With every website redesign the idea is to improve upon your last incarnation and bring new opportunities to the table. We’ll go over today what you should expect to gain as a result of this moth-to-butterfly process.
Plan to make small tweaks to your website every year or two, and consider a total redesign at around the 3 or 5 year mark. If you keep things interesting and usually have new things to see, you’re probably also running any updates that are needed and so both your site design AND technology are going to stay relevant longer and perform better.
Credit Flash Bros
A Website Redesign Fixes All Your Immediate Tech Needs
Maybe there were things that just didn’t quite hit the spot with your last website design. Too many clicks to find deep information? Not showing up well on mobile browsers? Your website redesign should strike all of these concerns off the list and also put some new value on the table.
Think Outside The Website Box
Credit George Bohunicky
What kinds of things could you be handling through your website? I always recommend adding at least one new cool feature while you’re doing the redesign. Do you have new social media accounts you could be promoting? What about a new service or product you’ve launched that should now be front and center?
Sometimes there are great features that need to evolve with your business and get customized for the way you do things. This is the time to get all of that fixed and working your style.
Do you want to show some new information on an area of your site? Maybe you have a map of your locations or a staff directory of your people, and you’d like to add phone numbers or Twitter ID’s. Let’s do it!
Get All Those Little Details Taken Care Of
Like a house cleaning, decluttering, and redecorating session all in one, a total website redesign should feel like a weight lifted off your shoulders and a breath of fresh air. Are there some new opportunities you could explore with your website that would get you jazzed and bring some momentum to your business?
You will be so excited to have a fresh new face out there for everyone who comes to you through your website, and handing out cards with your URL will be fun again. Whether your business’s persona is timeless or trendy, you can keep get everything back up to date and exciting for your customers. Ladies and Gentlemen, the cobwebs have left the building.
Bring Something Cool and New to the Party
A website redesign is an ideal time to start asking more from your 24/7 online salesperson. Can they be collecting more leads? Serving more people at a low dollar level? What can your site do better to really earn its keep and enhance your operation?
I can give you all sorts of great ideas for service based business websites as well as product business websites. Actually I’ve put together a whole booklet of them (and you can get this totally for free) over on my personal project site She Builds Websites, 35 Ways to Reimagine Your Website. Here are a couple of ideas right straight from the pages that I think you can resonate with.
All Business Websites Can Improve or Scale
If your company provides a service within a local radius of your shop location, why not set up an online booking request system complete with mapping so prospects can know right away that they’re in range? Since you’re already doing a website redesign you will have to add only a few more pages/elements to the list of interfaces to design.
Wouldn’t you like to get a ding on your phone, letting you know someone is ready to buy and wants to get on your schedule? Of course you would!
For product and retail shopping businesses, if you aren’t already selling online then why not? If your products are generally too hard to ship or require measurement in store, you can start offering some coupons or deals to get more foot traffic through the door. Cross promote this on social media and watch people get excited to stop by and take a look for themselves.
Could you offer some if not all of your products online for sale? What about swatch kits, or paying deposit fees online, or requesting an in home consultation and measuring session?
Address Your Redesign And Features At the Same Time
Since you’re already looking at a website redesign, let’s make this a one-two punch of awesomeness. We’ll relaunch you with something delightful on the eyeballs, and a new set of solid business-building features that your customers (and distributors?) can take advantage of to be served even better. That’s smart marketing strategy right there and just one good plan followed to the letter can absolutely pop the top off your sales. Sounds good, right?!
Why Should I Redesign My Website At All?
In case you need a little push to see why a style update (and a code update) is periodically warranted, let me give you some examples of what happens when you don’t maintain your website and you let things slide.
You’ll find that this is like a lot of things in life — personal appearance, professional education, type of equipment you work with — all of these things should be kept in fine standing, good repair, and an appropriate level of timeliness (be current enough). We’re talking about everything from the content to colors of your web design here.
Your Customers Need To Trust You As An Expert
Do you remember that silly rigamarole about old men complaining about kids “skateboarding on their lawns” and never getting out to enjoy the sun because they’re inside playing video games all day? I bet at the same time you are picturing this, you can also picture people of similar age who are totally up to date with the times. Why, there are plenty of world leaders in their 70’s, and they certainly aren’t out of touch. One of those two groups knows a thing or two about staying current.
What does this tell us about being an expert? If you’re going to be a leader and cultivate an atmosphere of great experience (whether you are giving transformational haircuts or doing skillful estate tax planning) you need to both look and sound the part. We need to get you and your website image suited up like the world leader, and focused intently on the thing you do so well with no distractions.
Haven’t you ever been to a really old or terrible website? It’s an instant credibility downgrade. And when it conflicts with the high image you had of the expert that you met, an air of uncertainty is created. Nurse, we need a website redesign in here stat. The customer is waffling and going to close out of this window!
Website Redesign Improvements Keep You Current
In the same example as above, we need to show that your business is up on the times and can weather any storm. You want to be proactive about your image and create the reality that needs to be. Don’t rely on others to talk you up and promote you. Be the change – be at the front of the parade. Lead it all the way around the block and keep going.
You’re going to sound the part, do great work, and look like a million bucks. We can’t do that though if one big part of your public image is operating five or ten years behind. You’ll lose some credibility points there and have some missed opportunity cost. Are you already experiencing slumping sales? Time to fix it.
Your Business Web Design is an Investment
For all of these reasons you really need to start thinking about your website as a prudent investment, and it needs to be fed ever so slightly and given a tune up on a regular basis. If you’re in a field that is really upscale or on the cutting edge of your industry, a custom website design is going to be your best friend.
How valuable is your website really? The answer to that partly depends on how awesome you have allowed it to be. Your website can be as precious as a piece of heavy machinery, doing serious work day in and day out. I probably don’t have to remind you that dozers and excavators run in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they sell plenty of them because they are just so darn good at doing hard work. So are business websites.
Protect your brand and strengthen your presence online. Just a little bit of elbow grease on your website redesign can keep it fresh, and if you go the full distance and start to automate your business tasks through your site, you’ll see those returns come back to you. Picture the rusty backhoe parked in the field and left to the elements. Don’t let one of your greatest business assets deteriorate like that!
Lauren Grey is a website redesigning machine (figuratively!) with a little bit of sass and a lot of enthusiasm for her clients and their results. She would be delighted to consult with you about your website and redesigning it. Ms Grey offers free consultations by phone and email, click here to request one and give a URL if you already have a site up and running.
Ms Grey has a penchant for working with women entrepreneurs and furthering the presence of women in tech. If you need custom website services and want serious intelligence behind it, she’s your gal. Services for every budget, $1,500 – $30,000 – just ask.
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