Did you know there are almost 2 billion websites on the internet? So for a business, this means you have a lot of competition out there.
You need to do everything you can to stand out! And often, this means updating your website.
But it can be a daunting task to redesign your entire site. That’s why we’ve created this guide to help you through the process.
Read on for the 7 steps you need as part of your website redesign checklist.
1. Analyze Your Current Site
Before you start designing, you should analyze your current site.
There are probably some obvious things that need to improve. But usually, you’ll find elements that working well that you want to keep.
That’s why you should look at the data and see what pages perform the best. This will give you a clue into what pages are working the best.
It’s also a good idea to think about what parts of your overall brand need a refresh. Is it time to update your colors or logo? If so, these are design elements you should think about on your website.
2. Set Some Goals
Next, it’s time to set goals. With any technological or digital marketing project, it’s essential that you set goals so that you have a clear direction.
Without them, it’s a lot tougher to stay on track. Think of it this way: without an end goal for your website, it’s like going on a road trip without having a destination in mind. It simply won’t go well!
Also keep in mind that your goal shouldn’t just be to have a nice looking site. Your website should function well and get your users to convert.
Whether you sell a product online or use your site to generate leads, it’s important to identify how your new site can improve your business’ bottom line.
In all that you do, keep in mind that it’s a good idea to keep things simple. Don’t overload your site with complex code and huge paragraphs of text. Instead, decide on your goal, and then simplify the rest.
3. Research Your Target Audience
Now it’s time to think about your target audience. Many marketing teams have gone through this process before, so talk with your team to see if this research has already been done.
But even if you know who your audience is, it’s important to think about how this information applies to your website specifically.
Think about these questions:
- What information is most relevant and important to your target audience?
- How do they use your site?
- Do they visit more on mobile or desktop?
- Which pages do they visit most?
You can get a lot of this information from Google Analytics. To dive even more in depth, you can perform some market research. Doing these things will help you deliver a more relevant final product.
4. Look at Your Competitors
Take a second and put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Now visit each of your successful competitors and think about what it would be like to experience their website from your customers’ perspective.
Notice what they do really well and what things stand out to you about their content, layout, and imagery. You can take things that they do really well and implement similar ideas on your site.
This will help you capture more of your target market.
5. Responsiveness is Key
More people now surf the web on mobile devices than on desktop computers, so if your site performs poorly on mobile, you’re missing out on business. It’s that simple!
In order to be competitive in 2018, your mobile site has to be amazing. But if you’re not a developer, this can be a daunting task.
That’s why you should use a responsive builder in your redesign. This is a website builder that will automatically resize to fit any size device.
In other words, you only have to build your site once and then your builder will take care of the rest for you.
Check out this article for more information about building with WordPress.
6. A Website Redesign Checklist Essential: Make a Realistic Timeline
Now that you’ve gone through all these steps, it’s time to make a timeline. But the key here is to be realistic! Too many times, people get excited and think that they’ll have their website done in a week or two.
This is simply not the case. Doing a full website redesign takes time!
Depending on the number of pages you have, it can take anywhere from 3 to 5 months. So keep this in mind as you’re making future plans.
Also, think about what you have coming up. This will help you know when you need to have your site ready.
For example, is there an important company event happening soon? A large trade show? A big sale or promotion?
It’s important to think about these things because they can have a big effect on the timing of your site as well.
If you’re wanting to speed things up, there are things you can do. First of all, think about making your website smaller by reducing the number of pages. Often, you can consolidate information onto fewer pages if saving time is a big deal in your project.
7. Test, Test, Test
Once your new site is built, congratulations! You’re done working on it forever.
Just kidding. This is not the case.
In fact, the website redesign process continues on after this in the form of testing. You should look at the data over the next couple of weeks and months to see how things are going.
Which pages are working well? Which have a high bounce rate and need to be improved? Where are people abandoning your site?
All of these things can help you improve your site’s functionality.
Also look at what you change to improve conversion rates. Often, this comes by changing your calls to action or the color of buttons.
Closing Thoughts
Now that you’ve gone through our website redesign checklist, it’s time to make a plan for your site. In just a few months, you could have a totally brand new website!
For more tips and tricks, check out our business blog. We’re here to help you grow.
