There are many reasons government contractors will want to, or need to, refresh their websites. A smaller company that now has strong customer experience and success to share. New executive leadership that is redefining the company vision or strategy. Significant product or service suite expansion. A reconfigured organization following a merger or acquisition.
Whatever the reason, a refreshed website is a powerful way to reintroduce your company to your community. It’s also a risky move. A refreshed website, when poorly executed, can hurt your brand and reputation rather than elevate it.
Here are three mistakes to avoid when refreshing your GovCon website.
1. Start With Design
We get it. We LOVE a beautiful website! And it’s fun to work with web designers who magically create a digital space that’s modern or edgy. Dark themes, for example, are in. However, starting with design means potentially missing the mark with your government audience—especially if you’re working with a web designer who does not have GovCon experience.
In 2022, USA Facts reported that the average age of a federal employee was 47 years old, with more full-time permanent federal employees in the 50 – 54-year-old category than any other 5-year age group. Nearly 29% of federal employees were 55 or older.
Age matters because vision starts to decline in one’s mid- to -late 40s, especially when reading or working at a computer. So, your website must be easy to see, read, and navigate. Though dark themes are popular, too much reversed-out type puts a strain on the eyes and should be avoided for GovCon websites.
Ensure your website is accessible to all users. Follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and test your design for usability across different devices and browsers.
2. Put Yourself First
A website is the digital headquarters of your firm. It’s the place to tell everyone about you when you’re not in the room. Your company, leaders, customers, products and services, industry awards, news, and more. But, to responsibly share that essential and compelling information with your web visitors, you’ll need to put yourself in their shoes, first.
Who are you most trying to reach? Who are your secondary audiences? What do you want them to do when they get to your site?
Potential customers, potential employees, and reporters will all have different interests when they land on your homepage. So, it’s important to make it easy for all targeted visitors to quickly and easily find what they need and want. Adopt a “one click” rule, so your anticipated visitors can click once to get to your contract vehicles or services offerings (potential customers), career page with job openings (potential employees), and newsroom (media).
Before refreshing your site, map the “pathways” for each target audience, starting with your homepage.
3. Skimp on Content Strategy
Once you get the green light to refresh your website, your current site will look and sound increasingly dreary. The team will be eager to experience the new site as quickly as possible. And it’s easier to repurpose existing content to get to the new site faster.
Resist. A beautiful, easy-to-navigate website will not be enough to overcome uninspired or confusing content.
Instead, go back to why you’re doing the refresh now. What’s new? Take the time you need to nail down your key messages, tone, and style of the refreshed content. Create a content outline with a mix of engaging, informative headlines and SEO-friendly text that aligns with your objectives and audience needs. Use this opportunity to craft and tell your story.
Define what you want your website to achieve. Having clear goals helps guide your content creation process.
Your website refresh is worth doing well. A little planning before diving into the website design and content will help ensure your website will be well-structured, user-friendly, and effective in meeting your business goals and audience needs. And a beautifully executed website refresh can reengage and reenergize your team and others in your company community, helping the company thrive in the highly competitive federal marketplace.