5 Signs It’s Time For A Website Redesign

We all know how crucial it is to have a well-designed, user-friendly, and engaging website. In fact, 84% of consumers think that having a website makes a business look more credible. However, in order to give your business the best chance at success online, it’s important that it functions properly and doesn’t look outdated. The question now is, when is the best time to redesign and what updates do you need?

Let’s talk about some of the signs you should be looking out for to determine if its time to redesign your website.

What Does a Website Redesign Entail?

A website redesign is the process of changing or updating a website’s content, interface, structure, or navigation, the goal being that of either improving its performance or converting more visitors.

Companies invest in a website redesign for a variety of reasons. Some choose to do it as part of a rebranding initiative while others do it to attract more traffic and engagement.

Redesigning a website isn’t that simple, however. For a website redesign to work, it needs to go through careful planning and analysis that involves the following:

Determine your Website’s Current Performance

Before you jump right into a website redesign, it would be very helpful to analyze and document your website’s current performance metrics so you’d know where it stands and have a better idea of what you need to improve on.

Try to review your website’s latest monthly performance metrics so you can better understand what areas you need to make improvements on and which ones to maintain.

How many visits, visitors, and unique visitors did you get? What was last month’s bounce rate? How much time do users spend on the website? What are your top-performing keywords?

Knowing these numbers and understanding how you got these results would give you a better idea of what it is you need to update so you can keep up with the competition and meet your goals.

Identify your Goals

As mentioned earlier, a website redesign isn’t a simple process. It’s a huge decision which is why your reason for doing it should also be compelling enough.

Redesigning a website just because you want to or because your closest competitor just did a redesign won’t simply be good enough.

The motivation behind the redesign should be big enough that it just won’t modify the way the website looks but also how it functions which is significant considering how people’s attention spans have become relatively shorter these days.

The point here is to be very clear about why you are redesigning the website then tie those goals to measurable results otherwise everything will be pointless.

Determine your Target Audience

It’s important to understand that your website is never about you but the people who will pay it a visit.

As a website visitor yourself, you know very well that the very first question you ask yourself when you land on a certain page is “what’s in it for me?”

This is the reason why defining your buyer persona is critical. Why?

Because this will determine how you’d speak to your visitors and thus, dictate how you’d redesign your webpage.

This is a very important step you can afford to miss because a well-designed website would be worthless if it doesn’t speak to the right audience in the first place.

Identify your Branding and Messaging

Equally important to establish is the branding and messaging you want to convey because just like your buyer persona, they will also dictate how you’d redesign the website.

That being said, you need to make sure that anyone who visits your website for the first time should have a clear understanding of what it is you do and how you’d be able to help them.

More importantly, your website should give them a reason to stay and come back instead of going straight to your competition.

Changing your branding and messaging isn’t off the table as long as there’s a valid reason why.

Whatever you decide the rule of thumb is for the messaging to use clear and concise language and that the colors, logo, and style you use remain consistent throughout the entire website.

Keep your Search Engine Optimized Pages Intact

Visibility and discoverability are both critical in the online world. How else can you improve your leads, conversions, and sales if people don’t know how to find you?

That being said, SEO should also be a huge consideration when redesigning a website and one of the ways you can incorporate SEO in your redesign plans is by documenting your most valued searches.

Find out which pages generate the most traffic or convert the most leads then make sure to document them and properly move them to your redesigned website by creating the appropriate 301 redirects.

Also make sure to assign a keyword or topic for every page on the newly-designed website so you can maintain if not improve your SEO rankings and, in the process, keep your previous visits and engagement intact.

5 Signs It’s Time to Redesign Your Website

Now that you understand what a website redesign entails, the next step is to identify the signs that say it’s time for a website redesign, and below are some of them.

1. It’s Not Converting

It’s clear that it’s time for a website redesign if your users aren’t converting anymore.

It’s safe to say that one of the reasons why you built a website is to convert leads which means you require good results. You need to ask yourself then.

Is it bringing in the results you expected? Are visitors quickly jumping to another website as soon as they find your page? Are conversions and site visits down?

If the answers to all of these questions are “yes,” then it’s time to go for a website redesign.

2. It’s Visually Outdated

If your page looks like a website made in the 90s, then it’s definitely time for a change. This is because a visually outdated website says a lot about you which can easily turn people off.

More than the looks, it gives people the impression that you are out of touch with the current trends and that you simply don’t care.

It’s hard to convince people to trust you and look at you as a leader if your website doesn’t give them a reason to.

An updated website is no different from a common retailer. Would you buy from someone whose storefront is old and outdated over a retailer whose storefront offers the newest and most innovative design? The answer is quite easy, isn’t it?

3. It’s Hard to Navigate

More than the aesthetics, one of the things that attract people to websites is the ease of use especially when it comes to navigation.

Let’s be honest, not everyone has the patience to click on several links and jump from one page to another just to find what they’re looking for.

People come to your website because they need help and if it will take them several clicks to find what they’re looking for, chances are, they’ll take their business someplace else.

4. Low SEO Rankings

When people need something today, you can almost be certain that one of the first things they’d do is pay Google a visit. If your page isn’t appearing on the first page of search results for the type of service you offer, a website redesign is definitely necessary.

Google’s algorithm has evolved with the times. Cramming a bunch of keywords on a page on your website isn’t going to work anymore. If you want higher rankings, you need to create high-quality content and a well-designed website.

5. Not Mobile Friendly

People today use their phones for just about anything. From simple browsing to online shopping, there’s almost nothing you can’t do with a smartphone.

That being said, your website’s design should be mobile responsive. It should be equally easy to navigate like it is on a desktop because you stand to lose a lot of potential customers if it isn’t.

Keep in mind that 70% of all web traffic happens on mobile and that people spend more hours on their smartphones than they do on desktops. It would be unfortunate for one to not take advantage of these facts.

Tips For Redesigning Your Website

Choose the Right Tools

As mentioned, a website redesign isn’t a simple process which is why it’s important to use the right tools or software to both create and host your website.

A content management system or CMS would be very helpful in such instances because it can help you build a visually-appealing website whether you’re a novice or an experienced digital marketer.

Content is King

There’s no doubt that when it comes to anything online, content will always be king which is why it’s imperative to not just have a bunch of content to share but for them to be of high quality.

Equally important is to always have fresh content to offer because this will not only give you a higher Google ranking but also position you as an expert in your chosen industry.

Don’t Forget the Basics

A good website redesign does not leave out the basics such as a blog, an RSS feed, and landing pages because of the benefits each of them has to offer.

A blog not only allows you to create content consistently but also provides a way to communicate with potential customers.

An RSS feed, on the other hand, allows some of your content to be pushed to other websites, thereby increasing your reach and visibility.

Hire a Freelancer

A lot of the skills needed for a website redesign can’t usually be found in a single person. You’ll need someone with graphic design skills, writing skills, SEO, and web development to accomplish such an undertaking.

The good news is you don’t have to shoulder them all because you can always hire a freelancer to do such tasks on your behalf.

Hiring a freelancer can work to your advantage because most of them are experts in the services they provide which means you’re getting top-quality talent to perform the said roles for you.

More importantly, this will allow you more time to focus on the things that you’re really good at.

Conclusion

A website redesign is necessary not just to keep up with the times but for you to be able to take your business to the next level. What’s important, however, is the motivation behind the redesign because doing it for the right reasons can deliver, if not exceed your expectations.

If you’re ready to improve your web design, FreeUp is here to help. Our platform can connect you with a talented and thoroughly vetted freelance web designer who can help improve the look and feel of your website. Sign up today to learn more.