Kleinburg Brewery
- design
- / web
Designing a website from scratch is one thing, but doing a website redesign can be somewhat tricky. You will have to be very careful ensuring that the company’s brand stays intact. Not only that, but you’ll even have to take SEO into consideration, or else you could end up disrupting everything and interfering with the efforts that have already been put in place.
But many times a redesign is necessary and can actually do a lot more good for a website, the company’s brand, and their online presence.
If you’re thinking of redesigning your website, here are some guidelines to follow.
Determine the Purpose of the Website Redesign
Before you tackle a website redesign, you should ask why. In fact, there could be a number of reasons why a redesign is on the table:
- To rebrand – While many businesses want to make sure to keep their brand intact, others want a change, and a redesign of their website is a great way to help.
- To improve functionality – The original web design may be missing some crucial functionality.
- To update an outdated design – Maybe the site’s current design is simply outdated and needs a facelift.
- To improve responsiveness – In an effort to boost a site’s responsiveness, a redesign may help improve the mobile aspect and user experience.
- To improve conversions – If weeks or months pass by with minimal conversions, perhaps it could be the site’s design and user experience that’s affecting conversions.
Look Into the Data
Once you’ve determined that the site’s current design is problematic, it’s time to look at the data to make sure it supports this notion. When looking into the data, be sure to check out a number of factors, including:
- Keyword research
- Google Analytics
- Competitive landscape
- UI design
- UX organization
- Every page of the website
Once you’ve looked at all of this, you’ll be able to pinpoint where exactly the problem lies and go from there with your website redesign.
Come Up With a Plan
This is an especially important component to a redesign, especially if you’ve never done one before. Come up with a plan of attack and go through it, including each and every step. If necessary, tweak the steps, come up with new goals, and refine your overall plan.
Implement Your Website Redesign
Once you’ve perfected your plan, you’ll need to present it. Of course, you should take care in implementing the redesign in order to maintain the business’s integrity and strengthen the company’s brand while preserving the presence and recognition that has already been established with existing customers.
Be sure to make use of storyboards, sitemaps, and prototypes to help you deal with the redesign in steps. Run A/B tests on the website when it is live to verify any theories you may have come up with regarding problematic elements. And keep SEO in mind when going forward.
Final Thoughts
Website redesign may be a little tricky, but if you take the right steps and take your time along the way, there’s no reason why your redesign can’t be a successful and effective one.