3 Key Steps to a Successful Website Redesign Strategy

12 Jul 3 Key Steps to a Successful Website Redesign Strategy

Whether you’re rebranding, launching a new product or service, or simply overhauling an old website, a new and improved website can set the tone for long-term business success. Like any important business initiative, you need a plan to guide the process. Based on our fifteen plus years of redesigning websites for small businesses, we’ve identified three key steps to a successful website redesign strategy.

1) Set Goals

What is the purpose of your website? What do you want to accomplish? These questions must be answered before you make any decisions about your website redesign.

The purpose of your website could be to sell a product, educate, increase engagement, recruit talent, or secure donations. A website can also have more than one purpose. The key is to identify specific goals (sales, contact form submissions, registrations, traffic, time spent on the website, etc.) and have a system in place for tracking these goals.

To make sure goals are clear and realistic, try the SMART model. In other words, goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. We recommend going a step further with SMARTER goals that are also Evaluated and Reviewed.

2) Build Alignment between Business Priorities and Audience Priorities

Many businesses have a hard time looking at their website from the customer’s perspective. What does the customer want from your website? What content is most important and relevant to them? What problem are they looking for you to solve? What influences their purchase decisions? What could be preventing them from doing business with you?

The key is to create a website redesign strategy that supports your purpose and goals while speaking to the needs, concerns, and preferences of your target audience. When business priorities and audience priorities are on the same page, your website will work better for both sides and produce better results.

3) Identify and Address the Weaknesses of Your Existing Website

How many times have you looked at your website and cringed? Your website redesign is your chance to fix everything that’s wrong with your existing website! Here are some of the most common website issues we help small businesses address.

• Missing or outdated information. This tends to happen when the business evolves and the website doesn’t. All information should be current and accurate!
• Poor design. A website will look outdated if it uses an old template, follows an old design trend, or just wasn’t professionally designed. Make sure your website looks visually appealing to grab the attention of potential customers.
• Slow page load times. This affects your Google search ranking and the user experience. We use specialized tools to analyze and optimize page load times.
• Difficult navigation. Websites become more complex over time as you add pages, content, and functionality. Making your website easier to navigate should be a top priority of your website redesign.
• Not mobile-friendly. Many older websites don’t automatically adapt to mobile screens. Your customers, and Google, prefer mobile-responsive websites.
• Missing or unclear call-to-action. Every page should have at least one call-to-action to guide the user to conversion.

Is it time to update your website’s look, content, and functionality and reevaluate its purpose and goals? We can guide you through these three key steps to a successful website redesign strategy. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with an Elwood Studio Website Redesign Specialist!