Website redesign has become a major part of a web designer’s daily work and with good reason. Software updates and improvements and SEO requirements change year on year necessitate updates to your website, but there are other considerations that may force a redesign. Businesses should evaluate their website regularly and assess whether it is still fit for purpose. After all, times change and software changes too. It will very likely be possible to improve the look but it may also be possible to improve the function too.
A website is one of the best ways for companies to reach their target market. This can be improved by using a pay per click campaign with Google or Facebook etc. but if your website does not impress your visitors even these may not pay.
A website is a low cost but worthwhile investment, but many business owners do not recognise the value of a good website. Maybe they have an old website that they bought many years ago and they think it did that since it did not bring in any business they would be wasting their time and money paying for an update.
They may be right, but how do they know?
- They just set it and forgot it.
- They never ask their customers where they heard of their business. People often visit a website and phone the business. The business owner never knows that they visited the website.
- They never checked if the website was ranking for the relevant keywords in their locality.
- They never updated any part of it.
- They never had tracking installed or never checked it.
… so they have an antique website and still they complain that the website did not work for them.
Website Redesign has in fact become a necessity for businesses in the increasingly competitive environment that we find ourselves in today. But it is also a fact that some websites have remained unchanged for many years. For a business, this is a disaster. Your visitors will judge your business on the quality of your website. If your website is behind the times and is not using modern designs and functions, people will assume that your service is the same and will move on to your competitor. Then someone suggests that you update your website and you refuse because you believe that it is a waste of money since you don’t get any business from it.
Look at your competitors’ websites. Some of them will most likely resemble your own and some will have a really nice, modern, responsive, fast-loading and informative website that encourages visitors to do business with them. Who would you expect people to call?
If you approach a web design company with a view to redesigning your website, they should know what to do and will discuss the possibilities with you. But if you want to do your own evaluation of your website before making that call, there are some things that will help you get an idea of what is involved.
- A Website Redesign does not always mean that there will just be some minor adjustments to your existing website. In fact, it usually means a completely new website for your business. This is often because it would take far more work to adjust the old website, bring the software up to date and keep the website as secure as possible. It makes sense to start from scratch knowing that you will have a quality website in the end.
- The redesign needs to be done with SEO in mind. Your website needs to be built and the content written with your customers in mind to give them the best experience possible on your website. The search engines today take that into account when ranking websites in the search results.
- Products and services at your business may have changed since you first built a website. You need to display your latest offerings in the best way to encourage business.
- You may now want to include eCommerce on your website to enable your visitors to order your product or service from your website.
- It may be that your current website is not responsive and is unusable on a mobile phone. The majority of web traffic today comes from smart-phones. If you are not able to connect with your visitors with a mobile-ready website, you will be missing out on over 50% of your possible traffic.
- Your brand? Did you think of your brand? Your current may not adequately reflect your current branding. Does it display your logo and colour scheme?
- There may be some good elements of your current website that you need to consider keeping. Be sure to mention these to your designer. He (or she) may or may not agree with you, but they will give you reasons either way.
How to Help Your Web Designer with the Website Redesign
- Define what you need from your website.
- Outline what you like about your current website as early as possible. (not when it has been removed and the new site finished.)
Work with your web design company. They may not be familiar with your business, but even if they are they will need to get your views and ideas, to ensure that they get the results you need and you will be happy with the result.
A website redesign can be a complicated process, but there are several ways you can help your web designer to ensure a successful outcome.
Here are some tips:
- Define your goals: Before beginning the redesign process, define your goals for the new website. What do you want to achieve? What are your priorities? Share this information with your designer so they can create a design that meets your needs.
- Provide feedback: Your web designer will likely present you with several design options throughout the process. Make sure to provide clear, constructive feedback on what you like and what you don’t like about each design. This will help your designer understand your preferences and create a design that aligns with your vision.
- Be open to suggestions: While it’s important to communicate your preferences, it’s also important to be open to suggestions from your designer. They may have ideas that you haven’t considered, or they may suggest a design element that could significantly improve the user experience.
- Provide content: Your designer will need content to populate the new website. This includes text, images, videos, and any other media that will be displayed on the site. Make sure to provide this content in a timely manner, so your designer can incorporate it into the design.
- Test the website: Once the website is complete, test it thoroughly to ensure it functions properly and meets your goals. Provide feedback to your designer if there are any issues or areas that need improvement.
By following these tips, you can help your web designer create a website redesign that meets your needs and achieves your goals.
