A successful website redesign. These are the steps you need to take!

If you have decided that your website needs a makeover, there is usually an obvious symptom or problem that you have identified. Perhaps its design is outdated, or perhaps traffic has stalled or conversions are falling. Whatever the cause, a website redesign can both solve many problems and, if done badly, ruin a business. Read this article and find out how, with proper planning and research, you can make your redesigned website a success and avoid unnecessary stress.

What does a website redesign involve?

Website redesign (otherwise redesign) consists of modernising it, refreshing it so that it is as functional as possible from the user's point of view, in line with the latest web design trends and with a modern look. This is simply bringing it up to the prevailing standards in terms of aesthetics, technology, content and search engine optimisation.

Why consider upgrading your website at all. It's simple. It is your/your company's showcase on the web. It presents what you have to offer and is usually the first 'point of contact' with potential customers. Therefore, a website that looks like it was created by a junior high school student in the nineties and that generates technical problems is an anti-advertisement that deters web users. Redesigning your site will help keep visitors coming back for longer and become the best marketing tool you will have at your disposal.

How do you know if it is time for a website redesign?

Before you invest your company's time and budget in redesigning your site, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. Reasons such as "I just don't like this look anymore" or "A competitor just redesigned their site, so I have to too" are not sufficient. If your existing site effectively attracts visitors to the site and converts, there is no reason to change it. Let analysis, not subjective opinion, be the judge.

When considering a website redesign, ask yourself these questions

• Is the website currently mobile-friendly? How does it display on mobile devices?
• Is the design of the website consistent with the overall branding of the brand?
• Have your business objectives changed since you launched your current website?
• Is the website easy for web users to navigate? In other words, do they find it difficult to get to the content they need?
• Is the website fulfilling its main purpose? Does it convert? What is its rejection rate?
• Does it function flawlessly and not generate errors?
• Is the site easy 'to maintain'? In other words, is it simple in terms of publishing content and updates? Is it built on an intuitive CMS-ie (content management system)?

By analysing your answers to these questions, you should be able to quickly see if it is time to redesign your site.

Summary - top three reasons why a website needs a redesign

1. the site does not provide value to visitors
2. is not adapted to users of mobile devices
3. is outdated and unfashionable

Assuming that all signs in heaven and earth point to the need for a site redesign, find out the key steps to take.

Website redesign - key steps

Audit of current website and competition analysis

At the very beginning of the path, document your current performance indicators, i.e. performance metrics. This will give you an idea of where the website currently stands and what indicators can be improved through redesign. Among other things, analyse monthly number of visitors, bounce rate (rejection rate), time spent on the site, number of pages indexed, key phrases with the best results or monthly number of leads acquired. Much of this data can be extracted, for example, in the tool Google Analytics. Of course, the importance of each of these indicators will vary depending on the objectives of the site in question.

Although obsessing about your competitors is no good, it is also worth finding out how you compare with other companies. You can get to know your search engine competitors through tools such as Senuto i Ahrefs. Look at your competitors' websites and pay attention to what you like and don't like about them. This process will make you aware of what you can do better on your website.

Understanding the user journey

The user journey represents the stages a user goes through on the way to purchase and focuses on the different actions and emotions they feel at each stage. The only way to achieve success is through understanding, what the user is looking for, what questions he or she expects answers to and how he or she will look for them on the site on the way to purchase. Therefore, the question to ask yourself when planning a site redesign is "Are there any holes that a user may fall into on the site during their path?". How do you get the answer to this question? You can do it the old-fashioned way - by interviewing or surveying customers about their experience with the site. Or you can use more modern ways and harness tools such as User Testing whether heat maps Hotjar.

Defining the purpose of the redesign and the brand message

As we have already established, there is a reason why you need to redesign your site. Now is the time to dig deeper into those reasons and set specific, achievable goals. Based on the findings of your site audit, you will have an idea of which areas need improvement. This is a good start to creating goals. An example? Perhaps your current site has a steady stream of inbound traffic, yet new leads (contacts) are not coming in. In this case, the goal might be to increase the conversion rate by x per cent in six months.

What about the message? Before creating a new site design and fresh content, clearly specify your branding, messaging and unique value proposition. This will ensure that the whole site is consistent and that first-time visitors to the site will immediately understand what you are doing and how it can benefit them.

Preparation of redevelopment strategy

Once you know what the problems of the current site are and have defined goals, you are ready to build a redevelopment strategy to achieve those goals. 

What should such a strategy contain?

• site map - new site map is your chance to reorganise your existing pages, removing old, unnecessary ones and adding new ones that may be missing.
• message strategy - You need to have a good understanding of what your message is. What story are you trying to tell on your website? What journey do you want to take your buyers on and what are you allowing them to achieve? What problems or challenges are you helping them to overcome?
• user flow map - A user flow map maps the specific steps expected of users at each stage to perform an action. Mapping your ideal user flow will help you start thinking about this, how visitors interact with the site. Once you have planned how users will navigate the site, it is time to optimise the different stages of their journey.
• keyword research - is an important step in optimising a new website for search and in gaining knowledge of what users are looking for. Knowing the phrases your ideal customers are searching for allows you to use them when writing your website content. This, in turn, not only helps you to gain higher search engine rankings, but also to resonate better with your audience. For keyword research, use tools such as, for example Google Keyword Planner or Answer the Public.

Protection of search engine optimised pages

When carrying out your analysis, find out which pages generate the most traffic, gain the most inbound links and convert the most leads. If you plan to move any of these high-value sites, make sure you create the right 301 redirections. You can read more about these redirections HERE.

After a time of audits and planning comes the design and creation of the new site. These are the most exciting stages for some, as weeks of hard work finally begin to take shape. Before publishing, check the site for broken links, missing images, metadata verification and redirects, among other things.

Websites in redevelopment - proper preparation is key

Remember, when you are thinking about redesigning your website, the first step is always to identify why you want to do it. Make sure the decision is justified. From this point on, the success of the venture will depend on spending enough time on preparation and planning.