In an ideal world, every business should be redesigning their website every two to three years. Obviously, we know this isn’t that realistic, especially for typical small service-based businesses.
But, there is a need to keep up in the digital space and in a world where your website acts as your shopfront, it’s pretty important that it’s one that encourages your website visitors to enquire with you.
Website redesigns can be stressful — especially if you’re not prepared. We’re running you through how to know when it’s time for a website redesign, what to consider when you do, and our tips to make it a seamless experience 🧵
There are some clear signs your website is running past its due date.
It’s feeling dated 🗓️
The most obvious sign your website is in need of a revival is when it just feels dated. The design is lagging behind other new websites you find online.
Not every website is going to emulate Apple’s latest iPhone landing page — and that’s not necessary anyway.
But, technology is constantly changing and evolving, and to get viewed on new devices and appear neatly, then your website needs to keep up.
The other thing to consider is things like your photos — if you’re a car wash business and all of your imagery is cars from the 2010s (or worse, the 2000s), then that alone could be dating your website.
High bounce rates 🏀
No website is immune to a high bounce rate. But if your website’s bounce rate is steadily increasing with time, it could be time to consider a website redesign.
It’s not performing like it used to 🎭
Just like bounce rates, dwindling performance could be caused by a range of factors. But your website’s age is always a good spot to start.
Your rankings are dropping or your SEO efforts aren’t working
The older the website, the more likely it is that it’s going to load slowly, have broken links, or have security vulnerabilities — all of which have impacts on SEO and your rankings.
If your rankings are dropping or you’ve been putting a bunch of effort into your SEO with no results, then it might be that your website is dated.
Your brand, message, or offer has changed
This is a biggie. Branding updates should come with website updates. The bigger your brand change, the bigger the website redesign.
Many industries find themselves needing to adapt with time — whether that means a new message, Unique Selling Proposition (USP), or an updated offering. In this case, a website redesign is absolutely essential.
There are some things you might want to consider 🧠
Your content — are you bringing it all over? 🚗
Not every blog you post or page you create will be evergreen. When you start planning for your website redesign, sift through your website and work out what you think should come across with the new design, what needs to be rewritten or updated, and what can be left behind.
SEO — how to keep your progress and rankings 🔍
The SEO aspect of your website redesign can be a bit of a catch-22. On one hand, it’s essential to redesign your website periodically to maintain your rankings. On the other hand, your rankings will inevitably fall with the redesign.
It sounds dire, but it doesn’t have to be. You can strategise with your digital marketing agency to lessen the impact.
Here are some steps you can take to minimise the impact your redesign has on your rankings:
- Conduct an SEO audit of your current website (find out which pages are performing best and be sure to retain them)
- Implement 301 redirects for old URLs (no one likes a 404 page, especially your conversion rate)
- Update meta tags, titles, and descriptions
- Maintain keyword optimisation during the redesign
Be mindful, your rankings will drop. Chat with your agency to get an understanding of how long you can expect to be impacted and the strategies you can put in place to keep getting leads.
Our tips for a seamless website redesign 🧵
To make your website redesign as simple as it should be, some planning goes a long way.
Work out your goals for the new website
Align your business goals with your marketing goals
Your marketing goals need to be matched with your business goals. A big mistake businesses can make is taking a willy-nilly approach to their marketing strategy.
Start with your business goals, consider how those goals can be reached, and what marketing can do to get you there.
This will feed into your website redesign. If there’s one key product or service you really want to drive attention to, then it’s going to be really important your website gives that product or service the attention it needs to get noticed by your customers.
Start gathering inspiration and references 📌
Take a look at your competitors and their websites, or even websites in similar industries to yours.
Start putting together a list of websites you like and work out what it is you like about them. You might like the layout, how they’ve incorporated their branding, or the tone of their website copy.
This is a great place to start as you work out what you want your website to look like.
Redesigning your website? Get a ballpark quote from our team 👇
Get a quote or review your website with Andrew to find out what you can do to improve it. You’ll walk away with a list of recommendations to convert customers on the spot.
