So you think it’s time to freshen things up a bit. It’s been a few years — You’re tired of the colors, text or the images… maybe just the overall look of the site. Don’t move too fast though.
When it comes time to redesign or rebuild your site, the number options that you have today can be overwhelming. A lot of website owners get really excited at just the prospect of completely overhauling the site so that they’re in line with the hottest trends. Some however will learn (the hard way), that rebuilding the site doesn’t always guarantee a better site experience for their visitors.
It’s crucial to research a bit so that you know the overall functionality of your site, and take note of the parts that’ll require more care as you rebuild.
1. Spend some time on your site and ask yourself… Do you NEED a redesign?
You shouldn’t rebuild just for the sake of rebuilding. You need a compelling reason as to why.
For example:
Once you have a clear answer in mind, that will help guide you to the end result. Just have a clear reason why you think the site needs rebuilding.
2. Know who your target audience is
While you may enjoy looking at a new, shiny and super-cool website, it’s really there to cater to your customers (and the potential ones!). Think of the types of visitors that you’ll have that make up the overall user base. You can then have a proper site structure created that’ll help guide those visitors.
After a detailed analysis you’ll know what parts of the current site work for your target audience, and those that simply don’t. Plus you’ll learn what parts need improvement, better page load times, etc.
Remember, your site is there to cater to your customers. Proper research always leads to a better end result.
3. Numbers don’t lie
While it’s great to hear from customers, friends and co-workers that the site “looks awesome, I love it!”, it’s even better when you have measurable evidence to back it up. And by measurable evidence, I’m referring to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
They are the bread and butter in determining whether or not your website is really fulfilling its full potential.
KPIs such as:
This will all give you a good idea of where your site is performing well, and where it needs attention. Find the weaknesses and address them ASAP. This will not only make the redesign process smoother, but will result in:
4. Know your competition
The industry that you’re in can have a big influence on your redesign. You might find that your competitors have already updated their site to cater to today’s visitor or a different demographic. Maybe they’ve rebranded altogether. Whatever the case.
Knowing (and analysing) your competition will help you in deciding which direction you should take in your own redesign. Straight-up copying is never a good idea. Just simply take inspiration from as many sources as possible.
5. Don’t lose sight of your branding
When considering a rebuild, ask yourself this:
Settle on your brand identity, keep it consistent throughout the entirety of the redesign and dump the old visuals that simply won’t fit in with the new user experience you’re planning.
6. Keep SEO in mind from the start
Any site… old, new, redesigned or otherwise, must rely heavily on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) if it wants to make a connection with a customer. SEO needs to be the focus from day one. The goal should be to ensure that your rebuild reaches the customers that you want it to reach.
If it’s not the primary goal then you’re losing potential customers… at a minimum.
Worst case scenario, you’re losing customers altogether, and it’s game over.
Simply ensure that you:
7. Ensure responsiveness
Smart Insights says that 80% of internet users own a smartphone, so ensuring your new site looks great and works well on mobile is an absolute must. If not, you risk losing out on customers! Consider this…
More often than not, a website needs a slightly different structure to fully support mobile. After all, there’s only so much real estate on a smartphone. Menus have to appear differently, images and text need to be resized and some page components need to be hidden on mobile entirely.
Ensure a smooth user experience but don’t deviate too far from the overall design.
8. Site accessibility
Accessibility refers to your site supporting those with disabilities. And like point #6 above, keep accessibility in mind right from the start. Site accessibility is more important now than it’s ever been. In fact, most stats will tell you that at least 70% of individuals with disabilities will leave your site immediately if it’s not accessible.
Not all disabilities make it difficult for people to use the web, but it’s important that anyone creating online content understands accessibility and how their visitors access that content.
Not only is making your site accessible simply just the right thing to do, there are business benefits as well. You’ll be following proper guidelines as outlined by WCAG, increasing overall usability and Google will reward you as well in terms of SEO. A win, win.
