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What is Web Strategy and

How to Create One in 6 Steps
 Joe Ardeeser (https://www.jordancrown.com/blog/author/joe/)

 Marketing (https://www.jordancrown.com/blog/category/marketing/), Strategy

(https://www.jordancrown.com/blog/category/strategy/)

 Add Comment (https://www.jordancrown.com/blog/what-is-web-strategy/#comments)

The problem with most web strategies, whether you’re designing a new site
from scratch or you’re in charge of a website overhaul, is that they’re often
viewed as “once and done” projects.

This creates a never-ending cycle of website (re)launch > website becomes stale
> website (re)launch, and with every fresh iteration of a new design, the
motivation is on to make sure it thrives.

But without a robust web strategy, the motivation wears off quickly and you’re
left in the same cycle of launch and neglect. Sure, you may update the site from
time to time with new products or recent news, but by not having a strategy,
the site will continue to languish and be stuck in this never-ending cycle.
A web strategy is, in essence, a road map that takes you from where you are, to
where you want to be. More than a simple to-do list or checklist, it’s more of a
never-ending series of steps that allow for changes and course-corrections as
technology advances. Beyond the technological aspect, there’s also the
undercurrent of customer behavior — how are the changes in the world
around us affecting how we shop, browse and spend time online? The best web
strategy will encompass all of that and more.

So how do you go about creating a web strategy that will not only grow your
website but break that cycle? Follow these six steps to develop a web strategy
(https://www.jordancrown.com/services/digital-strategy/) that works!

Establish Attainable Goals

Create a Plan for Ongoing Maintenance
Be Relentless about Improvements
Budget for Uncertainties
Test, Track and Measure
Analyze the Data, but Don’t Forget the Human Side

Let’s dive right in and look at each part of building a web strategy in detail:

1. Establish Attainable Goals

(https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/close-up-coffee-
colleagues-1394739.jpg)

The very first step is one of the most important. Writing down attainable goals
actually serves two purposes in regards to web strategy: it puts your ideas into
a concrete form and can actually shape how you go about designing or
redesigning various website elements in order to better attain said goals.

Whether you’re creating an information site, a blog or a more visually-oriented

space, having goals that align with your site will allow you to pour your creative
and developmental talents into designing and incorporating facets of an
improved user experience that fit those goals — creating a win-win for you and
your site.

2. Create a Plan for Ongoing Maintenance

(https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/close-up-hands-
handwriting-1181537.jpg)

Many websites grow stale simply because they have no plans for ongoing
maintenance. But things do change over time — technology and trends march
on, and any website which ignores this does so at its peril. Custom WordPress
development (https://www.jordancrown.com/services/custom-wordpress-
development/) may need to be done. Plugins or services need to be updated,
new items or services added, and so on.

Each one of these doesn’t necessarily mean a complete overhaul, but

oftentimes, businesses believe a complete overhaul is needed because they
want to integrate so many new things at one time, rather than integrating them
over time as they become available and as it becomes a smart decision to do
so.
3. Be Relentless about Improvements

(https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/pexels-photo-
259092.jpg)
 (https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/advertising-
business-close-up-259092.jpg)

Not quite as overarching as maintenance, improvements feature prominently in

any web strategy. You may be getting subscribers and attracting customers on
a decent level at a reasonable price, but what if you could do better?
Improvements can mean anything that can have a discernible effect on your
conversion rate — from professional web design
(https://www.jordancrown.com/services/web-design/) to removing a form field
(that people weren’t filling in anyway), or even adding a live chat feature.

Creating these hypotheses and making these improvements over time also
shows you what’s working and what isn’t with your target audience, as well as
what’s barely budging the needle. You’ll need this information as your website
and all the marketing initiatives and campaigns that surround it, continue to
grow.
4. Budget for Uncertainties

(https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/accounting-bill-
black-53621.jpg)

When it comes to web strategy, it’s not a matter of if it happens, but when. By
setting aside a small portion of your budget to deal with these uncertainties as
they crop up, you’ll not only avoid the inevitable slip into full-on Crisis Mode, but
you’ll also be able to weather the storm in case there are emergencies that
need to be dealt with — even if they’re out of your control.

5. Test, Track and Measure

 (https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ai-artificial-
intelligence-code-34676.jpg)

This part of the strategy circles back to being relentless about improvements.
By testing, tracking and measuring the impact of those improvements, you can
share data with confidence that determines how customers and prospects are
interacting with your website.

This allows you to not only make more informed decisions as to the direction of
your site, but it also allows you to identify any bottlenecks that could be
affecting the user experience and customer journey in ways that you may not
have anticipated. These could be anything from server issues to a cumbersome
checkout process — things you’ll never know about if you don’t test, track and
measure.
6. Analyze the Data, but Don’t Forget the
Human Side

(https://www.jordancrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/pexels-photo-
1365436.jpeg)
Of course, once you start analyzing the data, it’s easy to get caught up in relying
entirely on things like statistical significance before you implement any changes.
But getting too attached to the data can also be a deterrent to your strategy.
Data takes time to come in, and having enough of it to be able to forecast or
predict winning changes can take even longer.

There’s also an innately human side to every action and transaction taken on
your site, and it’s good not to forget that in your quest to power your site with
more data-driven decisions. From the responsiveness of customer service to
the courtesy of live chat and phone service, all too often, website strategy gets
too tangled up in the “web” part without much attention being paid to the
“service” part.

But by following these steps in developing your web strategy, not only will you
be miles ahead of your competitors, but you’ll also be creating a customer
experience that’s designed to delight and amaze, encouraging more repeat
visits without the downtime and investment of a complete website overhaul.

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