How to Redesign a Website?

Web design for businesses in Chicago‚ IL‚ from Flying Cow Design

The need for redesigning a website can arise out of many reasons. The existing website may have a dated look and feel and may be built using old technologies. It may not look up with the times. It may no longer be truly representative of your business. Competitor activity may force a redesign. New service offerings or diversifications may render the existing website dated and completely unsuitable for the present of your business. The existing website may not be ranking well in search results and you may want to revamp it to get it to perform better.

Whatever the reason for redesigning your website, it is prudent to learn from the existing website and ensure that you build a truly better redesigned website from all aspects and in every way possible. This article provides tips and insights to help you make sure your website redesign is successful.

Website Redesign Step 1: Understand your website

The existing website can provide useful insight on things you need to address while redesigning the site. Besides the obvious of aesthetics and technologies, the traffic data can provide useful insights on what’s working on your current site and what isn’t. Google Analytics is a free analytics solution that you should install on your website and study for a while before redesigning. If you haven’t verified your website with Google Webmaster Tools, you should do that and study the data.

Website Redesign Step 2: Understand and define your audience

Having understood your website’s shortcomings, the next need is to understand who your ideal audience is, what they search for, what would meet their needs and so on. If you define your target audience well and understand the needs of that audience, you have the best chance of building a website that would work and satisfy the visitors.

Website Redesign Step 3: Select the right web development company

Finding the right web design partner is critical to the success of your website. Unless you are building the website yourself, it’s important to understand that most visitors value information over looks alone. This doesn’t mean you need to compromise on looks. It just means that you need a web developer who can stroke the balance between looks and functionality. It is also important for your web design partner to understand search engine optimization. However good your redesigned website may be, if it doesn’t rank, then your website’s true potential would not be realized. A web designer who understands SEO will ensure that the value of the existing site isn’t lost. A good web designer will be able to transition the SEO value of your current site across to the redesigned website.

Website Redesign Step 4: Pay attention to the brief

It’s better to invest a little more time and effort in preparing a good web design brief before starting the redesign of your website. Some things to take care of while preparing a website redesign brief:

• What sections do you need in your website
• Prepare an indicative list of pages that you need (this can change later)
• Define the purpose and objectives of the website
• Set goals for what the site should achieve
• Define what you envision the site to be like six months or a year down the line
• If there needs to be any special functionality, define it at this stage

This will help your web development partner better understand your needs and create a website that meets all your objectives.

Website Redesign Step 5: Be an involved client

The best input that a web design company can get is a proactive and involved client who provides constructive feedback, ideas and insights that help the web designer understand the client’s needs.

Website Redesign Services from FlyingCowDesign

FlyingCowDesign has been designing and redesigning websites for over twenty years. Our portfolio includes websites in a wide range of industry niches. We have helped many clients in building a strong online presence through a combination of our professional website design and internet marketing services. When you need to redesign your website, talk to us about your needs and let us help you not just redesign your website, but to take it to the next level of success.