How Often Does Your Website Need A Redesign? 9 Things To Consider

A website is a multifaceted tool that serves numerous purposes. It is an advertising tool that broadcasts your brand to the world, displays your products and services in the digital realm, and acts as a point of contact for your potential customers. Hence, the importance of a website in e-commerce cannot be overstated.

A well-designed, updated website will do wonders for your business. However, websites demand regular maintenance and redesign from time to time. Redesigning a website can be tricky because there can be multiple reasons for redesigning, and it is easy to lose focus. In addition, web redesigning takes considerable time and resources, so it is essential to work out a strategy and list your goals before starting the process.

Frequency of Redesign - How Often Does Your Website Need A Redesign?

There is no hard-and-fast rule that dictates how often a website needs to be redesigned; rather, the frequency of redesigning is circumstantial and need-based. On average, most businesses redesign their website every two to three years. This is because the digital world is fast-paced and ever-evolving. In two to three years, websites become outdated in terms of design and functionality and need a makeover.

Experts agree that if the following is true for you, then your website needs a redesign:

You don’t get a lot of traffic.
You get traffic, but the conversion rate is low.
Your website is not optimized for local search.
Your brand’s goals have changed, and your website does not represent them properly.
You are unhappy with your website’s outdated design and functionalities.
Your competitors have better websites with more high-end functionalities.
You have launched a new product line that has not been updated on the website.

In this article, we have listed the most important factors to consider before redesigning your website. So read on.

1) Assemble A Well-Prepared and Diverse Team

The first step for any website redesign project is to assemble a well-prepared team that will be in charge of the project. Since all employees are internal stakeholders, they should be able to voice their suggestions. To make that happen, select each team member from a different department. This way, all departments will have at least one representative who can convey the suggestions and feedback of his department.

Ideally, a good team for a website redesign project should comprise the following:

Designer
Developer
Content writer
Strategist
Team leader

The team leader will be responsible for leading the project, reviewing the designs and content, and approving the changes. A well-formulated team ensures that the project progresses smoothly and meets all the critical milestones.

2) Define Your Goals and Formulate A Plan To Achieve Them

Before starting any project, defining goals you wish to achieve is essential. The same goes for redesigning your website. Sort out the why’s and work out a doable plan. This will help you stay focused and save precious time and resources.

By working out a plan, you will be able to set important milestones, and determine how to achieve long-term success by revamping your website. During the planning process, focus on the following:

Why Your Website Needs A Redesign?

List down all the reasons for a website redesign – the changes you want to make, the new features you want to introduce, and how these changes will align with the goals and objectives of your digital marketing strategy.

For higher chances of success, base your plan on real-time findings. For example, use Google Analytics to determine users’ interaction with your current website. This will help you identify the loopholes in your current design, and guide you on how to make improvements in future designs.

While laying out the plan, visit your competitor’s website and analyze what makes them better than you. Evaluate their content, functionalities, and features. This will help you identify industry trends and make them a part of your redesigning project.

Set A Baseline By Documenting The Live Performance of Your Website

Document essential parameters such as views, conversion rates, bounce rates, etc. They will serve as your baseline. Aim to improve all of these parameters through the website redesign project.

Identify Highest Performing Keywords

Identify your highest-performing keywords and include them in the fresh copy of your website.

3) Adopt A Content-First Approach

Most businesses adopt a design-first approach and focus on the layout and functionalities of the new website. Content takes a backseat and is treated as an afterthought. Teams only start to focus on the content after the designs have been laid out, and content is then created to fit into the already-formulated designs.

This usually leads to a misalignment between the content and some aspects of the design. Consequently, the team has to make multiple revisions to the content and design so they can align with each other. These revisions waste unnecessary time and shift the team’s focus. In some cases, project teams may compromise on the quality of the content if it does not fit the new designs.

To avoid this mistake, you should always adopt a content-first approach. Create content first and let it dictate the design of the web. If your website is aesthetically pleasing but overshadows the content, then this can be counterproductive for your business.

After the content writer has provided you with good-quality content, work out where different content elements, such as call-to-action, marketing taglines, FAQs, and blogs, will be placed on the website. This will guide the development of the web design.

To make your content more powerful and engaging, include the following sections:

Self-selection tools
Ebooks and white papers
Explanatory video
Testimonials, case studies, and customer reviews

4) Assess The Current Performance Rate of Your Website to Establish A Baseline

After planning, the first step of the web redesigning process is to audit your website. This will present an accurate picture of the following website engagement metrics:

Number of visitors
Sources of traffic
Conversion rate
Bounce rate
Time spent on the page
Interactions per visit

Through these metrics, you can assess your website’s current performance and determine which areas require improvement and which pages need to be removed. The audit will also give you an insight into user trends, their preferences, and what works for them. For enhanced engagement, redesign your website by keeping in mind the above-mentioned website metrics.

To understand the health of your website, carry out an in-depth SEO audit of your site. An SEO audit will point out any issues that may be detrimental to your organic search performance. E.g., you may be losing potential customers due to the slow loading speed of your pages, or your content may be missing essential keywords.

Specific tools such as Semrush, Google Search Console, and Screaming Frog can help you identify SEO-related issues with your website. While analyzing the health of your website, these tools take into account multiple factors, and make suggestions accordingly.

The audit will give you a baseline of your website’s current health and engagement metrics. While redesigning your website, address the existing issues for improved performance.

5) Create Customer-Centric Content

Your website is a marketing tool through which you broadcast your products and services to potential customers. Your products or services offer a unique solution to those in need. E.g., if you run a house cleaning business, you will fulfill the needs of those who require housemaids.

When a user visits your website, they should find the answer to this critical question: How can your business solve my problem? Create your content in such a way that it answers your customers’ queries. When writing content for their website, most businesses tend to focus on themselves. They want to tell the customers how great they are and why they are the best in the market. Instead, you should adopt a customer-centric approach when creating your website’s copy.

A customer-centric copy will address the customer, use more words like “you” and have fewer “we’s.” This way, the customers will feel that your website genuinely addresses their problems rather than blowing their own trumpet.

6) Understand Who Your Target Audience Is

Website redesign aims to attract more users and enhance customer engagement. Your target audience lies at the center of your redesign strategy. Therefore, it is important to define and understand your target audience so that your efforts will be wholly dedicated to them.

While defining your target audience, be specific. Everyone who visits your website is not a potential customer who is likely to convert. So narrow down your target audience to those who will benefit most from your products and services.

List the demographic profile, interests, needs, and motivations of your target audience. For example, the target audience for a website that sells animated t-shirts for teenagers will be very different from a business that deals with automotive parts. The content, design, layout, and functionalities will be specific for both websites.

For the success of your website redesign strategy, get into the head of your target audience, and create unique content for them.

7) Avoid 404 Page Errors

404 Page Errors occur when a specific website or webpage has been removed from the server. When you redesign your website, chances are you will clear up the clutter by removing outdated pages. While this is a good practice, it can become problematic when visitors access your website through your legacy links. It will take them to the outdated page, where they will find the dreaded 404-page error.

The 404-page error creates a wrong impression on the visitors. To avoid this error, we recommend redirecting legacy URLs to relevant pages on the newly redesigned website. Keep a record of the URLs of the removed pages and use a server-side 301 redirect to navigate the visitors to the new pages.

8) Establish A Realistic Timeline

For any project, time is one of the most critical parameters. During the planning phase of your redesign project, establish a realistic timeline for the completion of the project. If this is your first website redesign project, you may wonder how long it takes to complete all the work. It depends on the website’s size and the redesign’s magnitude.

Generally, any website redesign project will take approximately 2-5 months. While establishing a timeline, avoid being excessively stringent or lax with how much time you will allot for each phase.

Once you have set the end date for the project, disintegrate the timeline into smaller portions. Associate a milestone with each piece of the timeline. This will allow you to track your progress in real-time.

9) Use Explainer Videos Wherever Needed

Images, flowcharts, and videos are excellent tools for conveying your message in a much shorter and more understandable manner. Previously, when the internet had limited bandwidth and videos were difficult to load, written text and images were the only tools to deliver a message effectively.

However, more and more businesses are adopting video technology to effectively explain their products and services, and communicate their message to the audience. Short and to-the-point videos hold the attention of the audience. If your website lacks explainer videos, then redesigning your website gives a fantastic opportunity to incorporate these on different sections and pages.

A well-produced explainer video is short and sweet, plain and simple. It should have a solid script and enticing visuals. These videos can voice your brand’s personality and clearly convey your message. They can also help improve your Google ranking and increase your conversion rates.

Overall, redesigning your website every so often is critical to the success and longevity of your business. For a successful redesign, make sure you have given thought to these 9 factors outlined here, and have a proper strategy in place. If you and your team needs any help managing this process or assembling a team, Hudson is here to help.

Daryl Bryant

Daryl is Co-founder and CEO of Hudson. Prior to founding Hudson, Daryl worked as a software developer for a tech startup while running a few successful side businesses. At Hudson, Daryl oversees all operations and new business opportunities, helping to guide the company’s strategic partnerships and overall future direction. He also acts as a consultant for fellow entrepreneurs and CEOs to help them plan for success in the constantly-changing digital world. When he’s not working, you can find him spending quality time with his wife and three children, as well as living a highly active lifestyle.