By: Allison Rodriguez
It starts off simple. Just some new cupboard fronts, a new countertop, and maybe a few space redesigns. You start the project and find that the electrical isn’t wired right for the new island you envisioned. There’s a support beam where the oven was supposed to go. Behind those new cabinet doors, you find a more issues inside. What started as a quick update with some superficial changes has become a much bigger, much more expensive issue.
We’ve seen the same sort of things happen when people attempt a website redesign without first fully assessing the state of their website. Double-checking these three website redesign best practices can save you time, money, and sanity in the long run!
- Implement an evolutionary site design approach so that change is incremental and based on real data.
Going from point A to point Z is a lot harder than going from point A to point B to point C. Evolutionary site design relies on A/B testing and gradual change. As long as you have a means of tracking performance data on your website, you can see which types of CTA buttons generate the most clicks, what subject matters garner the most views on your blog, and more. Tweaking slowly, over time, based on actual feedback from your prospects will save you from costly website overhauls and will keep your website moving toward what your prospects want. Which brings us to our next best practice:
- Have a means of tracking performance on your website.
I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough. If you don’t have any benchmarks for your current website’s analytics, you won’t be able to set proper goals for your redesign or other website updates. Overhaul your design, website structure, or even simple CTA copy is a waste of time if there’s no way to determine whether or not those changes are having a positive effect on your website performance. To bring us back to the kitchen analogy: if you don’t really know whether or not the refrigerator you’re buying will work any better or more efficiently than your current one, it’s probably not a wise investment.
HubSpot (our favorite tool for website analytics) recommends tracking the following data to set effective benchmarks and goals for website updates:
• Monthly page views and visitors;
• Bounce rate;
• Time on site;
• Number of pages viewed per session;
• Traffic sources;
• Keyword ranking;
• Most visited pages;
• Page load time;
• Inbound links;
• Landing page conversion rates; and
• Call-to-action click-through rates.
- Have a thorough understanding of how the backend of your website functions before proposing any website redesign changes.
I once knew a man who purchased a washer and dryer without realizing that his new home did not have the proper hookups for said washer and dryer. Now, the store had a return policy and you’re probably a much better planner than this particular individual, but return policies seldom exist in the world of websites. Once you dive in and begin altering the functionality, it becomes difficult to turn back.
Still, you’d be surprised at the number of companies that have been knee-deep in a website redesign plan before realizing that their website is using dated technology that can’t easily accomplish the crux of their redesign plan. For many, this can result in starting back at square one. Even if you’re using an outside source for coding or UX design, make sure that they fully communicate your website’s capabilities before getting your heart set on a strategy that won’t work.
Many companies wait too long to kick off a website redesign because issues like this can seem costly, both in money and in time. The right planning and preparation, though, will help you know what you’re getting into before you start hammering into that drywall.
Looking for more information about redesigns? Check out one of our other recent posts to learn the 5 Essential Questions to Ask Before a Redesign.
Thanks for sharing!
