The Quick and Easy Guide to Redesigning Your Website
Your website is more than a way to advertise your products and services. It’s a way to attract customers and convince them to work with you instead of your competitors. When your site is outdated, it can end up driving those customers away and may leave your current supporters with the impression that you’re not keeping up with the times. If you find yourself in this situation, the best thing you can do is redesign your website. And if you’re like most business owners, the thought of overhauling your site feels overwhelming. We’ve got your back. Check out our quick guide to help you get started on the right foot.
Identify Why You’re Redesigning Your Website
Before you make any changes, you need to know why you’re redesigning your site. That means taking a long, hard look at what each page is like and where it might be falling short. Pretend you’re one of your customers. Look at your site from their perspective. Take notes of things you like and things that just aren’t working well or look outdated.
Here are a few things to be on the lookout for. If your pages look like they were created in 2005, they’re outdated and need to be overhauled. If the colors look off or the fonts are inconsistent, your site needs to be revamped. And if you’ve recently redesigned your logo or adopted a new brand persona and your pages don’t reflect who you are as a company, a full redesign will help.
Analyze Your Site’s Performance As Is
Though redesigning your site often comes down to overhauling the entire site, there may be some pages worth salvaging or retaining—just with an updated layout. Analyze each page’s performance. You can do this with tools like SEMrush, Google Analytics, and Google PageSpeed Insights. The pages that aren’t getting traffic or have a high bounce rate (people clicking away from the page) should be overhauled. But the pages that are driving traffic, have people staying on the page for at least a few minutes or are otherwise beneficial to your brand likely only need a light touch.
By retaining the content and layouts that work, you’ll reduce the risk of losing traffic with your site redesign. And by updating the pages that are falling flat, you’ll increase your chances of improving performance and ultimately driving sales.
Look at Your Closest Competitors
Your goal should always be to stand out from your competitors. While it might seem counterintuitive, it’s always a good idea to see what your competitors are doing before starting a website redesign or refresh. This helps you identify what’s working, which features you like, and which types of elements you want to incorporate into your site.
Pull up the sites for two or three of your closest competitors and take notes on what you like. Remember, your goal isn’t to copy them. It’s to take your site one step ahead of theirs and make it stand out more than their sites. Don’t worry—an experienced website design team can help you do just that. You don’t have to redesign your site on your own.
Identify Your Target User
Ultimately, your business won’t appeal to everyone and that’s okay. It just means your site won’t have to appeal to everyone, either. So, take your time and figure out exactly who the target user of your site is. You’ll want to incorporate features that speak to that user. For example, if your target consumer is older, you’ll want to prioritize easy-to-read fonts and high-contrast colors.
Start Updating Your Pages
Once you have a good idea of how you want your site to look and the types of features you want it to have, you’re ready to start making updates. If you’re comfortable with basic website design and maintenance, you may be able to make those updates on your own. But keep in mind that updating and redesigning pages takes time. You’ll likely be better off working with an experienced website design company.
These professionals can completely overhaul your site, implement updates, and find ways to make your pages stand out much faster. Even better, they’ll be able to handle the task from the ground up. You’ll be able to focus on running your business without having to worry about spending hours getting the fonts on your site just right.
Pay Close Attention to Mobile Responsiveness
These days, most people surf the web on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets instead of desktop computers or laptops. That means your site needs to be mobile-responsive across the board. As you redesign your site, take the time to update each page in mobile view as well. Make sure the pages load correctly and that all page elements work in mobile view. If you notice any issues, you may need to tweak the design or revise certain elements to make your pages load correctly.
Spare Yourself the Hassle and Work With a Web Design Team
Redesigning your website is a great way to breathe new life into your business’s online presence. But you don’t have to handle the redesign on your own. At Denver Website Designs, our team can help you transform your outdated site into one that your current and prospective customers and clients will love. Contact us today to discuss your needs and let our team get your site up and running fast.
Go Back Identify Why You’re Redesigning Your Website
Before you make any changes, you need to know why you’re redesigning your site. That means taking a long, hard look at what each page is like and where it might be falling short. Pretend you’re one of your customers. Look at your site from their perspective. Take notes of things you like and things that just aren’t working well or look outdated.
Here are a few things to be on the lookout for. If your pages look like they were created in 2005, they’re outdated and need to be overhauled. If the colors look off or the fonts are inconsistent, your site needs to be revamped. And if you’ve recently redesigned your logo or adopted a new brand persona and your pages don’t reflect who you are as a company, a full redesign will help.
Analyze Your Site’s Performance As Is
Though redesigning your site often comes down to overhauling the entire site, there may be some pages worth salvaging or retaining—just with an updated layout. Analyze each page’s performance. You can do this with tools like SEMrush, Google Analytics, and Google PageSpeed Insights. The pages that aren’t getting traffic or have a high bounce rate (people clicking away from the page) should be overhauled. But the pages that are driving traffic, have people staying on the page for at least a few minutes or are otherwise beneficial to your brand likely only need a light touch.
By retaining the content and layouts that work, you’ll reduce the risk of losing traffic with your site redesign. And by updating the pages that are falling flat, you’ll increase your chances of improving performance and ultimately driving sales.
Look at Your Closest Competitors
Your goal should always be to stand out from your competitors. While it might seem counterintuitive, it’s always a good idea to see what your competitors are doing before starting a website redesign or refresh. This helps you identify what’s working, which features you like, and which types of elements you want to incorporate into your site.
Pull up the sites for two or three of your closest competitors and take notes on what you like. Remember, your goal isn’t to copy them. It’s to take your site one step ahead of theirs and make it stand out more than their sites. Don’t worry—an experienced website design team can help you do just that. You don’t have to redesign your site on your own.
Identify Your Target User
Ultimately, your business won’t appeal to everyone and that’s okay. It just means your site won’t have to appeal to everyone, either. So, take your time and figure out exactly who the target user of your site is. You’ll want to incorporate features that speak to that user. For example, if your target consumer is older, you’ll want to prioritize easy-to-read fonts and high-contrast colors.
Start Updating Your Pages
Once you have a good idea of how you want your site to look and the types of features you want it to have, you’re ready to start making updates. If you’re comfortable with basic website design and maintenance, you may be able to make those updates on your own. But keep in mind that updating and redesigning pages takes time. You’ll likely be better off working with an experienced website design company.
These professionals can completely overhaul your site, implement updates, and find ways to make your pages stand out much faster. Even better, they’ll be able to handle the task from the ground up. You’ll be able to focus on running your business without having to worry about spending hours getting the fonts on your site just right.
Pay Close Attention to Mobile Responsiveness
These days, most people surf the web on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets instead of desktop computers or laptops. That means your site needs to be mobile-responsive across the board. As you redesign your site, take the time to update each page in mobile view as well. Make sure the pages load correctly and that all page elements work in mobile view. If you notice any issues, you may need to tweak the design or revise certain elements to make your pages load correctly.
Spare Yourself the Hassle and Work With a Web Design Team
Redesigning your website is a great way to breathe new life into your business’s online presence. But you don’t have to handle the redesign on your own. At Denver Website Designs, our team can help you transform your outdated site into one that your current and prospective customers and clients will love. Contact us today to discuss your needs and let our team get your site up and running fast.