Here’s a shocking stat for you.
It takes less than a second for users to decide whether they like your website or not. And that is a pretty solid reason to consider some drastic measures like a website redesign.
A website redesign can take a long time to implement, give results, and convert customers. Still, it is an essential process to get the attention of your ideal customers.
Not convinced? Here’s another stat.
Once a visitor has a negative encounter with your website, a startling 88% of them are unlikely to return. Now that we share this understanding, let's delve into the topic at hand:
What is Website Redesign?
The process of website redesign involves enhancing various aspects of the site to create a better user experience, resulting in increased engagement with the target customers by reducing friction. A typical redesign project can make changes in the most visible parts of the UI such as visual components and color schemes, as well as improvements in functional aspects like usability and accessibility, or even both. The design phase for a complete redesign project can span several weeks, depending on the specific requirements of the project.
Why you might need to redesign your website
There is strong evidence that shows a website redesign can make your business more valuable.
A redesign project offers many benefits, such as improving your marketing efforts and increasing your visibility on search engines.
But there are three main reasons why you might need to redesign your website.
1. Reparation
There are several reasons why you might consider redesigning your website for improvement. Some of these reasons include having outdated content or an old-fashioned interface, not having enough responsive design for your web pages or elements, and most importantly, experiencing slow loading times.
Remember, if your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, more than half of your visitors may leave.
Likewise, if your website isn't updated or features an outdated design, 81% of users may form a negative opinion about your business.
2. Optimization
If you believe that your website could offer a smoother user experience or if you desire improved search engine rankings and greater online visibility, it might be time to consider a website redesign. By combining an effective SEO strategy with the expertise of a content marketing team, a redesign process focused on optimization can have a significant impact on reaching your target customers and driving sales.
3. Rebranding
If you believe that your website should be updated following changes to your market strategy, company culture, or even just a new brand logo color palette, it may be time to consider a redesign process focused on rebranding.
This type of redesign approach is not uncommon; even major companies like Instagram and YouTube have undergone rebranding redesigns.
Different reasons can drive your decision to redesign; what's crucial is ensuring you know how to execute it effectively.
How to redesign a website in 9 steps
Here, we’ve created a complete website redesign checklist to walk you through the steps.
1. Figure out whether it's the right moment to give your website a fresh look and feel.
To understand the process of website redesign, you need to allocate time for planning and strategy. Before you start, it's important to consider the following queries:
Is my website design outdated?
Have I observed a decline in sales or conversions?
Have users expressed concerns about the navigation or design?
Have I recently rebranded my business?
If you responded positively to any of these questions, a website redesign can bring valuable advantages to your business.
2. Take a close look at your website's performance metrics, as well as those of your competitors, to gather valuable insights.
Before making any changes to your current website, it's important to assess its performance and compare it with your competitors. Start by analyzing your current website: Take the time to review each page and assess what elements are effective and what needs improvement. Identify your most popular pages, observe the typical user journey, and determine which call-to-action buttons (CTAs) are most successful in engaging your visitors.
Gain insights from your top competitors: Take a close look at the websites of your main competitors. Pay attention to their design, navigation, content, and marketing strategies. Observe common industry practices, such as having a blog or an online store. These findings will guide your website redesign process to meet or surpass your competition.
Gain a deep understanding of your target market: Conduct thorough market research on your users and industry to clearly define your target audience. Even if you have done this in the past, it's essential to revisit it before redesigning your website, as market trends and audience preferences evolve over time.
By developing a comprehensive understanding of your customers, you will learn their preferences, likes, dislikes, and online browsing habits. This knowledge will enable you to customize your website's redesign to cater to the unique needs and preferences of your users.
3. Set your website redesign goals and create a plan
Take a moment to outline the desired outcomes you aim to achieve through your website redesign. Determine whether your objectives involve increasing sales, encouraging newsletter subscriptions, or raising awareness of new products or deals. For each goal, identify the specific metrics you will utilize to track progress.
These clearly defined goals will serve as the foundation for your website redesign plan. Once established, break down each desired website modification into actionable steps. For instance, if your goal is to boost sales, consider implementing a pop-up that offers a special discount. Additionally, establish a reasonable timeline for accomplishing each task on your list.
If you are working with a team, assign individual roles to ensure everyone remains focused and on schedule. By involving your team in the website redesign process, you can leverage their expertise and experience to enhance the design. This approach will not only motivate your team but also foster a sense of belonging and active participation.
4. Clearly define your visual language, branding, and messaging for your website redesign.
Before diving into the specifics, it's crucial to establish the desired look and feel of your website. This step is essential in ensuring that your visual language aligns with your overall brand identity, tone, messaging, and core values.
To generate ideas, explore web design inspiration, and stay updated on the latest web design trends. Consider which design elements would best represent your brand and enhance the functionality of your site.
At this stage, gather all the necessary website design assets. These include your logo, brand colors, and the color scheme you intend to use on your website. Evaluate whether these assets still align with your new style or if any adjustments are needed.
5. Create a sitemap
To ensure smooth and intuitive website navigation, it's essential to create a clear and organized sitemap. A sitemap outlines all the pages on your website and illustrates how they are interconnected.
To create a sitemap, start by sketching out a tree-like structure on a piece of paper. Identify each page of your website and map out how users can navigate from one page to another. Remember to incorporate important website navigation practices, such as linking your logo to the homepage. Additionally, aim for a user-friendly experience where visitors can reach any page on your site within just one or two clicks from their current location.
When planning the pages themselves, include essential elements like a welcoming homepage, an About page, and a contact section. Additionally, consider which other pages would add value to your site, such as an online store, a blog, or specific landing pages designed to encourage conversions.
6. Implement best design practices
Now it's time to focus on the design aspect of your website redesign. Remember to keep your brand identity in mind and follow the fundamental design principles. Take a look at these helpful tips:
Hierarchy: Arrange the elements on your site in order of importance so that visitors can easily understand their significance. Use size, weight, and placement to emphasize important elements, like making titles larger and bolder or positioning a prominent call-to-action button at the center of the screen.
Contrast: Make different design elements stand out by creating contrast. Elements that are too similar tend to blend together while contrasting elements catch attention. You can achieve contrast through variations in texture, brightness (light versus dark), and the most common method, color. Ensure that your website's color contrast is accessible and allows for clear legibility.
Balance: Strive for a sense of balance and harmony on each page. Imagine your webpage as a scale, with elements distributed evenly on both sides. There are different approaches to achieving balance, such as symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial arrangements. Whichever style you choose, the overall look should feel cohesive and well-organized.
Use of imagery: Enhance your message with high-quality visuals like photographs, icons, or vector art. Your imagery can showcase products, evoke emotions, or create a specific atmosphere. For instance, a nutrition and wellness website might use a photo of plants to create a soothing vibe.
Typography: Pay attention to how you arrange text on your website. Typography covers everything from font choice to letter size and weight. While typography is an art form in itself, a few simple guidelines can assist you. Stick to one to three fonts throughout your site for consistency. Ensure that paragraph text is easy to read, while title fonts can be more decorative, incorporating unique touches like cursive or old-style serifs.
By following these design tips, you can create an appealing website that aligns with your brand and captivates your audience.
7. Don't forget about the importance of SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the practice of improving your website’s visibility and ranking on Google search results to boost your organic traffic. Optimizing your site for SEO is crucial for making sure that your redesign increases your site's discoverability.
8. Optimize the mobile version
Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and provides a seamless experience for visitors who access it on their mobile devices. Simplify the layout and remove any unnecessary elements to focus on the most important content on smaller screens. Consider incorporating mobile-specific design elements like a customized welcome screen or engaging animations.
In addition to enhancing user experience, having a mobile-friendly website also boosts your SEO efforts. It's important to note that Google now prioritizes mobile-first indexing, meaning that the mobile version of your site is considered the primary source of content for search rankings.
9. Review and share your website redesign
Give your new design a thorough review, proofreading its written content, checking the navigation flow, and ensuring that all links work properly. Double-check even the smallest of details. Ask a few trusted friends or team members to inspect the site as well.
Once your website redesign is ready, give it a marketing boost to support the launch. Sharing your fresh new design on social media and in a newsletter announcement can drive traffic to your website.
Conclusion
A website redesign project might be a long process with a need for content optimization and improvement, but it sure does pay off.
Now that you know how the comprehensive process works and got the tips, it is time to get to work.
Hope you nail it!