Refreshing the website and shifting platform to wordpress.
After 3 months of experimenting with all that, I decided to stick to what I already had before and simply make some design changes + other simple changes in the presentation.
I realized that shifting everything to wordpress was actually NOT a serious advantage and was changing nothing to the user's experience.
The truth is that both options work. They are both good but none of them is perfect.
The actual redesign of the navigation and making the 6000 pages of content coherent would still have taken me another few weeks of work and other projects were strongly calling.
Here is what I learned:
- That I have a backup system in place ready just in case - this gives me peace of mind.
- That working with freelancers is powerful and that the main challenge is finding the right people.
- I learned a lot about technicalities.
- I discovered that taking the leap from 80% good to 100% is a huge shift that requires SOLID attention and energy.
I will expand on this last point because I think this exact choice can create failure or success in any business.
For 2 months, I did engage fully my energy into the technical battle to make the new platform work.
I succeeded!
It works!
I would have needed another 2 months to make everything coherent, recreate the sales pages in the new platform, etc.
The reasons why I stopped is because:
- It was taking too long
- A user would not even have seen the difference between the old platform and the new one.
- On my side the level of complexity to manage both types of websites was very similar.
What I was trying to do from the start is PERFECT something that was already ok.
Some improvements took place BUT the quality of the site is still at 80% I feel.
It is close to what it was before.
A visitor would have to dive into it to really see changes. Most people will notice NOTHING except a few minor design changes.
My point is that this target of 100% perfection was NOT reached.
I tried but it stayed close to what it was before.
Now, this exact point is a VERY strategic choice because these 2 months that I invested pursuing perfection could have been spent in a whole variety of things.
Yes, updates were necessary and I didn't know this fact before I started.
Now that I went deep into it, I see that what I was trying to do was the equivalent of changing a shop's location from one place to another without real benefits.
So, I don't have to do it again!
In the future when confronted with the same call to head to 100% perfection, I don't need to respond.
Good is ALWAYS good enough!
The energy it takes to head to 100% is far too high.
It is stressful and super demanding!
In fact I did have a feeling about this before starting!
One of my key stress free strategies says "Aim for good, not perfect!"
I still agree with that and this effectiveness law has been reinforced in me even stronger!
This doesn't need to be applied just to website design, you can apply it to ANYTHING!
From nutrition strategies, choosing a place to live to writing a book.
It is all the same!
Perfection is NOT needed!
It needs to work of course!
The basics must be there!
It must be good at 80%.
The remaining 20% to reach perfection are NOT needed.
I will remember that when making strategic choices in the future.