Has your business recently experienced falling sales numbers and profits? Have you been unable to attribute these declines to any brand positioning, financial decisions, or poor employee performance? Have you considered the possibility that your company’s sales and growth numbers are directly attributable to your website’s design. Have your website functionality and content become so dated that first time visitors have been leaving your site within the first few seconds of contact?
If these questions ring true or are in any way representative of your company’s current website experience, a large scale redesign of your site may be warranted. As we all know, a frustrated and unhappy User-Experience (UX) can negatively impact your company’s sales, brand perception and customer retention. Yet, a redesign of your entire business website is for the faint of heart. Before you go all in with a complete redesign, it’s recommended that you ask yourself the following five (5) questions about your company’s online home. (Related: Website Redesign Mistakes You Should Avoid)
- Have you considered what works and doesn’t work on your current website? A comprehensive review of your site will often identify those pages or functionalities that have performed as they were designed. Analytics specific to those pages that are positively impacting the business or improving the user-experience should serve as the foundational core of your corporate redesign. Find what is working. But also find what isn’t. There is where you have room to improve and fodder for your redesign.
- Do you know who your website users really are? Before any redesign work can begin, you must first define who your targeted audience is, how they found your website, their device usage, and conduct analysis on their online purchasing patterns. There are tons of online analytics tools to help you find out more. Google Analytics offers a treasure trove of data and setup is quick and easy. Best of all, it’s free. Just remember, it’s better to know who your customers are than not. Failing to do so can amount to brand suicide.
- Are you aware of your direct competitors? Failing to identify your online competitors and analyze their websites is another risk to your business’ profitability and longevity. Being aware of the elements which make competitors’ websites more effective in promoting a positive experience online can save you time and money over the course of your website redesign.
- Have you determined if your current website content is still promoting a positive user-experience? Hubspot reports that 47% of buyers online view three to five pieces of content prior to engaging with a sales rep. Original and well-written website content is essential for effective SEO management and ultimately online conversion. Outdated and stale content should be replaced with content that serves the needs of your visitors and aligns with keyword-rich strategies to improve internet search result rankings.
- Is your website responsive to a variety of devices? With nearly 60% of today’s online users accessing the internet via their mobile devices, your firm’s website strategy must prioritize a responsive user-experience. Mobile users are exposed daily to an infinite number of distractions, therefore your mobile website must be optimized to capture the attention of the user within the first few seconds of use. A mobile user with a positive experience on your site tends to become the prized repeat user and consumer of your brand and its products.
Understanding who your online competitors are and ensuring that your website’s functionality and usability are supportive of a superior online experience for your site visitors before you begin any site redesign will go a long way to ensuring the project accomplishes its true objectives and succeeds in attracting the targeted consumers/clients you’re seeking online and converting them once they’re on your website.
If you want to learn more about how a website redesign may improve your business’ bottom line online, cal Proctor Digital at 773.664.5819. We love helping brands grow to the next size up in the vast world of online marketing.