So you have a website, but it needs something.
- A fresh, more updated look.
- It doesn’t look good on a smart phone.
- You want more features.
- It doesn’t reflect who you are and what you offer.
- People are complaining about their user experience.
These are all good reasons to consider a redesign for your website.
But maybe you don’t even know what it needs and you want to discuss your options.
Start by taking a look at a few things:
Analyze your current website
What’s working? What isn’t?
If Google Analytics is set up, study traffic patterns. Do you have a high bounce rate? Which pages are accessed the most?
Identify your priorities
Your website needs to be appealing to your audience, but it also needs to be easy to navigate. If your viewers can’t find what they want, they will abandon your site and find one that is easy to browse.
Do you want to collect more email addresses? Sell more product?
Knowing your goals up front allows you to focus on achieving specific results with your redesign.
Define and update the website’s target audience
Target audiences evolve over time. They may not be buying the same things today that they bought three years ago. As you add new products or services, or expand into new markets, you need to update your messaging to those who are willing to buy from you.
Create avatars for your likely customers or clients and determine how you want to appeal to them.
Determine what is working on the current website
You don’t have to change everything about your site with a redesign. Parts of it probably work well. You may want to keep your logo, your color scheme, your font, but you may want to update photos and how your content is laid out.
Maybe your site has gotten cluttered over time because you thought that because you had some white space, you needed to fill it, but it no longer makes sense, it’s confusing to your audience.
Create a list of desired design changes
If this is a long list, prioritize it. Make the changes in stages. Maybe some of the things you want to change aren’t wise to make.
What features do you want to change?
- Color
- Structural changes, ie removing dates from blog posts
- Add or remove items from the menu
- Change the layout altogether
- Replace the header or images throughout your site
- Add a gallery
- Revise your contact form
Define the new goals
Each of the items on your list should have a reason behind it. Do you want to simplify the menu? Is it challenging for your viewers to find key information? You don’t want to change things every time one person comments on your site, but definitely consider a change if you are getting several comments about user experience.
Start building the website redesign plan
Whether you’re redesigning your site yourself or hiring a professional, set a time line. It’s easy to say ‘I need to work on my site’ and then three years later, nothing has been done.
Determine a time line for each item and check them off as they are completed.
Here’s a checklist that will help you determine exactly what changes you want made to your website. And then contact me for a FREE consultation! It will go so much smoother when we meet if you have prepared this ahead of time!