A Website Redesign Process to Achieve Results
Companies often consider a website redesign when they feel their sites aren’t performing as they should. There are a number of reasons to make changes to a site, from poor performance to not working and low traffic to responsiveness issues and so much more.
Before you choose to make any drastic changes it’s important to put a process in place, which can ensure your designer achieves the results you are looking to achieve.
The first step to any website redesign process is to know your current traffic results, the keywords that generate the most interest and your average sales generated from the site. These are important starting points, ensuring your new site exceeds these expectations.
Next you’ll want to determine your goals, most companies have the same goals in mind. You will probably want to increase the number of visitors to your site on a daily basis, you will want to generate more leads, increase your sales and incorporate SEO (search engine optimization) into your pages to improve your business ranking in search results.
Once you have chosen a designer, it’s important to work closely with them throughout the entire website redesign process from the research stages where you determine which of your keywords are performing to the development stages. This can help you keep your finger on the pulse and make any necessary changes as and when you feel it is needed.
Next you will want to take a look at your target audience. Consider gender, age group and interest of this group. Your new site should be based around your audience, ensuring you reach a wider audience with ease once you launch your new site.
Branding is important and you don’t want to make any obvious changes to your logo, name or slogan. Updating your logo to be more current is advisable, but it shouldn’t be so extreme that no one recognizes you. This is very important if you have been in business for years and everyone knows and recognizes your name and logo. Large global companies such as Pepsi, Yahoo and more have changed their branding over the years, being current and trendy without venturing too far away from their original design.
When considering your website redesign process, take a look at your competitor’s sites, see what changes they have made recently, especially if they are appealing to a larger percentage of your target audience. This can help you and your designer come up with innovative and creative ways for you to dominate your market online.
Ensure you are aware of which of your pages are performing in search results. Do some searches and see which of your pages are already appearing on the front page of the search results. Advice your designer immediately, as it’s not wise to make changes to these pages. Remember changes to the pages can affect your ranking in search results, which means it may take time to build your name up again to appearing on the front page.
Through research you will be able to determine which of your pages to include in your website redesign process. Often some subtle changes, updates, navigation and other methods are used to ensure the site performs at its best, appealing to your audiences and helping you increase your online revenue.
Throughout the design process, ensure that your site still appeals to your audience and that performing pages keep their same name and tags, as this is already working for you.
It is imperative once the site has been developed and ready for launch that the final step in your website redesign process is testing. All sites should be thoroughly tested for performance, responsiveness and more.
