So, you wish to begin a web site redesign. Perhaps you simply completed a model overhaul or your product was lately up to date. No matter your motive, a redesign generally is a big success — or not. It can be an extended and tedious enterprise, which is why each redesign wants to begin with a transparent imaginative and prescient and/or downside to unravel.
The higher you’re at defining that imaginative and prescient on the very starting, the extra profitable your redesign might be — and the smoother all the course of might be as effectively.
Whether or not you’re working with an company, redesigning your website in-house, or proposing a redesign to firm stakeholders, this information has suggestions that can assist you strategize your web site redesign and guarantee it seems to be an enormous success — not a flop.
Web site Redesign
An internet site redesign is the method of adjusting and updating the content material, construction, format, and navigation of your web site to enhance efficiency and convert extra guests.
Many organizations decide to revamp their web site to welcome extra site visitors as their enterprise grows. Others spend money on a web site redesign as half of a bigger rebranding initiative. No matter why your organization is fascinated by a web site redesign plan, the undertaking itself is an enormous enterprise, to not point out an essential one to get proper contemplating the important function your web site performs in your advertising and marketing and model picture.
In truth, new analysis has discovered that 50% of customers suppose web site design is essential to a enterprise’s total model. To many guests, the web site you publish is simply as essential because the merchandise you promote.
How Usually Ought to You Redesign Your Web site?
Based on Enterprise 2 Group, the common lifespan for a web site is 1.5 to 2.5 years. As a result of design traits change and know-how advances, that is the common period of time {that a} redesign will really feel “recent” and aggressive. Nonetheless, that timeframe is barely a benchmark, so you will have to find out what works greatest on your distinctive group.
The next components can decide how usually it is best to redesign your web site:
- How usually your model or objectives change. Once you’re itching for a brand new website, first ask your self, “Does this web site nonetheless signify who we’re as an organization?”
- How a lot price range you allot to design and improvement. Ask your self, “Can a website design wait, or do I’ve causes to make use of the price range on our website now?”
- How lengthy your web site stays purposeful and quick. Step into your prospects’ footwear and see when you can navigate the location effectively and discover all the pieces you wish to discover with out encountering errors or lengthy web page load instances. Virtually 50% of internet sites get between 4 and 6 web page views per go to — all that shopping implies that your website’s navigation and pace actually do matter.
- The efficiency of your web site. Ask your self, “Is that this website changing an inexpensive quantity of site visitors? Do individuals keep on the web page for an inexpensive period of time, or do they bounce?”
- Adjustments within the trade. For instance, when Google introduced that it will be altering to mobile-first indexing, it necessitated that web sites be mobile-friendly, or they’d lose natural site visitors from Google.
Your web site is the place guests and prospects go once they wish to ask questions, learn content material, or buy services or products. For that motive, it’s greatest to be further ready when committing to a web site redesign.
You might spend extra time constructing your web site redesign plan than you’ll on the redesign itself. Should you’re questioning what ought to go into your web site redesign technique, begin with the steps beneath.
How you can Redesign a Web site
- Benchmark your present efficiency metrics.
- Decide your web site redesign objectives.
- Outline your branding and messaging.
- Outline your purchaser persona(s).
- Shield your search engine optimized pages.
- Analyze the competitors.
- Take stock of your high-performing belongings.
- Select the appropriate software program.
Let’s unpack eight important web site redesign suggestions to consider when planning and finishing your redesign.
1. Benchmark your present efficiency metrics.
Earlier than you start planning your web site redesign, doc your present efficiency metrics. This offers you a good suggestion of the place your present web site stands and what metrics you may enhance upon by way of your redesign.
Analyze your present web site’s month-to-month efficiency within the following areas. The significance and relevance of every could range relying in your web site redesign objectives, nevertheless it’s useful to tug every metric earlier than you dive into your redesign.
- Variety of visits, guests, and distinctive guests
- Bounce price
- Time on website
- Prime-performing key phrases when it comes to rank, site visitors, and lead era
- Variety of inbound linking domains
- Whole new leads and kind submissions
- Whole gross sales generated (in {dollars})
- Whole pages listed
- Whole pages that obtain site visitors
Should you don’t have entry to this info, I like to recommend instruments like Google Analytics and HubSpot’s Advertising and marketing Analytics for higher monitoring and visibility into your web site’s efficiency.
Moreover, make be aware of which instruments you used to measure every of those benchmarks prior to now. Ideally, you’ll wish to use those self same instruments when accumulating your post-redesign metrics. In any other case, you’ll be evaluating apples to oranges.
2. Decide your web site redesign objectives.
What’s the “why” behind your web site redesign? When contemplating a redesign, there ought to at all times be a superb motive behind it.
Should you’re answering with “effectively, it’s been some time since we’ve executed one” or “my competitor simply did a redesign,” these causes aren’t adequate on their very own.
Bear in mind: It’s not nearly how your website seems, however somewhat the way it works. Be crystal clear about why you’re doing a web site redesign, and tie these objectives to measurable outcomes. Then, talk your objectives together with your group, designer, or company.
Contemplate the next data-driven targets on your personal web site:
- To extend the variety of visits and guests (each are essential as one customer may go to greater than as soon as)
- To cut back bounce price
- To extend time on website
- To enhance area authority
- To extend the full new leads and kind submissions
- To extend the full gross sales generated
- To boost present search engine optimisation rankings for essential key phrases
Many of those objectives are depending on each other. For instance, so as to generate extra conversions, you might also want to extend site visitors whereas reducing your website’s bounce price.
Additionally, check out the metrics you pulled out within the earlier step. Are there any metrics you may enhance upon together with your new web site? Maybe you utilize your previous web site metrics to encourage new objectives, too.
3. Outline your branding and messaging.
Earlier than crafting your new web site design and content material, be crystal clear about your required branding, messaging, and distinctive worth proposition. Doing so will guarantee consistency throughout your complete web site.
Anybody who visits your web site for the primary time ought to instantly perceive what you do, the way it could profit them, and why they need to keep onyour website, so they do not flee to opponents.
Take our homepage for example: It is instantly clear what we do, what we provide, and the way any customer can get began.
Take into consideration whether or not you intend to alter your branding and/or messaging, or if it’ll keep the identical. Should you plan to alter it, what wants to alter? Preserve these adjustments top-of-mind as you redesign your web site.
As you develop your messaging, use clear, concise language. Keep away from trade jargon that will alienate elements of your viewers and make you sound extra like a business-babbling robotic than a human.
Contemplate the next instance of how we may describe HubSpot in a “gobbledygook” means:
HubSpot helps corporations throughout a number of nations cut back churn by backfilling the gross sales pipeline with extremely certified site visitors that generates leads that convert into prospects with excessive lifetime worth. We obtain this by offering modern software program that integrates all advertising and marketing channels for a synergistic view of the info that determines and prioritizes high-value advertising and marketing actions.
Say what? Let’s translate that into the way in which individuals really communicate:
HubSpot’s all-in-one advertising and marketing software program helps over 100,000 companies in additional than120 nations appeal to leads and convert them into prospects. A pioneer in inbound advertising and marketing, HubSpot goals to assist its prospects make advertising and marketing that folks really love.
A lot clearer!
Moreover, as you develop your firm branding, think about what visible points of your web site must be redesigned and what can keep the identical. Have you ever created a brand new emblem, type information, or shade palette? Be certain that these are utilized to your new web site so it stays in step with different elements of your model.
For some extra inspiration, try our roundup of our favourite B2B web site examples:
4. Outline your purchaser persona(s).
Your web site isn’t just about you. Really, it’s hardly about you.
When your guests land in your web site, they’re asking themselves, “What’s in it for me? How may this assist me?”
Converse to your guests in their language by crafting your web site design and content material round your purchaser personas.
As an illustration, when you’re a advertising and marketing supervisor at a resort trying to usher in new enterprise, you would possibly goal 5 totally different purchaser personas: an unbiased enterprise traveler, a company journey supervisor, an occasion planner, a vacationing household, and a pair planning their wedding ceremony reception.
Ensure you clearly determine your purchaser personas so you may form your web site redesign technique across the web site guests that matter most to you.
Is your target market altering as a part of your web site redesign? Do your branding and content material align with this viewers? Reply these questions as you are strategizing your web site redesign.
5. Shield your search engine optimized pages.
Getting found on-line can also be important to bettering your web site’s metrics. If nobody is ready to discover and go to your website, how are you going to improve new leads, conversions, or gross sales? Listed here are some suggestions for designing your new web site with SEO (search engine optimisation) in thoughts:
Doc your most search-valued pages.
Use your advertising and marketing analytics to determine which pages obtain probably the most site visitors and inbound hyperlinks, convert probably the most leads, and in the end cowl probably the most influential subjects in your trade. Should you plan to maneuver any of those extremely beneficial pages, ensure you create the right 301 redirects.
Create a 301 redirect technique.
Talking of 301 redirects, these are extraordinarily essential when it comes to retaining the site visitors and hyperlink worth related to a given web page. Create a spreadsheet to report and map out your 301 redirects (previous URLs vs. new URLs). Then hand this doc over to somebody technical for correct implementation.
Do your key phrase analysis.
For each web page in your newly designed web site, choose one key phrase/matter every web page will deal with. As soon as you establish the key phrase(s), use on-page search engine optimisation greatest practices to optimize your web site pages. Moreover, think about including new content material and pages to your web site that deal with these explicit key phrases and subjects that could be uncared for in your present website.
Save time and rank larger on Google with our free on-page search engine optimisation template.
6. Analyze the competitors.
Whereas we don’t advocate obsessing over your opponents, it can assist to know the way you evaluate. First, run your web site by way of HubSpot’s free Web site Grader device to generate a report card of how effectively your web site is performing. You can too use this diagnostic device to judge your opponents’ web sites, so that you’re conscious of their strengths and weaknesses.
Subsequent, check out your opponents’ web sites, and pay attention to what you want — and what you don’t. This course of is that can assist you notice what you are able to do higher in your web site. When you conduct your aggressive evaluation, put collectively a listing of motion gadgets highlighting some areas for enchancment and how one can set your self aside out of your opponents.
7. Take stock of your high-performing content material.
Whereas a redesign is a good way to enhance the efficiency of your web site, there are sadly numerous methods through which it may harm you. Your present web site seemingly comprises many high-performing content material belongings that you’ve got already constructed up, and dropping their effectiveness due to a redesign can severely harm your advertising and marketing outcomes.
As an illustration, such belongings would possibly embody your:
- Most-shared or considered content material
- Excessive-traffic pages
- Greatest performing or rating key phrases and related pages
- Variety of inbound hyperlinks to particular person pages
For instance, if you find yourself eradicating a web page out of your website that has collected a excessive variety of inbound hyperlinks, you can doubtlessly lose plenty of search engine optimisation credit score, which might make it more and more tough so that you can get discovered on search engine outcomes pages (SERPs).
Understand that many internet designers don’t think about this step as a result of they’re neither entrepreneurs nor search engine optimisation specialists. Don’t hesitate to remind them about this, and assist them alongside by auditing your website and offering them with a listing for sustaining or updating important pages in your website.
8. Select the appropriate software program.
The ultimate (however arguably most essential) step of the web site redesign course of is choosing the proper software program with which to create and host your web site. This software program is often referred to as a content material administration system (CMS), and it’s used to develop, design, and publish your web site for the world to see.
CMS software program is useful for a number of causes. Whether or not you’re a novice digital marketer or a grasp internet developer, a CMS can simply enable you create a stunning, purposeful web site. Choosing the proper CMS depends upon your online business, equivalent to what CMSs you’re already conversant in and what options your web site redesign requires.
There are a whole bunch of CMSs to select from, together with Content material Hub — the one mixed CMS and CRM. Or you may evaluation a number of the greatest CMS platforms to study your choices.
Get Began on Your Web site Redesign At present
Whew! Now you are able to plan, design, construct, optimize, launch, and analyze your new web site. Apply these seven steps to revamp a web site that draws extra customers, wows extra guests, and converts extra prospects.
Editor’s be aware: This publish was initially revealed in January 2013 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
