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Raise your emoji hand if this sounds familiar: “I want our new website to be live in 5 months…” One year later it goes live. ✋ If you have ever been a part of either a website launch or a refresh, you know the frustration of deadlines and launch dates being pushed back. What if it doesn’t have to be that way? What if I told you your website could go live in just 120 days from the start of the project?
Growth Drive Design (GDD) is a concept created by HubSpot that approaches a website redesign or refresh in three simple stages: Strategy, LaunchPad, and Continuous Improvement. These three stages are strategic ways to get your site live in just 120 days with the idea that you are constantly making updates to and iterating the website in order to increase lead generation and optimize the user experience (UX) based on real-time data your team is gathering. RIP 👻 to the traditional website build and hello to Growth-Driven Design.
1. The Strategy Stage
Strategy has become one of the most common words in the business world. Why? Because it matters. If you are not being strategic with every project, then the money is being tossed out the window (not in a cool way). In the strategy stage of GDD, your team works together to set smart goals, understand user behavior, solve design problems and connect with customers on your site.
You cannot build a website if you do not know who your customers are and how they connect with your product or service online. The strategy stage allows you to identify who your buyer personas are and create a strategic website that will optimize the UX, ultimately increasing lead generation.
The final step in the strategy stage is a comprehensive brainstorming session where you create a wishlist for your entire website. The possibilities are endless for this session - no idea is deemed too big. Your entire team will collaborate on what they would love to see on the website now and in the future. Already getting excited?!
2. The LaunchPad Stage
Would you ever go to space? In 10 years that might be a common question in a day-to-day conversation. 🤯 When you see a rocket take off, where does it begin? (If you don’t know the answer I have given five hints already.) if you said the launch pad you are right! In the GDD process, the LaunchPad website is viewed the same way as a rocket launch, a starting point.
So what’s included on this version of the website? Remember that wishlist you read about 38 seconds ago? Your wishlist should follow the 80/20 rule: focus on the 20% of items that will produce 80% of the impact and value for visitors. You will be successful if you make sure the action items are doable during the set timeframe and prioritize all items on the list.
3. The Continuous Improvement Stage
The traditional way of website building entails the build, launch, and “set-it-and-forget-it” approach (i.e. don’t touch the website for about a year). Frankly, that is just not sustainable! Imagine if you adopted that same mindset for your car. Your engine would blow up because you didn’t perform any routine checks. That example might seem extreme, but it holds true for most websites.
The continuous improvement stage is quite possibly the most important of GDD. In this stage, you will perform quarterly sprint cycles based on reviewing analytics and your wish list items that were not included on the LaunchPad site. Communication with your team should be at the forefront of this process. Your Sales, Marketing, and HR teams need to be in communication with the web team to let them know what is converting and performing and what is not. Once acknowledged, you can look at user data or a wishlist item to help that department fulfill its goal. The process continues each quarter and your website is continually being updated with relevant sprints that will help the company reach its quarterly and yearly goals.
Growth-Driven Design is a refreshing way to view website design. With strategy driving the overall design, your website will be ready to continuously produce growth every month and help your business achieve its overall goals. Does Growth Driven Design seem like it could be the web solution your team is looking for? At Second Mile Marketing, we are certified in GDD by HubSpot and are ready to help your website launch in just 120 days with the GDD approach.