How Corporate Website Projects Go Wrong: A Cheat Sheet for Project Managers | by Rich Butkevic, PMP, CSM

1. How Corporate Website
Projects Go Wrong
A Cheat Sheet for Project Managers
Rich Butkevic,
PMP, CSM

2. EVERY WEBSITE
REDESIGN AND
REBUILD IS A NEW
PROCESS

3. For many corporations, creating a new website is a challenge
that they only go through once every few years

4. Whether it is moving the
website to a new URL
Redesigning the pages during
a rebranding effort
Making a significant change to
the content management
system (CMS)

5. THE
FOLLOWING
ISSUES CAN
EASILY
OCCUR
IF A WATCHFUL EYE
ISN'T ADOPTED
The good news is that corporate website projects can
benefit when you know the common mistakes and how
to avoid them

6. MISTAKE #1.
ACCIDENTLY CREATING
A TERRIBLE DESIGN

7. The design itself might be beautiful to look
at, but if the site's hierarchy and
navigational system is hard to use, then it is
not user-friendly, which means that it is a
terrible design
Avoiding this all too common mistake is
made easier when you take into account
site mapping best practices, and clean
navigational design in mind from the onset
of the website project
The best site hierarchy's will not only make
the website easier to use, but they will also
improve the user experience and deliver
the best SEO results

8. A GOOD SITE
STRUCTURE WILL
USE SITELINKS

9. SITELINKS
In layman's terms, sitelinks are the listing format
used by search engines to show the home page of
the website, followed by several internal links with
brief keyword focused meta descriptions below
CRAWLERS
The information that the crawlers gathered is then
given to the search engines, so that your site can be
properly indexed and displayed in related searches
BUILT Finally, your site must be built so that it is easy to
navigate on any device

10. Plan the hierarchy before you develop the website
Create a URL structure that uses your hierarchy as a
road map
Decide if you want to create your site navigation in
either HTML or CSS
Use a shallow depth design, so that each page can be
reached in three or fewer clicks
Create a header that lists the main navigation pages
Develop a comprehensive internal linking structure

11. MISTAKE #2.
NOT USING HTTPS
REDIRECTION

12. As its name suggests, HTTPS redirection is a
vital tool that must be used if corporate
websites are to be protected and accessed
properly
The HTTPS denotation refers to a security
certificate that encrypts traffic. However,
some requests may be made to the HTTP
version of the website. In the latter event,
an HTTPS redirection can be used to ensure
that the user is automatically redirected to
the HTTPS version of the site
The HTTPS ensures that all site visitors are
automatically directed to the version of the
site that encrypts traffic and subsequently
helps to prevent data theft

13. MISTAKE #3.
FAILING TO UPDATE
THE DOMAIN NAME
SYSTEMS (DNS).

14. If you are overhauling a corporate website,
then you will need to remember to update
the DNS with your domain registrar
The DNS servers ensure that internet users
don't have to memorize every single IP
address
Domain registrars will give domain owners the
tools that they need to manage their specific
name servers. During the website overhaul, you
will need to access the associated registrar's
account, so that you can change the DNS name
servers to point them to your site

15. NEW
WEBSITE
If you are changing the URL for your new website,
but still want pages from the old site forwarded, then
you will need to choose the appropriate HTTP
response code
301
A 301 redirect code is a permanent redirect that
allows users to type the old URL and instantly be
redirected to the new page

16. EXAMPLE
let's say that your old URL was
"MYCOMPANY.com," and your new
URL is "OURCOMPANY.com
The 301 redirect would ensure that any time anyone typed
MYCOMPANY.com, they were instead automatically taken
to the OURCOMPANY.com website

17. MISTAKE #4.
FAILING TO TEST THE
WEBSITE PROPERLY

18. When companies fail to properly test their
websites before they are launched to the
public
Often times a custom website that is built on
a corporate network will be routed
differently when it is no longer being
accessed from inside the corporate firewalls
The key is to test the website on a multitude of
devices and networks to ensure that is a)
accessible, and b) functioning properly.

19. HELP YOUR
CORPORATE WEBSITE
PROJECT GO
SMOOTHLY
If you want to successfully complete your
corporate website projects, then you will need
to avoid the above four common mistakes
 Through proper testing
 updating the DNS
 using HTTPS redirections (and
other redirects, such as 301
 focusing on site hierarchy and
navigation as key components
within your site design

20. SOURCES
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/
dns/what-is-dns/
https://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection
https://neilpatel.com/blog/site-
structure-enhance-seo/
https://freshsparks.com/common-web-
design-mistakes-to-avoid/