How to Successfully Redesign an Existing Website
Posted on 17th January 2022
If your website isn’t getting the traffic it used to, enquiries and sales are dropping, or if your website is no longer appearing in the first pages of a Google search, chances are it’s in need of a redesign. That’s not unusual in today’s fast-paced, digital environment. You may decide that if you’re going for a website redesign, particularly if it’s been a few years, why not take the time to look at your brand as a whole.
Whether you go for a website redesign or decide to review and redesign your branding at the same time, it’s important to carefully consider what it is you’re trying to achieve and why. Every change you make has an impact on another area of your website, and not always for the better. So, we’ve put together our top tips to successfully redesign an existing website.
Does your website need a redesign?
Before you make your final decision to redesign your website, ask yourself a few questions first:
Is It starting to look dated in comparison to my competitors’ websites?
Are the pages slow to load?
Is any of the content outdated or incorrect
Are website traffic/enquiries/leads/sales dropping?
Has anyone commented about their user experience not being what it used to be, or not as good as a competitor’s?
Has it been more than 5 years since the website was launched?
If the answer to any one or more of the above is yes, it’s time to redesign your website. But that doesn’t necessarily mean your branding. In some cases, a website redesign does not need new branding but in others it will. The key thing is to make sure you’re clear on what you’re trying to achieve and identify the steps you need to take to get there.
As your business grows and evolves, your customers’ requirements (as well as your own) change, too. Couple this with the developments in technology and user expectations, new trends and Google’s ever-changing search algorithms, it’s to be expected that your website is going to need to adapt and improve to meet these changes
Benefits of a website redesign
Redesigning a website doesn’t necessarily mean building a completely new one. In most cases, the basis of your website is sound. It’s building new, updated, better functionality that will generate more traffic, more enquiries, more sales and leads. Some of reasons why you should redesign your website include:
Optimising your website for mobile devices
Did you know that 61% of all digital minutes are spent on a smartphone in the UK? Just imaging the potential you are missing out on if your website is not optimised for mobile devices.
● Better user experience
It takes just 10 seconds for users to decide whether they stay or go
● Page load speed
If the page takes more than 3 seconds to load, 40% of users will go elsewhere
● Improvements to SEO
With 75% of users not getting past the first page of search results, your website’s SEO is crucial
● Improve results
Isn’t this the main aim of your website, to bring in the enquiries, leads and sales?
● Bring in line with competitors’ websites
Most users will go to your competitors’ websites, too, so making yours stand out from the rest gives you the upper hand
● Functionality, flexibility and user engagement
There’s so much new technology out there, time to make use of it. Also think about dedicated landing pages, they’re all the rage at the moment.
● Outdated CMS
If it’s no longer easy to manage your website, it’s time to update your CMS.
Top tips for redesigning an existing website
Plan and strategize
Before you do anything, you must have a plan as part of your marketing strategy. Work out what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of, like poor imagery, content that is too long-winded and hard-to-find navigation. Map your customer’s journey from the moment they click on a link to your website to the time they become a customer. Think about the pages they will view (hopefully!), the content they will read, such as product descriptions, your CTAs and their placement, such as special offers, and checking out when they buy. Consider their thoughts, emotions, pain points, goals and opportunities on their journey.
Add reviews/testimonials
More than half of your visitors are likely to buy your product if they see positive reviews/testimonials from real people. They can take the form of videos, short bursts of text or live feeds from your social media accounts. Don’t forget to create your Google Business profile where people can leave reviews or consider using a review platform, like Trustpilot.
Placement of CTAs
Go back to your customer’s journey and make it obvious where you want them to go next. If a user has to search for the ‘book now’ or ‘more info’ button, it’s likely they’ll give up after a few seconds. Make them clear, make them straightforward and make them easy to see.
Get the best imagery possible
If you’re going to be using stock imagery, make sure they are as natural as possible and not staged. You may also find that your competitors are using the same images as you so always check. A good way of doing this is to upload them to TinEye which shows how popular that image has been and how many people are currently using it. The best option, if you can, is to hire a photographer to take new, fresh images for your website, such as product photos.
Navigation is key
Make sure your website is easy to navigate for users by mapping out pages in a way that is easy to find relevant pages and for users to understand.
A scrolling home page
Days gone by, we hated home pages that users had to scroll through; now it is expected. Add three to five sections of your website to your home page scroll to make it easy for users to find and direct them. For example, your latest products, your products/services, your latest offers, your blog and case studies or testimonials. You don’t need to add reams of content, just a brief summary to entice the user to click for further information.
At it’seeze Windsor, we know what works when it comes to website design and are up to date on the latest technology and trends. So, if you’re not sure if your website is working for you, then we offer a free Website Health Check that will decipher the areas where improvements can be made. Call us today to create a website that will help your business, compete and thrive both now and in the future.
Tagged as: Ecommerce websites, web design
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