It happens to every website owner.
When your website finally launches, the excitement grows with the prospect of reaching new visitors and serving more customers. Each time you visit your new website, you are impressed by the design and features you helped create.
But over time you start seeing other websites with newer features. Better features. You find sites that are beautifully designed. Your website suddenly looks drab compared to the new models.
Then you get the feeling that people are not visiting like they used to. The “likes” and comments start to plateau. Someone says your website does not work well on their mobile phone.
What do you do? Is it time to call your web designer or developer? Is your website ready for a facelift? Maybe.
Are You Ready for a Website Redesign?
There are many signs that point to a website redesign. You might not be getting new customers through your website. Maybe it’s not mobile friendly. Or maybe you want to start blogging or posting new content that your current design does not support.
If it is indeed time for a website redesign, here are 6 factors to consider even before you start playing with new colours and updated graphics.
Start with Why
What is the main reason for the redesign? If you’re just tired of the look, you might want to rethink your decision to redesign. That being said, it is important to have a design that communicates your brand and appeals to your target market. But before you spend time and money on a redesign, make sure it is more than cosmetic.
Have a Clear Strategy
The best way to begin your new website strategy is by taking a close look at your website’s actual activity. What do current stats tell you about what your existing website is doing? Use tools like Google Analytics and social media to see what’s working and what’s not.
What visitors are reading? What are they commenting on? What are they sharing with others? Focus on that type of content and move away from what is not working.
You might even do a survey to see what your customers like about your site, or what they might like to see added. Are there parts of your site that people complain about? Is something confusing for them?
Take time to develop a clear content strategy based on your analysis. Then start creating new content that reflects your new research.
Consider User Interface vs. User Experience
What really needs the update: the interface or the experience? User interface issues are related to the design, how the website looks. User experience relates to the actual feeling of visitors as they go through your website.
You can get more technical definitions elsewhere, but one of the best I’ve read is this analogy: user interface is like seeing an attractive person from a distance. User experience is what happens when you actually start to interact with that person.
As you know, your feelings can change dramatically between seeing an attractive person and actually talking with him/her!
Apply that analogy to your website. Does the user experience live up to the user interface? Is the experience of using your website positive or negative for visitors? Do they find what they’re looking for? Are forms easy to fill out? Can they buy products online and checkout smoothly?
In your website redesign, give careful thought to an attractive user interface, but make sure the user experience lives up to the initial attraction.
Re-evaluate Your “Calls to Action”
How do you want website visitors to respond on your website and take action? Do you want them to respond to special offers, to post product reviews, or to comment on blog posts? Do you need to setup a clear call to action form on your home page? Could you add a call to action on other pages like the bottom of each blog post? Would popups, slide-ins, or other lead generating forms help increase conversions based on new marketing goals?
Have a Mobile Strategy
Make sure your website redesign works well on mobile devices. Analytics will tell you how many visitors are already accessing your website with mobile devices. Expect that number to increase over the next few years.
A redesign is the perfect opportunity to make your website mobile friendly. Use what you learned by analyzing what people are actually using and engaging with on your website. Make sure this content is easily accessible on mobile devices.
SEO
Yes, I left SEO to the end. Why? Well, it’s true that your website redesign needs to comply with search engine requirements in order to rank well. You want to do all you can to be found on page one of Google’s search results.
But if you are creating a website full of content that delivers good value for visitors, your website will eventually rank well. People will return. They will share your content with others via social media. They’ll link to your posts from their websites. All of this will improve your search engine ranking. If your website visitors like you, Google will too.
A website redesign is a good time to make sure your pages and posts are using keywords that target your market. Take the time to research words and terms that people actually use to find content like yours. You can ask your SEO team to do a fresh keyword research analysis, or use Google’s keyword research tools.
What factors are you considering in your website redesign? Please comment below.
Lighthouse Marketing
Lighthouse Marketing Inc. specializes in visually appealing, mobile friendly website design. We are an independently owned 18 year old Canadian company based in the Lower Mainland of BC, and are not affiliated with any company bearing a similar name in other areas of North America.
In addition to our existing website services, the past 3 years has seen dynamic growth in the area of SEO services, particularly with regard to local search. Our evolution to a full service SEO company means that we now offer complete online business solutions that involve Google local search as well as an effective social media strategy.
Lighthouse Marketing services the Surrey, Langley, Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, White Rock, Delta, New Westminster, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and Abbotsford areas, as well as other locations throughout the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley.
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