Regardless of what business you are in, make sure your website is user-friendly and doesn’t look outdated. Most users’ first contact with you will probably be through your social media, which will, at least at some point, lead them to your website. It is important that visitors find everything they need there. Website is also a place where they get to know you better and of course make a conversion (buy a product or service, fill out a contact form …). This is exactly the reason why you have the website in the first place.
So how to get started with a website redesign that will result in an attractive website for users to return to frequently and Google will rank as high as possible?
Has it been 3 or more years since you last redesigned your website? Time for a new one!
Three years may not sound like much, but in the digital world this is a lifetime. Trends are changing with the speed of light and your website can quickly become outdated if you don’t update it regularly. It is not only aesthetics that matter, your site can also lose its functionality over time.
There are many reasons why your website might need a complete redesign. Here are the most common ones:
– old website is not bringing results,
– old website is not mobile friendly,
– old website has a high bounce rate,
– old website doesn’t support all functionalities that you need,
– rebranding and new company image.
Step 1: Start by gathering information
Before you really get down to redesigning your website, analyze the existing one. Use web analytic tools to find out what is currently working and what isn’t.
Your employees, friends or designers can be a great source of information, so go ahead and ask them to review your website and point out any gaps and issues. Often the most useful suggestions for improvement come from end-users, and you can also benefit from these to identify user personas.
Is my website user friendly?
This is an important question you should ask yourself before you start a redesign. It is not enough for a website just to be visually pleasing and stylish. It should allow easy navigation and keep users active on it as long as possible with interactive elements.
Check out the websites of companies like Airbnb, Uber, Google or PayPal. They owe much of their success to their user-centered design approach which contributes to exceptional user experiences.
Is my website mobile-friendly?
Your answer to this question should definitely be “yes”. This is important not only from the user perspective, but also for Google’s algorithm, which might otherwise “punish” you by ranking you only on the 4th page of Google search results.
Throughout the process of website redesign keep in mind that your website needs to be responsive to different screen sizes and devices.
Step 2: Ideas, ideas, ideas … and solutions!
Ok, you have collected all information and data and you are familiar with every issue to be improved on the renewed website. It’s time to find some solutions!
Gather your team and do a brainstorming. Collect new ideas and find the best examples of similar websites. Keep in mind that your site won’t be out there just to look nice, its core purpose is to provide information. Find the answers for every user dilemma and design a website that will be attractive for visitors and provide them the best possible user experience.
Step 3: From prototype to a redesigned website
Now you came far enough to really start building your website. Start with a prototype page, that you will be upgrading and optimizing for a while. This is your perfect chance to show the site to your employees who can give you quick feedback and improve some functionalities.
Website redesign can be an in-house project if you have some skilful developers and designers or you can entrust the task to experts. At this point you can expect some creative input from the designer who will steer the website development in the direction you have envisioned.
Step 4: Yas, our website is done! LET’S NOT LAUNCH IT.
What? Why wouldn’t we launch a perfectly redesigned website, we have been working on forever?
No matter how many times you have checked the final version of your new website, it can still have some imperfections that you want to get rid of before you really publish it.
We strongly recommend you to test the website beforehand. The best solution would be an A/B Testing, which can really help you to improve the conversion rate. Not enough budget? You can always ask a few people to do one final check of your website and help you with their feedback.
Step 5: Launch and optimize
After you realize how important the 4th step actually is, your website can finally see the light of day!
Now is time to test how well your website functions. Maybe it takes too long to load or some of the links don’t work? No panic. You can still edit and update your website anytime.
In fact, optimizing your website on an ongoing basis is one of the most important steps you can take to make sure it stays up-to-date and is well-received by “uncle Google”.
Case Study: KO Agency Website Redesign
Since it’s good to sweep around your own front door first, we’ve started with our own website. This year we did a complete rebranding of our brand and a website redesign was part of this big project. We had to rethink our identity and how we want to be perceived by others. The website had to express all of this and we think we nailed it. But see for yourself … 😉
We rethought, researched and tried many variations, and in the end we have found the perfect solution. An Original website with interactive project showcase, an easily accessible news overview and contact information in the right places so clients have no problem reaching us. And of course, we made sure the website is mobile-friendly.
To summarize, here are some of the main features that every website should have: functionality, speed, ease of use, visual appeal, responsive design. Last but not least, you want your users to interact, and you can only achieve this by keeping them on the site long enough. So when the 3 year time comes around – remember our tips, they’re sure to come in handy. 🙂
Follow us and stay updated with the latest news and trends.
