Redesigning Your Website? Focus on These 8 Questions

If you have noticed that your website is not gaining a lot of traffic or engaging customers, then it may be time for you to consider redesigning your website. This is especially true if your website has been up and going for over a year and hasn’t been updated on a regular basis. It is very important that you stay relevant, and nothing shouts out to your customers that you are behind the times more than a front-end site. However, redesigns can often be costly and time-consuming, even when you know what you are doing.

So, before you begin a website redesign, you need to make sure that you ask yourself the following eight questions:

1. When was your website last updated?

When it comes to the time that needs to be spent on your redesign, the answer to this question will help determine it. If your site has not been updated in more than a year, then you are going to need to spend a lot of time on just the content of your website. The more outdated of a website that you have, the less that your website is going to show up in search engine results. This means that you are going to have reduced traffic, exposure and revenue. However, if you have been relatively diligent about your content updates, then you can spend less time on the site’s design and optimization.

2. What exactly is wrong with the existing site?

In the eyes of your visitors, any outdated elements – old layouts, content, images and resources – will immediately and drastically age your website. A single broken image or bad hyperlink can turn your hot lead on their heels in mere seconds. Outdated business information can create confusion for your customers and a whole lot of trouble for you. Scour your website and create a list of problems that you notice, then start a list of potential solutions.

3. How much do you hope/want to accomplish?

Are you wanting to rebrand or revamp? Determine what it is that you want to achieve and be very liberal with your estimates. As long as you can have a very clear strategy from the start, you will be able to get a lot more from the work that you do. A basic content revamp could take hours or it could take days, whereas a full rebrand may take weeks or it could take months.

4. What is it that you like about other sites?

Look at some of your competitor’s websites. What do you like about them in comparison to your website? Does your competition have more modern designs? Are their contact forms simpler and more basic? Do they have a wider assortment of features? Feel free to visit websites in industries outside of your industry. What can you take from their websites and put into your design to suit your vision and brand?

5. What is your overall business goal?

Are you aiming to convert leads at a faster pace? Would you like to increase traffic and/or purchases? Are you interested in drawing visitors to your brick-and-mortar store? Keep in mind that it is unlikely that you can achieve all of these without looking for some additional help. Therefore, you need to determine which one of these is your main priority and execute everything that you can to achieve that goal. There are lots of online resources (frees on at that) that can assist you with improving your website’s SEO, and this is where every entrepreneur should begin.

6. Have your offerings changed?

While this has been slightly touched one, it’s worth mentioning again because it is so important to the overall success of your business. If your offerings have changed, even in the slightest bit, it is very important that it is addressed on your website. This is particularly true for e-commerce sites, but it is also true for those who have physical storefronts. When people come to your website, they expect for their online experience to translate into their experience in-store. When it does not, you will lose business. So, make sure that your products/services are properly represented online at all times.

7. Can you analyze the success of your website?

As a general rule, web builders will provide built-in analytics/integrations. This data is important for online retailers as well as small businesses because it can help you pinpoint the content that is falling short and the content that is drawing in the most traffic. This data is crucial to your redesign and your business as a whole. This type of information simply isn’t readily available offline, so make sure to use it to your advantage and use it when making business decisions.

8. Do you have a mobile-friendly website?

With the popularity of smartphones, customers expect your website to perform well on their mobile device – just as well as it would on their home desktop. If your website is not mobile-optimized, you are simply asking to be thrown to the curb. Your site will load slowly, handle poorly and look terrible on the majority of screens. Your priority needs to be developing a clean, user-friendly, and mobile-friendly website in this mobile-driven world, especially if you are considering a redesign anyway.

If you aren’t sure where to get started with your website redesign or if you have questions or concerns, reach out to use at WebDetail.