So, you wish to begin an internet site redesign. Possibly you simply completed a model overhaul or your product was not too long ago up to date. No matter your motive, a redesign generally is a enormous success — or not. It will also be a protracted and tedious endeavor, which is why each redesign wants to start out with a transparent imaginative and prescient and/or drawback to resolve.
The higher you’re at defining that imaginative and prescient on the very starting, the extra profitable your redesign will probably be — and the smoother your complete course of will probably be as nicely.
Whether or not you’re working with an company, redesigning your website in-house, or proposing a redesign to firm stakeholders, this information has ideas that will help you strategize your web site redesign and guarantee it seems to be an enormous success — not a flop.
Web site Redesign
A web site redesign is the method of fixing 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 visitors as their enterprise grows. Others put money into an internet site redesign as half of a bigger rebranding initiative. No matter why your organization is interested by an internet site redesign plan, the mission itself is an enormous endeavor, to not point out an essential one to get proper contemplating the crucial position your web site performs in your advertising and model picture.
The truth is, new analysis has discovered that 50% of shoppers assume 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?
In keeping with Enterprise 2 Neighborhood, the typical lifespan for an internet site is 1.5 to 2.5 years. As a result of design traits change and expertise advances, that is the typical period of time {that a} redesign will really feel “contemporary” and aggressive. Nevertheless, that timeframe is simply a benchmark, so you will want to find out what works greatest in your distinctive group.
The next components can decide how typically it’s best to redesign your web site:
- How typically your model or objectives change. If 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 practical and quick. Step into your prospects’ sneakers and see when you can navigate the location nicely and discover all the things you wish to discover with out encountering errors or lengthy web page load occasions. Nearly 50% of internet sites get between 4 and 6 web page views per go to — all that looking implies that your website’s navigation and velocity actually do matter.
- The efficiency of your web site. Ask your self, “Is that this website changing an inexpensive quantity of visitors? Do folks 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 might be altering to mobile-first indexing, it necessitated that web sites be mobile-friendly, or they’d lose natural visitors from Google.
Your web site is the place guests and prospects go after 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 an internet site redesign.
It’s possible you’ll spend extra time constructing your web site redesign plan than you’ll on the redesign itself. In case you’re questioning what ought to go into your web site redesign technique, begin with the steps under.
Learn how to 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 property.
- Select the suitable software program.
Let’s unpack eight crucial web site redesign ideas 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 provides you with a good suggestion of the place your present web site stands and what metrics you’ll be able to enhance upon via your redesign.
Analyze your current web site’s month-to-month efficiency within the following areas. The significance and relevance of every could fluctuate relying in your web site redesign objectives, but it surely’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, visitors, and lead era
- Variety of inbound linking domains
- Whole new leads and type submissions
- Whole gross sales generated (in {dollars})
- Whole pages listed
- Whole pages that obtain visitors
In case 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 word of which instruments you used to measure every of those benchmarks previously. Ideally, you’ll wish to use those self same instruments when gathering 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 all the time be a great motive behind it.
In case you’re answering with “nicely, it’s been some time since we’ve finished 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 to be, however slightly the way it works. Be crystal clear about why you’re doing an internet site redesign, and tie these objectives to measurable outcomes. Then, talk your objectives together with your crew, designer, or company.
Think about the next data-driven aims in your personal web site:
- To extend the variety of visits and guests (each are essential as one customer might go to greater than as soon as)
- To scale back bounce price
- To extend time on website
- To enhance area authority
- To extend the full new leads and type submissions
- To extend the full gross sales generated
- To boost present search engine optimization rankings for essential key phrases
Many of those objectives are depending on each other. For instance, with a purpose to generate extra conversions, you may additionally want to extend visitors whereas lowering your website’s bounce price.
Additionally, check out the metrics you pulled out within the earlier step. Are there any metrics you’ll be able to enhance upon together with your new web site? Maybe you utilize your outdated 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 total 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 propose to vary your branding and/or messaging, or if it would keep the identical. In case you plan to vary it, what wants to vary? 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 which will alienate components of your viewers and make you sound extra like a business-babbling robotic than a human.
Think about the next instance of how we might describe HubSpot in a “gobbledygook” approach:
HubSpot helps firms throughout a number of international locations cut back churn by backfilling the gross sales pipeline with extremely certified visitors that generates leads that convert into prospects with excessive lifetime worth. We obtain this by offering modern software program that integrates all advertising channels for a synergistic view of the information that determines and prioritizes high-value advertising actions.
Say what? Let’s translate that into the best way folks truly communicate:
HubSpot’s all-in-one advertising software program helps over 100,000 companies in additional than120 international locations appeal to leads and convert them into prospects. A pioneer in inbound advertising, HubSpot goals to assist its prospects make advertising that individuals truly love.
A lot clearer!
Moreover, as you develop your firm branding, contemplate what visible features of your web site have to be redesigned and what can keep the identical. Have you ever created a brand new brand, fashion information, or shade palette? Make certain these are utilized to your new web site so it stays in line with different components 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 is not only about you. Truly, it’s hardly about you.
When your guests land in your web site, they’re asking themselves, “What’s in it for me? How might this assist me?”
Communicate to your guests in their language by crafting your web site design and content material round your purchaser personas.
For example, when you’re a advertising supervisor at a lodge wanting to herald new enterprise, you may goal 5 completely 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.
Be sure you clearly determine your purchaser personas so you’ll be able to form your web site redesign technique across the web site guests that matter most to you.
Try our useful purchaser persona builder that will help you create detailed purchaser personas.
Is your audience 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 will you improve new leads, conversions, or gross sales? Listed below are some ideas for designing your new web site with search engine marketing (search engine optimization) in thoughts:
Doc your most search-valued pages.
Use your advertising analytics to determine which pages obtain essentially the most visitors and inbound hyperlinks, convert essentially the most leads, and finally cowl essentially the most influential subjects in your trade. In case you plan to maneuver any of those extremely worthwhile pages, be sure to create the right 301 redirects.
Create a 301 redirect technique.
Talking of 301 redirects, these are extraordinarily essential when it comes to retaining the visitors and hyperlink worth related to a given web page. Create a spreadsheet to file and map out your 301 redirects (outdated 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 optimization greatest practices to optimize your web site pages. Moreover, contemplate including new content material and pages to your web site that tackle these specific 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 optimization template.
6. Analyze the competitors.
Whereas we don’t advocate obsessing over your opponents, it can assist to understand how you evaluate. First, run your web site via HubSpot’s free Web site Grader software to generate a report card of how nicely your web site is performing. You may as well use this diagnostic software 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 will help you notice what you are able to do higher in your web site. When you conduct your aggressive evaluation, put collectively an inventory 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 wherein it could actually damage you. Your current web site possible accommodates many high-performing content material property that you have already constructed up, and dropping their effectiveness due to a redesign can severely harm your advertising outcomes.
For example, such property may 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 accrued a excessive variety of inbound hyperlinks, you would probably lose numerous search engine optimization credit score, which might make it more and more troublesome so that you can get discovered on search engine outcomes pages (SERPs).
Take into account that many net designers don’t contemplate this step as a result of they’re neither entrepreneurs nor search engine optimization specialists. Don’t hesitate to remind them about this, and assist them alongside by auditing your website and offering them with an inventory for sustaining or updating crucial pages in your website.
8. Select the suitable 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 couple of causes. Whether or not you’re a novice digital marketer or a grasp net developer, a CMS can simply assist you to create a beautiful, practical web site. Choosing the proper CMS is determined by your enterprise, corresponding to what CMSs you’re already conversant in and what options your web site redesign requires.
There are tons of of CMSs to select from, together with Content material Hub — the one mixed CMS and CRM. Or you’ll be able to evaluate a few of the greatest CMS platforms to study your choices.
Get Began on Your Web site Redesign As we speak
Whew! Now you are able to plan, design, construct, optimize, launch, and analyze your new web site. Apply these seven steps to revamp an internet site that draws extra shoppers, wows extra guests, and converts extra prospects.
Editor’s word: This put up was initially printed in January 2013 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.
