In smaller companies, selling a redesign might come easily if the site doesn’t have much

traffic yet, the company is still trying to define its overall market position, and the lack of

managerial layers facilitates a more communicative environment. In larger companies, a

redesign proposition might be daunting for an outside agency. Bureaucratic red tape is

notorious for stifling change. Any major marketing decisions—even if you can prove they

will clearly benefit the company—have to be addressed formally and thoughtfully. In other

words, politics often come into play.

The better your proposal, the better chance it has for approval. Please note that “better”

does not mean “longer.” In fact, getting a proposal read and checked off requires brevity,

accuracy, and conviction, but in order to do that, you need to acquire several things.

The research

First and foremost, digging in and researching the industry and technology will provide a

strong background going forward. Answer the fundamental questions. What is the state of

the browser market and standards compliance? What skill sets need to be acquired to

complete the redesign?

The cold hard facts

What will be the tangible, measurable benefits of the redesign? These are the primary, sec-

ondary, and tertiary goals just discussed—the quantifiable benefits to the company’s bot-

tom line, spelled out in numbers and ranked by importance. These need to be prominent

and explained in plain language. Any type of inner-circle nomenclature, buzzword-laden

prose, or technobabble will make as much headway with a management team as a pillow

through concrete. Simple words, clear messages.

The timeline

Define the length of the redesign process, from start to finish. It’s important to spell this

out in as much detail as possible, taking into account the team’s current workload, learn-

ing curves for new technology, testing phases, and whatever else is pertinent. There are

two key rules in laying out the project timeline:

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WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES

Indicate major landmarks for the process: Don’t package the redesign as one lump

project; break the timeline into manageable chunks approvers can understand and

measure against. Make sure each milestone can be proven with a tangible product,

like a wireframe, a functional comp, or a fully operational beta.