3 Takeaways from our 12 Day Perfectly Planned Website Challenge

We ran our first ever 12 Day Perfectly Planned Website Challenge in July and it went really well, if we do say so ourselves! Although it’s not just us who is saying it, so it must be true.

Planning a website is so important which is why we created the 12 Day Perfectly Planned Website Challenge and it’s not only us that think so. Smashing Magazine amongst others have featured website planning guides, but more often than not these are targeted at planning your website and then handing a brief to a developer, which you may not have the budget to do. They also don’t give you hands on guidance and support to guide you through the process. We feel our challenge did this when we ran it the first time but we also know it’s important to evaluate the process to make sure we really did get it right.

We have reviewed the challenge, how we felt it went and also the feedback we received from people on the challenge and we have identified three key takeaways from the challenge, which will help us to make it even better when we run it again in September.

1. The atmosphere in the website challenge Facebook Group was amazing.

When we set up the Facebook group we knew it would be key to providing support through the challenge, using Facebook lives to add to the video tutorials and workbooks and also as an opportunity for people to ask questions. We also used it for text based Q&A sessions and gave people the opportunity to post their work on the tasks in the group to get feedback. What we hadn’t anticipated was the positivity that would flow through the group. People were supporting each other, giving feedback and chatting to each other in the comments on the Facebook lives.

There was also a lot of positivity towards us, comments and posts of gratitude, appreciation for our style of delivery and just generally a lovely supportive response to the challenge that we had created. This made the experience of running the challenge so much more fun than we had anticipated and we were incredibly grateful for this group of people being on the challenge.

2. Some people need longer than 12 days to complete the website challenge.

Some people managed to block out the time and stay on top of the tasks in the 12 days, others found that full time jobs, children, illness etc prevented them from keeping up. As we reiterated all the way through, this isn’t a problem. After the challenge is finished, the videos, workbooks and Facebook group are still available and we are still popping into the Facebook group to answer questions as and when they pop up, but if people had set themselves a deadline to get their website planned by a set date, these set backs would be frustrating. So, for the next challenge we are going to give an option for people to access the tutorial videos and workbooks early so they can prep before the challenge starts and then they will be able to have their website perfectly planned at the end of the challenge.

We have also made a few tweaks to the workbooks to ensure the common questions that came up in the first challenge are addressed which will hopefully help keep the momentum flowing more easily for participants, if their questions are answered before they have even asked them.

3. Challenge participants had some amazing outcomes.

Throughout the challenge there were many moments of clarity for people which was brilliant to see.

“If you are confused about what you, as a business owner, need to do about your website, look no further. Chris and Jude have designed a fully comprehensive, easy to follow 12 day Challenge which will take you from confused to crystal clear. I started the Challenge knowing I needed a website but had zero idea where or how to start. The website market seemed a little daunting to me with lots of conflicting advice available. Completing this course has given me a structured plan which I fully understand and I believe that this knowledge will now enable me to portray my business in it’s very best light. I thoroughly recommend this Challenge and Chris and Jude at Ready, Steady Websites for their professional expertise and personal attention. So glad I found you!”

Jayne Saunderson

“This challenge really helped me work out how to structure my site and really focus in on how to make it appealing to my ideal client. The tasks were broken down in such a way it made this a much less daunting task and manageable. Chris and Jude have such a wide variety of expertise, it’s not just technical, they really understand how to help you make your website work for you and stand out from the crowd. Their responsiveness in the Facebook group was second to none!”

Carly Campbell

One area of the challenge that created the most questions was how the get the structure of a business website right so that website visitors would be drawn to the right pages. The feedback we were able to give during this task of the challenge created a lot of lightbulb moments for people.

“The 12-Day Challenge was a great way to focus and understand exactly what one needs to consider for a comprehensive business website. The tasks were manageable and even if you don’t finish all of them you will be much further along the path, with more insight, than you were before. Chris and Jude have been so generous with their time and support too, answering really specific questions and making recommendations.”

Kate Llewellyn

“The 12 Day Perfectly Planned Website Challenge is a brilliant way to understand all the aspects needed in planning your website, with no obligation to use their services at the end of the Challenge. Chris and Jude cover all the necessary areas and more, providing comprehensive but easy-to-follow worksheets to guide you through the Challenge. A mixture of live ‘teach’ and responsive Q&A sessions with individual feedback to questions are both very supportive, and the Challenge is structured so you don’t lose momentum but gives enough time to get the tasks done. The duo’s engaging ‘double-act’ keeps the challenge light, fun and motivating. They give an overview of other website/membership platform options, and position theirs accordingly without a hard sell – great integrity. I was with Wix but I’m going with Ready Steady Websites. Would definitely recommend!”

Amanda Heading

As I said at the start of the post, we are running the challenge again in September and if you feel it would benefit you then you can find out more here.