Have a think about your current website…
You feel attached to it: it’s been by your side and helped you and your business grow – or perhaps it’s not even been born! Either way, you know you need to do something about it. You might not be super technical but you understand that you need an eye-catching website that pulls the user straight into it, and it needs to be fast and reliable. We can’t blame the internet fully for our decreasing attention span, but it’s certainly playing its part. If on the contrary you have good technical know-how, this issue might play on your mind even more because you know a slow website means an increase in your website’s bounce rate, ultimately reducing your potential to engage with your audience.
How do you even begin planning a website update?
There are so many aspects to a website. If you already have one, it’s likely to have a few problems or features you see on your competitors’ websites you wish you had. It’s not jealousy when it’s inspiration: it’s research. Before you think about updating your website, it’s important for you to understand what your objectives are. Are you hoping to sell more products online? Have you had a change in your business strategy and need to share this with the world? Are you expanding your geographical reach?
It can certainly be overwhelming, but at Carbon Creative you won’t be alone and you’ll have a full agency ready to help you meet your objectives.
So what’s the purpose of the web workshop, why do some agencies like them?
Like all fun questions, the answer is: it depends! Not all clients ask us for a workshop, but sometimes due to the amount of stakeholders in the organisation they know themselves that it will be required. Not all projects require the in-depth process of a workshop either. We’ll always strive to offer you the best option for your vision and your budget.
Regardless if you approach us with a workshop in mind or not, it’s possible the team will suggest one to you if they feel this will improve the outcome of the project. There are many reasons why a web workshop might be suggested, but we’ve written down a few here for you to understand the value it will bring to your organisation.
You don’t know where to start
If we ask you what you want, all you could say is a new website. And that is perfectly okay! Though we encourage you to research, we understand that not everyone has either the expertise or time to dedicate to their web project, as much as they’d like to. A workshop will help you be fully immersed in the project over the course of half a day in a condensed format.
You will leave the session with an understanding of what each stage of the web project means to you and how your input is being treated by the team at Carbon. During a workshop, you will also gain a better understanding of your users, and perhaps even discover some user types you hadn’t even considered in the past.
You have a lot of different audiences
If you want your new website to engage with a wide range of people, perhaps from different backgrounds or with different reasons to access the website, things can get tricky very quickly if you haven’t identified these user groups right at the start.
During a web workshop, we will explore all your users in detail and understand what it is that they want and need from the website. This stage is really important as it allows the designers and developers to fully immerse themselves in the project. It helps everyone get very excited about a new project and keeps us on track to help us help you.
You want to integrate functionality into your website
Perhaps you want to make your website more powerful with some integrations, or maybe you want to step into the world of ecommerce. These kinds of projects usually differ from brochure websites because they usually require more scoping time to ensure what you’re getting is truly the best option for you.
Integrations and extra functionality can really help optimise your website and streamline your admins’ processes, ultimately saving them valuable time. However, functionality can come at a cost, so we like to discuss your needs and offer you a cost effective solution based on our experience.
You have a deadline and expectations to meet
It might sound counterintuitive to delay the start date of your new web project if you have a deadline to meet. After all, doesn’t it make sense to get started right this second? Let us explain why rushing into a job isn’t always appropriate.
If you run head first into a web project, you’ll likely be missing out on important research that will help your project run smoother down the line. You’ll likely be attached to the project, which is why it’s really important to get a second pair of eyes on the project, and your account manager at Carbon Creative will be there to help you manage your budget, timings, and expectations.
To conclude…
After reading this article, you should now have a good understanding as to why an agency like Carbon Creative would suggest a workshop for your new web project. Our workshops are always bespoke and tailored to the needs of your unique website vision, and we know that you and your team will gain valuable knowledge that will serve you not only throughout the duration of the project but also after launch. We want to listen to everyone who attends: we love to collaborate and we couldn’t create websites for our clients without their insider knowledge. You know yourself better than anyone, we’re here to help the world understand that more.
