What you need to know before you invest your time and money in a site redesign.
Redesigning your website is an exciting adventure of twists and turns… You may be contemplating your site’s first – or fifth – redesign. Either way, it’s an expensive undertaking and throwing resources at a redesign that won’t serve your business for the foreseeable future isn’t a good decision and could be wasting your dollars.
Here are some tips to make sure your redesign is a success:
1. Plan for the future.
This is an important one! It’s very easy to get caught up in the flashy bells and whistles that a web designer throws at you, but it’s important for you to evaluate whether or not their suggestions will serve you in the future. For example… Is the design layout they’re suggesting easily expandable or will it be labor-intensive (and costly) to integrate a new feature?
I’m not saying that it’s imperative for you to know exactly what you’ll need from your site in 2 years or 5 years. Technology changes rapidly and situations arise that can change the trajectory of your business. That’s why you need to be sure that your site’s redesign is flexible enough to integrate any new features or functionality when necessary at a later date.
2. Streamline your navigation.
People have zero patience and they want to find something on your site as quickly as possible. The more you ask them to do to find information on your site, the more likely they are to jump off and cruise over to your competitors.
Simply put – the easier it is for your site visitors to find the info or products they’re looking for, the more likely they are to return (and keep returning).
3. Have a solid content strategy.
Website, email, social media… Regardless of where you’re meeting them, message consistency that answers the problems your audience needs to solve builds trust and brand awareness. And those two items are key in turning your visitors into valuable, qualified leads and return customers.
4. Do your research.
Check out the websites of local competitors and industry leaders. See what’s working for them and improve on it. See what’s not working and ditch it.
5. Find a web design partner that understands your business.
This is so, so, so important! There are a lot of companies and freelancers that offer web design services. While there are many amazing design companies and freelancers out there, there are some stinkers too. Don’t let your budget be the only factor that determines who you choose to work with for your redesign. It could end up costing you more in the long run.
- Ask to see a portfolio of similar projects.
- Find out what their process is from the beginning stages of the redesign until the site is live.
- Know what the timeline is and how long you should expect it to take if milestones are completed in a timely fashion.
- Make sure you fully understand their responsibilities as well as yours throughout the entire project.
Not sure if your site is ready for a redesign?
Check out our free PDF to find out now!