Discovery is an essential part of any website redesign/rebuild project, helping you understand how people use your site, what pain points they have, what issues need to be addressed, and how you can improve design, navigation, user experience, site performance, and many other aspects of the site. Discovery’s benefits can even extend beyond the website itself to improve your company’s efficiency and collaboration. But what people often don’t realize is that, in addition to the aforementioned benefits, Discovery can save your company money. Let’s look at three ways in which Discovery can improve your bottom line:
1. Planning For the Future
One of the most important parts of the process of Discovery is understanding the goals and KPIs that will make your site successful. But in addition to defining these goals, you’ll want to be ready to redefine and expand on them in the future. This is similar to building a house; at first, you may only need a single story, but you might want to add more floors in the future. If the foundation you build can only handle one story, you won’t be able to add on to the house without having to tear it down and start all over.
Websites work the same way. Planning up front for future expansion will allow you to put the structure in place for continuous improvements, rather than having to do a complete redesign/rebuild every few years. Discovery allows you to look at what future expansions and improvements you might want to implement, and investing in this planning now will save a lot of money in the long run.
2. Eliminating Inefficiencies
During Discovery, companies often find areas in which different departments or personnel end up duplicating their efforts, leading to inefficiencies and increasing the amount of time needed to complete tasks or solve problems. For example, when a customer submits an inquiry or support request, it might not go to the correct person, and it will need to be forwarded on from department to department until it reaches the right individual. Or, one department might need to make changes to the website, but they require a developer or technician to implement them. These inefficiencies can not only increase the amount of time and effort needed to complete tasks, they can lead to reduced customer satisfaction, all of which can impact your bottom line.
Discovery allows you to find out where these overlaps and inefficiencies occur and resolve them. By reducing the need for extra work, eliminating the duplication of efforts, and improving customer response time, you will be able to not only create a better-functioning experience for both your employees and your customers, but also save time and money.
3. Reducing Support Costs
Discovery allows you to talk directly to your website’s users and find out their wants and needs, as well as any issues they might have and what types of questions they commonly ask. This information allows you to know what type of content to create on the website that will answer these questions and meet these needs, reducing the need for users to contact you for support.
For example, we’ve found that in a university setting, users can be divided into three main groups: prospective students, current students, and alumni. Each of these groups are looking for certain types of information, and if they can’t find what they are looking for, they will call or email the university to ask questions. During Discovery, talking to each of these groups and finding out how the website can answer these questions will reduce the amount of calls and emails, which will save the time and money spent answering these questions.
Bonus: Discovery Can Also Make Money
In addition to saving money by reducing costs, Discovery can help you determine how to personalize the experience for your website’s visitors. Understanding your users’ needs and what questions they are typically looking to answer will help you be able to provide them with exactly the information they are looking for, and doing so will not only reduce your support costs, it will help your site’s visitors convert into leads and customers.
Maximize Your ROI
Understanding what people want from your site will not only save money by allowing for future expansions, eliminating duplicated efforts, and reducing support costs, it can make you more money as you learn the best way to convert site visitors into customers. Discovery is essential for reaching this understanding of your website, and it is a key part of ensuring that you receive the best possible ROI. Do you want to know more about how Diagram's Discovery Services can provide you with this important insight into your website and company? Please contact us to speak to a Solutions Engineer, or feel free to leave a comment below.
