If you’re looking at this website, it might be because your current one isn’t cutting it for one reason or another. Maybe your site is outdated or your sales are not where you’d like them to be.
What I’ve found over the years is that significant website work (website overhaul or a new website) is always part of a company’s growth stage.
That being the case, when the time comes, it’s very helpful to have someone on board who is more than a website developer, someone who is more than a website designer. CX designer is the current industry term for someone who can oversee and guide the integration of website development, website design, user interface design, brand execution, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and customer service– so that, at the end of the day, the money you spend on your website development project is a well-placed investment that will significantly increase sales.
What Is Customer Experience (CX) Design?
Customer Experience design really answers the question of how to make more money online. It’s a complex equation that has several parts. When done effectively and with the right oversight, the result is a significant boost in online sales. Why? Because all parts of the design, development and marketing are effectively focused on and yoked to the customer experience.
What I’ve seen over the years is that website development projects very often end up being the product of a dynamic between the developer and the business owner – with the focus almost always being on making the business owner happy. The focus shifts from the customer to the business owner who most likely is not a website designer, not a conversion specialist or online sales funnel expert. So what the business owner “wants” may not always be what is best for the business in terms of increasing revenue. This is where web development projects fail or at least fail to be what they could for the money that’s being spent.
Is Customer Experience Design Measurable?
Definitely! Measuring revenue, traffic flow, conversion rates before and after a website project is essential to ensuring the project is a financial success for the company.
As a CX Specialist, What Services Do You Offer?
Having experience with all the components of online sales, I can help to oversee all parts of a website development project or focus in on any particular area that is desired. Some examples include:
Project Discovery
The discovery process is essential for:
- setting up project expectations
- determining what challenges are involved
- forming a realistic project roadmap
- accurately assessing project costs
- in the case of eCommerce websites, analyzing the structure of existing product data
- effective project planning (costs and timelines)
Competitive Analysis
In order to compete effectively online, we must know where the opportunities and challenges are with search engine traffic. Effective competitive analysis looks at competitor branding, SEO, marketing and sales funnel design to accurately gauge what’s required to compete effectively. This information provides the proper foundation and context for the upcoming website design.
Website Development & User Interface Design
Here again, I’ll mention the customer experience. By having someone who is laser focused on making sure that the website design and the way it’s programmed (built) remain answerable to the customer experience is the best way for the entire team to stay in alignment on project goals.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is a critical part of website development. There are many little details that need to be attended to during the website overhaul or new build that will have a significant impact on sales once the project is completed. Effective SEO is done within the context of sales funnels.
Marketing
All of the preceding steps, when done correctly, are the perfect setup for effective marketing – either right at launch or down the road. From a bird’s eye view, marketing is simply the act of pouring customers into the sales funnels and then monitoring conversion rates and continually improving on them.
Customer Service
An incredibly important part of customer experience and your business’s brand is customer service. What happens when something goes wrong? How does your brand promise take shape in the nuts and bolts of your customer service system? How does your customer service generate more sales for the business? There are all important questions to answer.