Your site has been experiencing a drop in the traffic and this has impacted you a bottom line. You have talked to several of your friends who have recommended that you redesign your website. This article is for you.
Why your website is important
Before I even delve into explaining why you need your website redesigned it is important first to highlight the importance of a website to a business. In the digital age, a website has become an important asset for any business to have. Before any customer makes a decision to purchase a product or a service, they first undertake an online search for your business. Therefore a website offers the first point of interaction with a potential client. The impression that the client will have concerning your business will be largely determined by the experience they have browsing your site. Your website will, therefore, helps in asserting the credibility of your business as well as create a positive impression on the client. This is informed by the general belief that in the internet era every legitimate business should have a website. Your website will, therefore, serves as an invaluable and readily source for information regarding your business. It will further act as your online shop where you can exhibit products and services. A website is therefore inseparable from a modern day business and it is vital for every business to have one.
What is website redesign?
Does changing the content management system CMS theme of a website qualifies as a website redesign? Does changing the look of my website qualify as web redesign? Will I have to overhaul the whole site for it to qualify as a web redesign? These are some of the questions that many business owners ask themselves when contemplating the subject of the website redesign. The definition of a web redesign is mostly dependent on the goals that the business owner is seeking to achieve with the website redesign. It may include a total overhaul of the existing site and start from a blank slate. It may also involve a few cosmetic changes that are geared toward improving the user interface and the navigability of the sites. Lastly, the website redesign may include a back end redesign that is initiated to enhance the functionality of the website while retaining its existing look and feel. A website redesign can be defined as any change made to a website with the goal of aligning the company with its existing strategy and goals.
At this point, it is important to note many people seek to undertake web redesign whimsically without being backed by data. Web redesign should be a marketing strategy that should be informed by data collected from the existing website. The website redesign should be aligned with the existing marketing strategy of the company for great results. Undertaking a web redesign process without having concrete data backing the need for the redesign, will not resolve the underlying problem facing the current site.
Why you need your website redesigned
A website redesign is important in increasing the online presence of business as well as improving the user experience which in the long run increase the rate of conversion. There are many reasons that lead to you needing a website redesign for your business. Undertaking a SWOT analysis on the current website can help to identify why you need a website redesign. Understanding the website visitors and your audience should be a paramount reason why you need to redesign your site. It is increasingly important for a business to enhance the user experience of website visitors in order to attract and retain them. When redesigning the website the actions that you want the visitor to complete should be well stipulated. This should determine the changes you will make to the site.
Slow load speed, a breaking site, broken links as well as an outdated content management system are also important reasons why a site needs to be redesigned. Outdated websites are characterised by their inability to load with current web browsers making them inaccessible.
Mobile responsiveness is an important factor to consider when deliberating whether to redesign a website. In the modern multi-screen culture, mobile is gaining prominence as a medium for browsing and accessing online content. As the number of searches done via mobile increase more and more people wants to experience seamless connections and interactiveness via multiple devices. They want to have the capability of accessing the same content across multiple devices. It is therefore important for a website to be mobile friendly to make it more accessible to most of your clients. Therefore if your site is not mobile responsive it will tend to a few visitors and therefore a drop in sales. Mobile responsiveness is a ranking factor considered by major search engines while raking on search results pages.
How often should you redesign your website?
Do I have to redesign every year? How long should I take before my website is redesigned? Before we consider the length of time to be taken before the website is redesigned it is important to highlight that we are living in a highly dynamic informational age that is periodically changing. Technology is evolving at a very fast rate, in that what technologies that worked four years ago are almost or already redundant. This cuts across to web design. It is therefore important that a company keeps up to date with the changing technology space. Further, an outdated website negatively portrays your business as unprofessional and illegitimate. There exists no specific timeline by which a website should be redesigned, however, it is highly recommended that your website is updated after every 2-3 years.
How much does it cost to redesign a website?
It is hard to clearly state the cost you will incur for a website redesign. This because the cost may vary from one site to the other and from one web redesign provider to the other. The cost of redesigning a website is dependent on the content that you would like to be on the site. In addition inclusion of extra functionalities on a website tends to be an important factor in establishing the cost of a website. It is important that you clearly stipulate the number of pages you are anticipating to have on your website when looking to get a proposal from your web designer. Also, remember to outline the different functionalities you want on the website making it easier for them to be able to establish the cost of the web redesign.
How long does it take to redesign a website?
On average, the entire website redesign process normally takes between 30-45 days from the time that you submit the content required for the site. This time also encompasses the asset collection, the formulation phases, preview presentation, and submission of changes and the launch of the site. However, the amount of time taken to redesign site is highly dependent on the content of the site and the functionality that you are looking to have within. If you are looking to have just an information site the amount of time taken may be less than when you are looking for a more interactive site. If you are looking to have any backend system integrated with your site may take slightly longer to build due to the time needed to add the functionalities.
The platform that you prefer that your site is built on, also highly determine the length of time needed for the website redesign process. Some platforms need more customization than others both in the front end and the back end varying the time one may take to design a website. Therefore, the web redesign process can involve two major options custom web redesign and templated web redesign. Custom web redesign involves the building of a website from scratch ground up. This form of website redesign takes more time and resources as every part of the site is custom made. A templated website redesign process involves the use of a pre-designed web page that is personalised with images and textual content. This mode of website redesign is faster to actualise and more budget friendly.
How important is updating your website?
Imagine visiting a website with advertisement content dating 5 years ago. Imagine your first reaction when you see a sales offer that expired three years ago but still running on the website. What image does this create in your mind concerning this business? Would you buy a product from such a business? Would you trust them to provide you with their services?
This what clients go through every day when they are looking for products and services online. A lot of businesses have websites with outdated information that requires an update. Updating your website is described is the content of your website to match your marketing goals. Updating your website may just involve an update on the textual and visual content onto an existing wireframe without changing it. An updated website helps the site to remain in a secure environment keeping it safe from hackers.
It differs from website redesign as it does not involve the total overhaul on the appearance of the website. After updating a website the site may still retain its existing appearance but different content while redesigning is a total change of both the textual and visual content as well as the wireframe on the entire site from scratch. updating a website also takes a shorter time than redesigning the website.