Learn When, Why and How to Go about a Website Revamp
Fashion retailers change their display collections every season, coffee chains bring in seasonal beverages and snacks, makeup brands have new lines and shades to match the season—and just about any commercial enterprise that is looking to bring in new and repeat traffic must take on some elements of redesign from time to time. Human nature makes us curious and eager to see and explore something new. If you’re a business owner urging to improve their online presence, this blog will explain why it might be time for you to consider a business website redesign.
Think about this in the context of your website. You may not need to change the design as frequently as retail and consumer brands need to change their store displays, menus, and collections. However, you do need to change things up to keep pace with the changes in your industry, the competition and what your audience expects to see. Whether your business has a basic website for establishing an online presence, or a dynamic platform that is key to selling your products or services, at some point, every website needs a revamp. In this endeavour, you may come across many marketing agencies who promise the moon and stars through impressive presentations about what your future website could look like. However, before you give in to their attractive proposals, ask yourself what you need and when you need it.
Restyling a website is a challenging and delicate process that requires a substantial investment of time, effort and resources. Moreover, it is not a silver bullet that will generate an increase in web traffic, leads, conversions, whitepaper downloads, or revenue growth for your business. Read on to know when and why a website redesign may be critical for your business.
Top 3 Reasons to Consider Redesigning your Business Website
1. Improve Website Usability: Your users define the success or failure of your website. One of the foremost reasons for a site makeover is to close the gap between what you have, and what your consumers are seeking from your online platform. From live chat support and ease of navigation, to faster downloadable content, and overall user experience, there may be various website usability features that you need to add. And while user demands may prompt a redesign project, you may be able to address the site’s usability features for other internal purposes as well. For example, if your business depends on other external tools for data capture or testing, a makeover project is an excellent time to build your site’s compatibility with such third-party tools or software.
2. Major Content Overhaul: Are you starting to focus on new markets or going through a complete brand renewal? Are there any regulatory or other changes that entail content updates in order to keep up with industry norms? Are you seeking a better representation of your business goals through your website? When your website content needs a sizable overhaul, it may also be a good time to re-evaluate your site design, features, user interface, user experience, and overall brand representation.
3. Improve SEO and Site Performance: Website analytics tools help you measure a host of critical metrics, including hits, visits, bounce rates, conversions, traffic sources, acquisition data, social overview and more. Once you know how your site fares on a variety of parameters, you may also want to focus on improving its performance from an SEO standpoint. A website redesign will allow you to:
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- Address flaws, such as high bounce rates or insufficient site visits
- Master zero-click SEO and win maximum featured snippets,
- Dominate the ‘near me’ searches (if you are a brick and mortar business)
- Give your site a mobile-friendly design makeover
- Improve the quality and volume of leads and conversions
- Strengthen your website for supporting your social media strategy
Critical Steps in a Business Website Redesign Project
Whether you undertake an in-house project or hire an agency, here’s a quick glance at the not-to-be-missed steps in a business website makeover:
- Gather comprehensive data on the current user journeys.
- While setting project plans and priorities, keep user needs at the centre of your redesign goals.
- Request prototypes in order to ensure that your project objectives and planned output are in sync.
- Don’t skimp on the user testing step. This critical activity will help ensure that the revised site architecture meets the users’ requirements.
Is it Time for a Website Redesign for Your Business?
- Does your business depend on your website for a sizeable portion of revenue generation and customer service?
- Are you looking to communicate your brand values through a more meaningful website?
- Do you need to make your business website more well-rounded and compatible with various digital media platforms?
- Are your users demanding better usability and interface from your site?
Your answer to these and other questions, along with budget and time available, will help you determine whether it is the right time to redesign your website.
If it is time to restyle and restructure your business website, get in touch with the web design and development experts at WSI eStrategies in Ottawa. Book a no obligation consultation and let’s discuss website makeover options for your business.
