all my web properties, housed in one Multisite install. I’ve gotten a start, just need to set aside the time to finish it!
Arm yourself with a LARGE pot of coffee, some tasty apples, an adult diaper, and HIT IT! What’s your motivator to consolidate into MU?
Love working with Multisite + easier management for me. Upgrade time, whether themes, plugins, or core, I only have to update one set of code, update the network (if core), and I’m done. Whether it’s 5 sites or 50 sites, I can do it all in under 5 minutes.
Most of the sites in the network will be part of the same domain (subfolder style), with 2 other sites mapped to their respective domains.
Just need to block out the time to do it. I don’t need to sleep, right?
I dunno–I still think a redesign that stands the test of time takes…well, time.
I spent years doing two day redesigns for me/my business (like seriously–15 years. I’m old.). A little over a year ago I took a few months to do all of the things I’d been recommending to clients since forever. So I spent the time on things like a for-real UI process with wireframes, user personas and competitor research. I also spent time developing a brand platform, figuring out what my unique value proposition was, and what type of design best communicated that. And when I started down a totally wrong (but fun to design) path, all of that planning helped me refocus on what I wanted my design to communicate.
IMO, it was all worth it, since it’s the first time I didn’t start planning my next redesign a week after I launched the new one. I’m getting ready to change a few things, but on the whole, I love how it looks and works, and only want to make minor changes right now (like making it responsive and expanding some functionality and messaging), but that’s it.
As always, YMMV, and there are exceptions to every rule, that’s just been my personal experience. Or maybe I’m just a slow ass OCD designer/developer.
I think calling my site a redesign is maybe a bit generous. It’s more of a beginning, a rough draft everyone can see. I agree with Chris that an enduring design takes time, skill, and great thought to craft–and I would be the first to say that’s not what I’ve built here. What I took away from our challenge was not a big design win, but the first experience where I worked frantically to finish something in the wee hours of the night…for myself. Had I given myself 2 or 3 weeks, it may have slipped again. And again. So it was nice to join you in this big push to just get something live and get the ball rolling.
So, what’s our next challenge, my friend?
Well, calling mine a redesign was generous, too, since I don’t think I touched Photoshop in the process. But let’s not get wrapped up in semantics.
I agree: The point was to take a block of time to knock something out that’s just been hanging out there undone. Let’s call them Dangling Chads. Or start a band called the Dangling Chads.
My next challenge (off-line) is to start training for a 10K. I recently hit the 5K mark, so it’s time to double down.
There’s something to be said for just getting a product out to market and not spending too long in the R&D phase, BUT (and that’s a big but) there’s no question about the value gained from the process you’re describing. The end result is obviously better.
For the record, I had to hit Google up for YMMV. You can’t be that old…
I really love what you’ve done here, Carrie. I was watching you ladies on Twitter that weekend and was secretly playing along. I am hoping to put my new design out there sometime next week! There, I said it. Now I have to get it finished, right?!
Yep, now you have to!
Yeah, now WE’RE ALL WATCHING.
Thanks for the mention, Carrie! And, for the encouragement to get up and running with my own site – I hesitate to call it a design site, since I am not worthy, but seriously, without you and Megan and Aida, I would still be twiddling my thumbs thinking about making the jump to offering my services!
You go girl! You’ve found a great home in the Genesis community and have a very valuable service to offer.
Even though one day isn’t enough for a full redesign, you guys pulled some seriously awesome things off.
The About page is fun and it works, Carrie. Love it! Love even more the pre-design form – a terrific idea. Really!
I’m deeply in love with Megan’s new site. Clean, light colors, small menu (spot on!). No one gets lost. All info needed is “right there”.
And Real Girl Design color combo is so ready for Spring/Summer!
Absolutely inspiring. All of you.
Well I read about your redesigns and started mine last weekend also with Modern P. As usual haflway through I didn’t like it so I restarted again. Today I’m starting to add some pages. Now to build it out. I have to say I’m following yours as a guide Carrie. Also nice colors Megan.
Hi Carrie,
First, let me just say that I love your website – love the look, and how easy it is to find any info. With that said, I have a question.
I’m presently working on creating a new website for my business with the Balance theme from StudioPress, and was wondering…How did you create the dark area at the top of every webpage?
I’ll be honest here, I’ve checked with Firefox/Firebug…and for sure, the answer must be in front of my eyes, but I don’t get it!!
Honestly, I must have spent a least a few good hours last Sunday trying to install the same design (different color) and nothing works. (Obviously, I have more to learn coding wise!)
Your help on this would be much appreciated, as this is driving me crazy (have to figure it out!)
Many thanks in advance!
Chris
Hi Chris,
This is a repeat since we’ve chatted in the forums, but wanted to post a link to the answer here in case someone else is reading through these comments later.
Cheers,
Carrie