Prior to an ambitious redesign, the western wear retailer Boot Barn had identified that their old website was cumbersome. Limited functionality on the inside hindered their ability to offer customers innovative promotions. In fact they had to rely on an external agency to update the website. On the customer side, a poor user experience resulted in high cart abandon rates- shoppers leaving the website without paying for their chosen items.

Prior to redesign, their website revenue was just over twice that of an average brick-and-mortar store. Sounds good, right? It’s not- they were falling far short of their goals for website revenue which were closer to a five fold increase over their retail locations

You may not do e-commerce on your website. But what is it there for, if not to engage your prospects and customers and get them to interact with your brand? In a fast-paced, dog-eat-dog market, shouldn’t you have the flexibility to change your message and your offers on the fly and not rely on someone else’s good graces to keep your website up to date?

Boot Barn’s old website had excellent search engine equity. To build on it for the new website, they had team members enter additional key words helping to describe each of their 30,000 products.  And to make sure they stayed on top they undertook a Search Engine Marketing (Google Adwords) campaign to help garner new traffic for the new website.

If you are considering a website redesign, it is crucial for you to understand the search engine equity in your current website and have a plan in place to maintain and build on it after launch of your new website. Search engine optimization is so much more than keywords- it is dynamic and multi-faceted. Make sure you have an SEO expert involved in your new website project.

Boot Barn launched their new site last Fall. When Dave Gusick, director of e-commerce for Boot Barn, entered the warehouse on a morning soon after running some post-Thanksgiving specials, he was surprised to find picked and packed parcels stacked to the ceiling, waiting to be shipped. A joy, and a challenge, that required efficient new systems and workflow to handle the added volume.

No matter whether you do e-commerce or not, a new website may significantly change the way you do business.  Keeping your new website up to date may require additional resources- you may need to reassign duties or add to your team. If you are looking to engage prospects online and fast track them to qualified leads you may need to address workflow within your organization.

Considering a website redesign? Keep these points in mind:

• Be aware of current inefficiencies for both you and your audience and address them on your new website.
• Assess current search engine equity and put a plan together to maintain and build on it
• Be aware of how your new website may subtly change your business, whether it be general workflow and systems or feeding your business development and sales functions.