When a website goes down, it's all hands on deck. Sometimes the problem is a minor glitch, other times it's more serious. Rebuilding a website may, depending on the scenario, require a high degree of technical knowhow. In all cases, however, it will require speed and communication.
Annie's Wine Cottage is one such case study in which the company lost their entire website, database, and even their domain name. All that remained was a small amount of info, pulled from the Wayback Machine, and a physical business location with a strong community presence to back it all up. Other times, the situation may be less dire. What follows here are four keys to taking over development and rebuilding a website when things are looking bleak.
How to Rebuild a Website That Has Crashed
1. Reset Expectations
Sometimes, a previous developer does a poor job. It's frustrating when a website is compromised by someone else's poor decisions and weak programming. We make a point at the beginning of these sort of projects to lay out the ways in which we will approach rebuilding the website differently than the previous developer has. Resetting expectations, explaining the steps we'll take, and laying out the best practices that require a little more care and planning are crucial to rebuilding a website that can grow with a business.
2. Move Quickly in the Initial Stage of Rebuilding a Website
Your client's ability to continue doing business may depend on an expeditious turnaround. If you're taking over for another developer, chances are something went sideways and isn't working quite right. If a site is dead in the water, move quickly to get some sort of message out to customers. A banner or explanation on the home page is better than nothing, but try to stand something up as soon as possible. With that accomplished, the objective is clear: rebuild a website, informed by the existing business, that can continue to evolve going forward.
3. Don't Keep Your Client in the Dark
These are relationships that require trust. Especially in a case where website problems can affect bottom lines, it's wise to keep clients apprised and updated throughout the site or webpage redesign. No one wants to be in the dark when it comes to their livelihood.
To that end, working in the technology industry, we must bear in mind the high degree of trust an average client is forced to place in their web developer. Not only do devs often have the bones of entire businesses in our hands, but many of the folks who hire us also have a limited understanding of what we're actually doing. After all, we literally have separate, dedicated languages for talking about this stuff. For that reason, clear communication is absolutely vital.
If you ask me, there are two types of professionals that the average person has to trust, almost blindly, in day-to-day life. These are mechanics and medical professionals. When my car is smoking under the hood, you'll find me pulling up YouTube tutorials and Yelp reviews with Car Talk droning in the background. But at the end of the day, if my mechanic tells me the carburetor needs replaced immediately, it's getting replaced. When my dentist said I needed my first filling even though nothing hurt back there, I let her drill. Truthfully, I just don't know enough to argue about cavities or internal combustion. For a small business owner in the 21st century, web developers often fall into that same tier of necessitated trust. Make sure your client knows you're worthy of it.
4. Don't Keep Your Client's Audience in the Dark
Imagine that you regularly order shampoo from an online shop. One day, the URL generates an error code. How many tries would you give it before assuming the business has gone under, giving up on the company, and beginning the process of finding your shampoo elsewhere?
You'll want to ensure your client's customers don't face this question. Displaying a temporary note on the home page to explain what's going on is a great way to stop traffic from becoming disillusioned with the state of a downed website. This way, you avoid drawing extra attention to the issue while providing a heads up to anyone who might try to access the site. That will buy you some time to get to work rebuilding the website. Making things as easy as possible on users always helps retain site traffic.
Need a Custom Website Redesign?
Rebuilding a website in these conditions can certainly be a challenge. I'm reminded of the old workman's adage, "Measure twice. Cut once." When working to rebuild a website, communication, efficiency, and solid planning have been some of our best tools. It always pays to build something right the first time, from the foundation up. But when, for whatever reason, that doesn't happen — when rebuilding a website is the only way forward — some strategies are better than others. If you need help with a custom website redesign or rebuilding a website from the ground up, our team is standing by!
