Your website should aim to address the needs of both you (or your organization) and your users. If these needs are not being met, then you may need to revamp your website.
Google Analytics and other statistics are just ways to collect data that can help you determine whether you’re meeting your goals. However, these won’t help you evaluate the quality of user experience, which can only be obtained by directly engaging with stakeholders.
Implementing new technology just for the sake of it shouldn’t be your main reason for revamping your website. While upgrading your HTML or adopting the latest platform version may be satisfying, make sure you have a legitimate user need or business justification to support such projects. Otherwise, you could be deceiving yourself, with no meaningful impact on your business.
Most people tend to focus on solutions. It’s important to first identify the problems on your site; find out what your users and organization need, and then fix it.
Evaluate Your Current Website Metrics and Performance to Determine if a Website Revamp is Needed.
Here are some reasons why an upgrade should become a necessity for your organization’s web presence and the negative impacts you could face by not taking action now.
High Bounce Rate
If your website has a high bounce rate, it’s probably time to update it. Bounce rate, which is available to view in Google Analytics, is the percentage of visitors who only visit a single page on your website during their session.
Takes Longer Than 3 Seconds to Load
Make sure to analyze the speed of your website to see how fast it loads. If it takes longer than three seconds, you need to update your site to make it faster. One study found that nearly 50% of visitors leave websites that take more than three seconds to load.
Absences of Basic On-Page SEO
To improve your website’s ranking on search engines like Google and Bing for relevant searches, including your business name, you need to do on-page search engine optimization (SEO). For example, each page should have a unique title tag that describes the main focus of the page.
Doesn’t Have Fresh Content
To attract and retain visitors, your website needs fresh content. According to a study by HubSpot, companies that produced 16 new pages of content per month attracted over three times the amount of traffic compared to companies that only created zero to four new pages of content per month.
Not Secured with HTTPS
The increasing number of online security breaches has led internet users to be more cautious in selecting and using websites. If a visitor does not trust that your website is secure, they may leave to protect their private information from being stolen or leaked.
Doesn’t Work Properly on Mobile Devices
Statistics indicate that three out of every five website visitors access the site from a mobile device. If your website is not properly optimized for mobile users, these visitors may choose to leave your site.
Hard to Navigate
When it comes to your website’s performance, navigation affects everything from search rankings and bounce rates to conversions and customer satisfaction. When visitors come to your website for the first time, they should be able to easily find specific content. If navigation is difficult or confusing, visitors won’t stay long, and they won’t engage with your business.
Contains Dead Links
Dead links are known as broken links, dead links hurt a website’s user experience. They appear as normal links, but as the names suggest, they do not direct visitors to the intended page when clicked. Instead, dead links direct visitors to a 404 error page, often leading to them leaving the site.
Doesn’t Match Your Brand
Make sure that your website reflects your brand. If it doesn’t, you should update it. Everything on your website – from the logo and header to the font and design – should be consistent with your business’s image. Otherwise, visitors won’t remember your business and its offerings.
Utilizations of an Ineffective CTA
Your website should include a call to action (CTA) that guides visitors on the next steps to engage with your business. It’s important to monitor the performance of this CTA to see if it needs any adjustments.
Technical Troubleshooting
It’s time to explore new hosting options, content management systems, shopping cart programs, website maintenance services, or even the entire structure and navigation of your website if you spend more time fixing technical aspects of it than enhancing it or providing better customer service.
Heatmap Analysis
While Google Analytics can show you where visitors came from and how long they stayed on a specific page, it cannot tell you exactly what they were looking at and how they behaved. However, heatmap tools can provide this valuable information. While GA can tell you where the visitor has come from and how long they stayed on a particular page – heatmap tools can tell you what they looked at and how they behaved.
How To Complete Your Website Revamp in Easy Steps?
Platform/Partner/Agency/Freelancer – Whom To Choose For Website Revamp?
The most crucial decision when considering a website revamp is whether to collaborate with an agency or freelance to opt for website redesign services or to undertake the project yourself using a platform.
There is a wide variety of no-code website platforms, such as WordPress or Wix, that offer easy-to-use templates which look great right away and can be customized to fit your needs. All you need to do is choose a template, add your content, and you’re ready to launch. These platforms also include built-in tools and integrate with numerous eCommerce platforms like Shopify.
If you have a more complex website or need it to look unique, it may be best to hire a provider such as a website redesign agency. This is also a good time to consider whether to keep or switch your hosting provider, especially if it lacks speed and reliability.
Revisiting Your Brand: Strategy for Enhancing Website revamp
A key aspect of your website redesign strategy is maintaining brand consistency. Failing to do so may result in the loss of customers, as they tend to gravitate towards familiar and relatable brands.
Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that typography, logos, color schemes, and images are consistent across all your pages. It’s also vital to maintain brand consistency beyond the website, extending to email, social media, business cards, and brochures.
Remember, your branding doesn’t need to be loud and eye-catching; it can be simpler and understated as long as it matches the desired brand personality.
Plan the User Experience with a Website Revamp
Frequently, a website requires a revamp due to a poor user experience. This may be caused by factors such as a cluttered layout, difficult navigation, or slow loading times. In this step, plan the number of pages, the information architecture, categorization, and navigation of your website, as well as how users will move between pages and sections. Ensure that you use this website redesign checklist.
Here are some tips on UX:
- Remember to utilize empty space strategically to create a more relaxed and comfortable environment for visitors.
- Organize your pages to make it easy for your customers to navigate from A to B.
- Use data to optimize CTAs. Heat maps can reveal if distractions are preventing users from focusing on the CTA.
Create the Content
Write the copy or create the imagery that will be on your new website. Good copywriting can be a key driver of conversions. Now is also a good time to create a content marketing strategy that will help you produce regular content that boosts your conversions.
You’re probably well aware of the importance of SEO, so I won’t go on and on about that. You know it’s important and should be a key consideration in your website revamp. Planning which keywords to focus on, incorporating them into your content, images, videos, and data will ensure that your website ranks highly in search engines and attracts audiences.
Pick the Right Host for your Website Revamp
Revamping your website into something to be proud of feels great. However, a single technical issue can ruin the user experience. Review if your current issues are related to your hosting provider.
If that is the case, simply switch your hosting. There are many affordable web hosting providers to choose from.
Design and Develop
It’s time to get to work. Do what you know you can and outsource what you can’t. Don’t do things halfway, or you’ll just end up needing to redo them a year later. Whether you’re using a team or doing it yourself, create the website, apply your designs, and upload content.
Test and Launch
Consider starting with a soft launch to gather feedback first. Regardless of the approach, it’s important to thoroughly test everything before the official launch. This involves using Google PageSpeed Insights to test site speed, checking the website’s navigation and all links, and ensuring mobile responsiveness. Test on various browsers, screens, and devices to confirm that everything works properly.
Ask friends and colleagues to also test the website. It’s always a good idea to have some fresh eyes that were not part of the revamp process.
Optimize
After completion, you will have a fresh and clean website that attracts leads instead of turning them away. Optimizing your website and consulting your analytics can ensure your website performs better over time as you go forward.
Best Website Revamp Examples
Let’s review a couple of websites with revamped examples to demonstrate the transformative impact of a good website redesign.
Law Firm Website Revamp that Delivers Justice to their Growth & Success
Before The Website Revamp:
Keller Postman’s website presented the firm as a small, boutique entity, which did not align with its aggressive, high-achieving identity. The site was wordy, uninspiring, and failed to effectively convey their successful track record and ease of representation.
After Website Revamp:
The new design showcased Keller Postman as a powerful, relentless firm. The updated site architecture and content structure highlighted their wins and built trust through social proof, results, and visuals. The custom design ensured a strong, confident online presence, improving user experience and lead capture.
For more details, visit the case study.
Medical Device Website Redesign Rejuvenates & Transforms Online Brand Image
Before The Website Revamp:
StemWave’s site was outdated and ineffective in communicating the benefits of their shockwave therapy devices, failing to attract medical practitioners.
After Website Revamp:
SPINX Digital created a modern, sleek design that enhanced the user experience with interactive visuals, animations, and educational content. The new site emphasized trust and credibility through success stories and testimonials, improved SEO, and added a WooCommerce-powered parts store. This redesign helped solidify StemWave’s online presence and effectively showcased its technology and benefits.
For more details, you can visit the case study.
Things to Consider While Redesigning a Website
A website revamp typically involves substantial changes in coding and graphic presentation on a website. This may include creating a new visual identity and marketing strategy, revamping pages for improved user experience, and adding new modules and functionalities.
Analyzing the Old Layout of the Website.
Begin by pragmatically evaluating your current website design. Determine what is effective and what is not.
You may encounter unique issues such as incomplete orders on a food delivery website. In such cases, the checkout process will need to be reorganized and revamped to facilitate proper follow-up.
Investigate traffic patterns using Google Analytics. You might notice a significant fluctuation. Visual reports like heat maps or scroll maps can help you identify potential issues and assess your audience’s actions. For critical parts of your website, like the email login form, you might have high engagement or minimal activity.
Recordings can provide more comprehensive information on individual site visits. You can see where you browse, click, and engage with your website.
Defining Priorities For Your Website Revamp
The overall appearance of your website cannot be changed by a website revamp. It should focus on improving its functionality, particularly in terms of sales and conversions.
What specific metrics are you aiming to improve with your site update? Perhaps you want to increase email sign-ups, boost sales, or encourage customers to buy more packages.
By prioritizing your goals from the outset, you can focus on achieving specific results during the redesign process.
Target audience
Over time, target markets change. When launching new products, or services, or reaching out to new customers on your website, you must adjust your messaging to cater to those who are most likely to make a purchase. Develop buyer personas for each target group.
You can continue to make wise choices by reassessing the website designs to better cater to these potential customers. For example, if you are now targeting teenagers, you may want to create a younger, more vibrant website instead of just marketing to middle-aged professionals.
Analyze What is Appealing to the Current Design
When updating your website, it’s not necessary to make changes to everything. Some parts of your website may be working effectively. For example, if you’re happy with your current logo and it has good brand visibility, you may not want to change it. The same goes for the color scheme, text options, or images on your website. You can decide what to keep and what to update based on factual data from Google Analytics or other reliable sources..
Create a catalog of suitable designs
Consider this phase as a collection of aspirations. Type out all the features you want to apply to your website, regardless of whether it’s a color update or a different tool.
Remember to make any structural improvements to your website. Shorter URLs are always better. Ask yourself if you want to add or remove anything from the search bar.
Define the Final Objective for your Website Revamp.
There needs to be a clear purpose for everything on your wish list. Do you want to consider a more sophisticated search bar? Your customers might struggle to find the content they need, so it’s important to provide relevant results quickly. Currently, there is no clear purpose or justification for any of the items on your list. Add a question mark next to them so that you can assess potential improvements. Data-driven changes are more impactful after the site update, reducing the need for frequent website revamp.
Create a Plan for Website Revamp
Please make sure to have a plan in place, whether you’re revamping the website or hiring a skilled design team. Identify where each redesign element originates and how these changes are reviewed for enhancements.
When bringing in an external party or working with an internal designer, designate someone to consistently oversee any improvements. Clearly outline the requirements in agreements with third parties and understand what you will be getting, including the level of feedback and any additional expenses in the future. It’s also crucial to have a clear understanding of the costs associated with revamping a website in order to align with our expectations.
Conclusion
Once you have updated a website correctly, conversions and sales will improve. Start with data. What do we know about the latest traffic patterns, conversion rates, bounce rates, site duration, and other statistics? Incorporate everything you do with the help of the best web design agency in Los Angeles into the latest template.
