Every website undergoes at least one redesign in its lifetime. Generally, the main reasons for redesigning a website are to improve its user experience, to make it more responsive, or because of new product launches. And while many companies redesign their companies once every six months to two years, 38% of them do not see any improvement in their site’s performance after redesigning.

But why is that? Why don’t these brands see improvements after their redesigns? How can you make sure yours does?

In this blog, we go into the reasons to revamp your website and an essential checklist to keep in mind as you redesign. Through this guide, you find out how your brand can maintain its optimization regardless of new changes.

First Things First, How Often Should You Revamp Your Website?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question as the frequency of website revamps relies on several factors.

Industry Trends: Certain industries like tech and fashion experience rapid changes. So, if your brand belongs to these fields, your team may find yourselves needing more frequent updates to reflect the latest trends and technologies.
Branding Updates: Has your organization undergone a recent rebranding to improve visual representation? If so, it’s only natural your website reflects your new identity to reintroduce your brand.
Competitor Activity: Are your competitors upgrading their websites and stealing your spotlight? This can be an indication to up your game and redesign.
Website Performance: Is your website experiencing declining traffic or conversions? If you’ve noticed drops in your performance, it may be high time for a revamp and address these issues.

A good practice in digital marketing is to evaluate your brand’s website for potential revamps every 18 to 24 months. However, new trends and consumer behavior are still crucial factors to determine the best time to redo your website.

Reasons to Redesign Your Website

Business websites serve a multitude of purposes, and the reasons for website redesigns are equally diverse. Some of the common reasons are:

Strengthen Your Brand Identity: Your website is the visual representation of who your organization is and what you do. If your current online presence doesn’t reflect your brand’s mission and values nor cater to your target audience, a revamp can bridge the gap.

However, don’t just do a revamp to copy another brand’s website. Nobody likes a copycat. Being inspired by a different brand’s website is different from completely stealing their design. Your brand has different needs, and blindly replicating someone else’s work might not improve your website at all.

The best web design is the one that reflects your company’s unique value proposition and caters to your specific audience.
Boost User Experience (UX): Users expect a seamless experience when going on your website. So, if your pages are clunky, slow-loading, or difficult to navigate, a strategic redesign can streamline your navigation.

Starting a website overhaul simply because “the boss says we should” is a common mistake with revamps. While it’s great to have the executives’ input during the design and development process, your marketing team knows your brand the best and should lead the redesign process. Any changes to the brand’s representation should be a collective effort that’s carefully thought through and planned out.
Improve Search Engine Optimization: Success through web design and SEO is a prerequisite to becoming a thought leader in your brand’s industry. By incorporating relevant keywords and best technical practices, you can significantly improve your brand’s search engine ranking––attracting more qualified visitors and establishing your page as a credible source.

If you’re redesigning your website just because your competitors redid theirs, it may not be an effective solution to your current site’s pages. While it’s good to keep an eye on your competition, do not obsess over them. You don’t need to redesign your website just because your competitors did. Working on other aspects of your online campaign like improving your searchability is a better way to spend your time and resources.
Drive Conversions: The goal of your website is to ultimately become a lead generation machine. A revamp focusing on optimized conversion funnels, clear calls to action, and compelling landing pages can increase customer conversion.

Starting a redesign project just because it’s “boring” is not the best idea. It’s easy to get tired of your website because you see it every day, but that doesn’t mean your visitors find it boring.

If your website’s users like your site and you’re seeing a good, steady flow of conversions, there’s no need to go through a redesign. Always remember that popular saying: “If the wheel ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Integrate New Functionalities: As your business evolves, your website needs may change too. A redesign can facilitate the integration of new functionalities you offer such as e-commerce capabilities, live chat features, or online appointment bookings.

If your brand is doing a website overhaul just to create a buzz, that may prove to be unproductive and costly. Creating a press release for a brand-new website design might seem like a good idea, but you shouldn’t revamp your website just for the sake of having news to talk about. A website redesign is only big news if it provides something new and worthwhile to its users.

By addressing any of these aspects, your website revamp can refresh your online presence. If you focus on the reasons to improve your digital performance, your new site can attract visitors, convert more leads into customers, and essentially propel your business forward.

Always remember: redesigning is a big decision. You need to weigh your reasons and options carefully before going through with it.

Factors to Consider in a Website Revamp

A website revamp isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a strategic investment. So, a few factors to consider for a successful execution are:

Goals and Objectives

Clearly define what you hope to achieve with the revamp. Are you looking to increase your brand’s awareness, generate more leads, or boost sales? Having clear goals is the starting point of your revamp, dictating its eventual success.

Target Audience

Who are you trying to reach? Are your users Millennials, Gen-Zs, or Gen Alphas? Are they men or women? Where do they live? Answering these questions and understanding your targeting audience is influential to your brand’s web revamp. The designs, content, and messages must resonate with them to enhance their user experience and encourage conversions.

Content Strategy

As we all know, content is king. With optimized, relevant, and compelling content, you can increase engagement on your website. Consider doing a content audit to analyze the performance of your existing content. Check whether they need to get updated or if your brand needs to develop new high-quality media.

Project Budget

Website revamps can range from simple design tweaks or total website migrations. Set a realistic budget for your team to work on, ensuring that it aligns with the scope of work you want to implement for your new page.

Once you’ve considered these factors and any other related aspects, the next step is carrying out. A well-thought-out website redesign strategy is important to achieving your brand’s marketing objectives.

Website Revamp Checklist

To help you successfully renew your company’s website, here’s a breakdown of the key steps and strategies involved:

1. Planning and Analysis

Define your goals and objectives for the redesign. Think of how you can create a responsive web design, effectively catering to the needs of your market and your brand.
Conduct a comprehensive audit of your existing website to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Create a list of new pages to add to your website whether for reorganization or to feature new products and services.
Use website analytics tools to understand your user’s behavior and site performance. Research external reports on your target audience to learn more about their wants, needs, and pain points. Checking for testimonials on various social media platforms like TikTok reviews or Facebook community posts are some of the tools you can consider for research.
Create a user persona for your target market based on your audience deep-dive. This can provide your team insights on the design direction, functionalities to add, and the flow of the pages’ navigation.
Put together a design guide for your whole marketing team’s use. Indicate the specific brand requirements that must be maintained on your website revamp and detail the elements that can be tweaked.
Stay informed on current and upcoming trends in your industry. Identify whether these are long-term trends or fleeting fads to know which one can help boost your brand’s awareness.

2. Develop Your Content Strategy

Review your existing content and develop a refresh plan. Find out which keywords have high search volumes, check for suggested search terms, and compare if your current web pages match your user’s search intent.
Conceptualize new content to add to your current ones. Make sure they reflect the keywords you’ve researched and are relevant to your target audience.
Reach out to other credible sources in your respective industry and create backlinks. Whether it’s through blog posts, social media, or forums, these backlinks can help build your credibility as a resource.

3. Prioritize Your Information Architecture and User Experience (UX) Design

Develop a clear information architecture that facilitates smooth navigation and seamless user flow. Create a wireframe or map to help your team visualize your redesign’s layout, features, and functionality––focusing on how it can affect your user’s journey.
Build new links between each of your pages for smooth navigation. Make sure you have clear CTAs that appropriately lead your users to take actions based on what you intended per page.
Ensure the responsiveness of your pages across all devices: desktops, tablets, and mobiles. Triple-check whether all the buttons are clickable, all the links are working, and all the forms are fillable.

4. Launch and Post-Launch Monitoring

Before jumping the gun and launching your new website, craft a strategy to support it. Employ the basics of marketing and create suspense around your launch. Build up its hype to potentially increase its reach and engagements.
Continuously monitor website performance and user behavior through analytics. Check whether the redesign is working for your target audience, then make necessary adjustments to optimize its performance.

Revamping your website can be a powerful tool for boosting your online presence. And with this web redesign checklist, you can start the process of your company rebranding and formulate new marketing campaigns. Just remember to approach your revamp strategically and do it for the right reasons.

Transform Your Website Today and Boost Your Online Presence

A website revamp can be a complex undertaking. There are a lot of details to consider and elements to include. It’s not just about changing the look of your brand’s online presence, but also deciding the extent of the changes you want to make and how it can affect your overall branding.

Partnering with an experienced digital marketing agency like Truelogic can make all the difference. Our team of experts possesses the tools, skills, and knowledge to guide you through every step of your website’s revamp. We’ll work closely with you to understand your unique needs and goals, develop a customized strategy, and deliver a website that exceeds expectations.

Trust Truelogic to revitalize and optimize your online presence. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your brand!