Growth Driven Design: The Story Behind a Record-Breaking Website Launch

Redesigning a website used to take months. There were the endless back-and-forths with the design team. Countless content revisions to get every word just right. And don't forget about the inevitable delays that push a launch date back a month (or more!)

I've been in this business for 15 years. I've seen how stressful, messy and time-consuming a website redesign can get. I've seen website redesigns that should have taken three months stretch out to over a year.

It doesn't have to be that way.

A Revolution in Web Design

In early 2014, Media Junction embarked on a new approach to website design. A client wanted to get their website up quickly and make enhancements based on real data about how customers actually use their site. So that’s exactly what we did. We launched our first growth driven design website in only 60 days - a fraction of the time of a traditional redesign.

Next we used the growth driven design process to transform the Media Junction website. Our previous 12 redesigns had each taken from 6 months to an entire year. With GDD, we launched in only 63 days, while still maintaining a full client load.

Then came our growth driven website design project with Formation Data Systems.

The Challenge

Formation Data Systems was starting from ground zero. They needed strategy, content, branding and imagery — and they needed a website fast.

I called around asking “Can you build us a brand new website in under a month?” (And, by the way we have no content, no brand…essentially no assets). Most agencies simply laughed! Then I called Media Junction and they said, “Sure. No Problem.”
- Lisa Lewis, Marketing Director at Formation Data Systems

We blocked off time on the calendar and the entire team dug in.

Then Bloomberg Business asked Formation Data System's CEO Mark S. Lewis to do an interview on Bloomberg Radio. The only problem? The new website wasn't scheduled to launch until after the interview.

The Formation Data Systems team came to us with a request: "Can we launch early?" We responded, "We're up for this if you are!" And then we made it happen.

How We Did a Complete Website Redesign in 21 Days

With traditional website design, a fast launch takes three months — if everything goes right. The Formation Data Systems team made it possible for Media Junction to launch their new website in three weeks.

Here's what it takes:

1. Committing to a Date

In the proposal, we had selected June 24th as the launch date. Both the Media Junction and Formation teams blocked off their schedules and allocated time to make the website happen. Instead of slotting the website design around other work for months, the Formation team made it a priority.

When the interview with Bloomberg Radio prompted Formation to want to move up the launch, the team dug in harder to get everything done on time.

2. Making Decisions Fast

We help a lot of companies redo their website design and branding (Media Junction did over 100 website redesigns in 2014). Picking a new look, layout, brand and message is a tough, emotional process and there's always a lot of back-and-forth. That's honestly what takes the longest in a website redesign.

Formation Data Systems was the perfect partner for a growth driven design website. Right from the start, they committed themselves to the process, met tight deadlines and communicated well. We love working with companies that are so committed to growing their business.
- Trish Lessard,CEO at Media Junction

3. Acknowledging Perfection is a Process

With growth driven design, the goal is to focus on the 20% of a website that gives 80% of the results.The Formation Data Systems team decided that they could launch with the "must haves" and then come back post launch to build on what they had started.

When the website launched on June 19th, it wasn't perfect. But the Formation Data Systems team had an updated, beautiful website ready when their CEO did an internationally-published interview on Bloomberg Radio. That's an amazing accomplishment!

Results and Future Plans

In the six weeks since the Formation Data Systems website launched, their overall site traffic has increased by 35% and organic traffic has increased by 60%.

After the website redesign, visitors are converting to leads at much greater rates than ever before. Conversions are up 1,200% and their landing pages average a 13.64% conversion rate. Their highest performing landing page is now converting at 26.56%.

Over the next months, we will be working with Formation Data Systems to add the "nice to haves" to their website and make improvements based on how actual customers use their website.

That's the foundation of growth driven design. Get the website up fast, test assumptions and make continuous improvements. But it's only possible if you have a client as dedicated to the process as you are.

As the new marketing director for Formation Data Systems my immediate priority was a world-class website in just three weeks. I could not have built a website without Media Junction as a dedicated partner. Being completely integrated with HubSpot gives us total visibility into marketing campaigns. Together, Media Junction and HubSpot have created a marketing nirvana I never thought possible.
- Lisa Lewis, Marketing Director at Formation Data Systems