A Complete 2019 Guide to the Website Redesign Process

How to rebrand your business like a boss

There are so many different reasons a small business owner may decide to rename a website: poor conversions and / or sales, confusing navigation, or an outdated design, to name a few.

However, as I mentioned in my previous blog The Right Reasons for Rebranding Your Business Logo, it is essential to have a solid reasoning, logic, and statistics behind rebranding your business.

For example, are poor conversions due to ineffective design or a faulty shopping cart?

Is your website really outdated or just bored with the color scheme?

This guide will help you first understand whether or not you need to reinvent your business, and if you do, how to rebrand your website in the most effective way possible.

I am going to share a personal example for this article. We are renaming our website at this time. We decided it was a good idea because:

• We are now also targeting new entrepreneurs from the corporate world, as well as wanting to attract established entrepreneurs who are ready to improve their business.

• It was time to update the way we present our services on our home page. We don’t feel like we are presenting our benefits clearly enough in some areas.

• Some of the features and functionality of our existing site were failing. It was time to update and use newer technology to display our offers.

• We have had some confusion around the penguin logo. Some people see a woman’s hair or are not sure what it is.

Our first step in the rebranding process was to update our logo.

We will reveal our new website in the coming weeks and I can’t wait for the big reveal! And before moving on to the redesign process, first determine if this is something really necessary as explained below.

Part 1: Is it time to reinvent your business?

You will need to carefully analyze your online presence. You should ask yourself the following questions, but it is also helpful to have external opinions from customers, focus groups, and social media followers; you may not have the most objective opinion.

1. Am I targeting a new type of audience / customer?

2. Is the site well optimized for mobile devices? According to Statista, more than 52% of web traffic now occurs on a mobile device. If your online store is slow or looks terrible on a smartphone, you have a lot to lose. The best way to check if this statistic is accurate for you is to check your Google Analytics.

3. Have my products or services changed dramatically?

4. Is my bounce rate high? Google defines the bounce rate according to the number of users who leave the page they entered, without interacting with anything. According to a study by RocketFuel, average bounce rates are between 26% and 70% for most websites.

Now if your bounce rate is high on a Contact Us page, where a customer just wants your contact information and walks away, that’s one thing. But if you’re high on the pages where you want people to stay and engage, it’s time to take a deep dive into why potential customers aren’t staying.

5. Do I get complaints about the design or the user experience?

6. Does the design look dated? The appearance of a website design can change quickly and often dramatically from year to year. You can almost guarantee that sites that were designed 5 years ago will now look out of date.

If the name “Tupperware” conjures up images of avocado plastic and ’80s block parties, you’re not alone. Tupperware struggled to appeal to a modern audience, but has done so by modernizing everything from its logo to its Pinterest-style images.

Part 2: Reinvention

If you’ve decided to embark on the website redesign process, an exciting and challenging journey awaits you! Here are 9 ways to achieve your goals in the most user-friendly way possible.

1. Complete a competitive analysis.

This is a crucial step in many branding and marketing processes. You should have made one when you were creating your company.

This time, take a look at how fast your competitors’ website loads or how easy to use their navigation. By exploring what you’re up against, you can do better when you rebrand your business.

2. Review your values ​​and brand positioning.

Before hiring a web designer, I recommend that you review their business values ​​and brand positioning. First, be clear about why you are in business, your values, and your mission.

Also pay close attention to the impression you want your website visitors to receive the moment they land on your site. How do you want your business to be perceived? What brand personality do you want to portray? What values ​​do you want to be known for?

By having a clear understanding of these types of branding questions, you now have a clear branding guide for your web designer to follow.

Here are some resources to help you through this process:

– Start with the Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek

– Find Your Why: A Practical Guide to Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team Too by Simon Sinek

– Building a Brand of History: Clarify Your Message for Customers to Hear by Donald Miller

– Work with me as your business and marketing mentor.

3. Define your goals.

Rebranding your online business isn’t just about looks. You want to improve your customer experience.

Suppose you want to collect more email addresses. You will need to decide where to place your email newsletter subscription box or gift offer to compel visitors to provide you with their information.

If your goal is to convert a new type of customer, you will need to think about the calls to action that will best resonate with them.

Whatever your goals, they should focus on your customers’ needs, not yours.

4. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

We can get so caught up in refreshing and renewing ourselves that we go too far. If you’ve received a lot of attention and / or praise for your company logo, why would you change it?

If a certain article on your blog gets a lot of organic traffic, don’t delete it just because you’re tired or want to target a new audience. It is equally important to know what not to change.

Always keep your target audience in mind. What is useful and informative to them that helps them make a decision about whether to do business with you? It is not about you or your personal preferences. It’s about them and what they need from you.

5. Create a design and content plan.

Depending on your target audience, brand positioning, and goals, you may be able to repurpose existing marketing collateral, or you may need to start from scratch.

Review all elements of your design and copy before the website redesign process so that you have an accurate inventory of what you need to create.

6. Build a wireframe and a model.

A wireframe is a layout that shows what elements will be on a web page. You don’t just start creating menus, placing images and placing links on a live page. You should plan and visualize before rebranding your website, so that users have the best possible experience.

A mockup is also a visual representation that includes design elements and copy, although the copy can be demonstrated with a placeholder, as we have done here. We are still working on the messages in this section, but we wanted to plan where they would go.

7. Incorporate voice search into your SEO plan.

It is no longer enough to focus solely on the copy. People want instant solutions when they search for something online.

As you reinvent your business, you need to think of ways to optimize your website for voice search, in addition to what people are typing in the search box.

Many consumers already use it to find what they are looking for, and according to ComScore, 50% of searches will be done this way by 2020.

Learn more about voice search here.

8. Make mobile devices a top priority.

A big part of the website redesign process is ensuring your website looks good on any device, from desktop computers to smartphones. Images and font sizes may look perfect on your computer but cracked or cluttered on a phone screen.

Always optimize and test for mobile devices while rebranding your website.

9. Hire a professional company to help you.

Unless you’re a marketing guru, rebranding your business is not a DIY project. There are too many important elements of branding, programming and implementation at play.

You should consider hiring a full service professional web design and development company.

The website redesign process is iterative. You’re not going to nail it with just one version.

If you plan ahead and hire the right people to get the job done, you’ll end up with a beautiful, functional online presence that you’ll be proud to share with the world.