Website Redesign In 10 Easy-To-Follow Steps (Guide 2024)

Ready to give your existing website a facelift? This guide simplifies the website redesign process into 10 straightforward steps. 

From planning your strategy to pushing your site live, we’ve simplified each step to ensure your redesign is seamless. With this, you can improve your site to make it work better for visitors in no time.

By the end of this read, you’ll have a solid redesign plan in hand to make your website more attractive, user-friendly, and effective at meeting your business goals.

Website Redesign Project Essentials: 10 Key Steps

As you go through each step, look out for the “hows” and the sub-tasks that come with it.

Step 1: Establish An A-Team

Kick off your website redesign strategy by establishing an adept team. Redoing an entire website is a complex project, and you need a mix of talents for this:

• Web designers for the look.
• Developers for the technical aspects.
• Project managers to keep everything on track.

To get you on the right path, partner with an agency like ProfileTree. We have the whole package for a full redesign to make the journey smoother. We also keep an eye on the redesign cost throughout the entire process.

Step 2: Set Clear Goals

Think of this as setting up your GPS to help everyone involved understand what you are aiming for. Is it to boost your brand identity? Improving site speed? Maybe your priority is to triple the website visitors monthly?

Conduct a business assessment to check if your website’s new direction is fully in line with your broader business goals. This will ensure that you are not directing all your efforts on aesthetics or specific technicalities only.

An assessment highlights the gaps between your website’s current performance and your business objectives. For instance, let’s say you want to increase your online sales by 20% this year. However, the assessment shows that you have a high abandonment rate. This gap between your website’s performance and your business goal indicates a critical area for improvement in your site.

With this information, you can create website redesign goals around the following:

• Improving site speed.
• Making navigation more intuitive.
• Simplifying the checkout process.

By prioritising these elements in your website redesign, you align the site’s functionality with your aim to increase online sales.

Then, to further refine your goals, use the SMART framework:

Here’s an example:

• Specific: Reduce the number of steps to 3 in the checkout process to streamline purchases.
• Measurable: Aim to decrease the average checkout time by 30%.
• Achievable: Use existing web development resources and customer feedback to guide practical enhancements to the checkout process.
• Relevant: Simplifying the checkout process directly impacts customer satisfaction and sales conversion rates.
• Time-bound: Complete the checkout process simplification within 3 months from the start of the site redesign project.

Step 3: Analyse Your Current Site

Before you dive into a website revamp, check your current website performance to identify room for improvement. With this, you can guarantee your website redesign plan is spot-on in attracting more customers.

To do this, use Google Analytics to analyse key metrics like:

• Real-time traffic (Users in the last 30 minutes).
• Where your traffic or users are coming from (Users by Country).
• What the most visited website pages are on your site (Page Title and Screen).

As for the Google Analytics dashboard, you can customise it based on your most important metrics. Here’s an example:

With Google Analytics, you can better understand your web traffic and user behaviour. It turns numbers into strategic moves. How? 

Check the Overview section to know how long users engage on your website. This lets you assess user experience. If you see the average engagement time is below par (lower than 49 seconds), dive deeper into what is causing it. Maybe your content does not meet search intent, or your content is taking too long to load.

Next, explore views per page to know the most popular pages. This will help you decide what content stays during your website update. For instance, if you notice a blog post about “Top 10 DIY Home Projects” has the highest views, it’s a hit. 

But to be certain, consider analysing the past performance of the blog post. This approach will help you determine if it consistently captures attention. If the high views are constant, keep similar content to boost your site performance.

To boost your data further, use Hotjar. It uses various heatmaps to reveal hot spots where users click most and areas they ignore. Here’s how you can use each heatmap type and what data it can give you: 

Step 4: Understand Your Audience

Your redesign project will not be any good if your new site does not resonate with your target audience. Knowing user behaviour shapes the entire project, from the design elements to the site’s content and structure.

Start with creating user personas. Consider their needs, preferences, and challenges. Here’s a user persona template to guide you:

Here’s an example: let’s say you are redesigning this website for a no-code Quality Management Software (QMS) for manufacturing. You can focus on a persona named “Efficient Ellie,” a plant manager who is always on the lookout for streamlined, user-friendly solutions to quality management.

In addition, Ellie values clear, concise information about quality control, forms, analytics, and workflow efficiencies. She wants tools that simplify her daily tasks without needing deep technical knowledge.

What does this entail for you?

Your redesign for the QMS website should prioritise straightforward navigation. Implement quick access to key features that demonstrate how the platform enhances quality management efficiency. 

Since the product is “no-code”, do not use complicated jargon to explain how the system works. Instead, include real-world use cases to showcase how other manufacturers have benefited from the no-code solution. 

Putting all those together, you will have a website that mirrors what the user persona is looking for: clear, simple, understandable, and easy to navigate. 

They offer quick access links, functioning as a table of contents. Plus, they clearly list what you can achieve with the QMS.

When you focus on “Efficient Ellie,” you guide the redesign plan specifically to your target audience. This makes your site more effective at meeting their needs and boosting conversions.

Another way to understand your audience is to gather customer data and feedback. Ask them:

• What do they find lacking?
• What do they enjoy about the website? 
• What features would they like to be added or removed?

With this, you will have first-hand insights into your current audience’s desires. This can guide your retention strategies and tailor experiences to keep them loyal. 

Step 5: Revamp Your Site Structure

A well-thought-out structure guarantees that your users will not be taken on a rollercoaster ride from the homepage to the checkout page.

How do you achieve this?

Take a close look at your existing content. Decide what should stay, go, or get a makeover. A content management system (CMS) like WordPress can be a big help here. It lets you arrange your content and test different layouts without a fuss. If your e-commerce store is on Shopify, you can also use its CMS features. 

Make sure your site hierarchy is simple and organized. Your pages should be from general to specific. It starts with a clear homepage, branches into main categories, drills down to subcategories, and ends with individual pages or products.

To support your site structure better, add a live chat app. A chatbot can offer direct links to customers seeking specific information. This way, they can find what they want fast and without feeling frustrated.

For example, let’s say you are putting all your e-commerce ideas on one platform. From outdoor gear and supplements to online courses and jewellery, whatever customers desire, you’ve got it covered.

But that means having a store with hundreds of products across dozens of categories. That can get pretty messy, right? So, add a live chat feature to fine-tune your site’s user interface and navigation. Should a customer seek specific hiking shoes, the chatbot can promptly provide a direct link to the product page. 

This ensures your customers can easily move from one page to another, thus making their shopping experience seamless and your customer service better.

Step 6: Develop The UX/UI Redesign

To help you with this step, let’s understand what UX and UI mean:

• UI (User Interface) involves the website’s visual elements.
• UX (User Experience) focuses on the user’s journey to solve their problems.

It is about making your site look better and work better for everyone who visits. How do you do this? This requires technical skills and knowledge, so it is best to partner up with a skilled web designer. 

A prime example of a successful redesign that perfectly combines UX and UI is going.com, a subscription-based, cheap flight platform. Driven by rebranding, it transitioned from Scott’s Cheap Flights. 

Its mission to help its members find the cheapest flights remains the same, and the new website reflects this. On the homepage, users are greeted by how much they will save if they subscribe to Going. There is also a “Trial For Free” button that sits below that statement.

The site’s refreshed branding maintains a consistent colour scheme throughout. On different pages, it also subtly integrates additional hues that complement the main theme. 

This ensures the site offers a visual experience while not making it monotonous. The backdrop images are also crisp and stunning to capture any visitors’ attention.

They also use fun animated images that perfectly fit the travel theme. Members and would-be members can’t miss the login and sign-up buttons—they are right where they should be.

Additionally, there are quick-access links for specific flights. They even sprinkle in a few reviews on the homepage to build trust with visitors. 

Explore it to see what stands out to you. Then, consider how to implement a similar approach on your website. For example, if you own a restaurant, show animated designs of sizzling dishes or a chef working the wok.

Step 7: Optimise for SEO

A well-developed SEO strategy guarantees your target audience can find your site through search engines. To start optimising this, do keyword research. Use Google Keyword Planner to find terms your audience frequently searches for. 

Then, sprinkle these keywords throughout your website’s content, including the title, body, and headings. You should also include keywords in your URLs and landing pages to boost your search engine rankings for those terms. 

Here’s a great example in the painting and masonry industry: Fortune Restoration’s site ranks number 2 on Google for this keyword: residential exterior painting Chicago.

To rank in search results, consider how they incorporated the right keywords in this Chicago residential exterior painting content:

They sprinkled terms like “Chicago exterior painting” and “house painting in Chicago.” There are more throughout the post, such as “top-rated Chicago painting contractor”. These keywords are relevant to their services and geographical location.

With a high visibility on search results, their ideal customers can find their site with ease. Look at their content and find inspiration for your website redesign.

You can also use xml-sitemaps.com to create or update your sitemap. Then, submit the sitemap to search engines to make it easier for them to crawl and index your pages.

Focus on these search engine optimisation efforts during your website redesign to make sure your website is more discoverable. Otherwise, your efforts to make it look good will go down the drain.

Step 8: Make it Mobile-First

Around 60.67% of overall website traffic comes from mobile devices. That is why your newly designed website must look and work great on small screens to keep users interested. A great example of this is Vivion’s product pages for mobile, like this one for its Whey Protein:

Its target market, nutrition retailers, and health supplement businesses depend on their mobile devices for quick supplier research.

Forbes’ recent study, “Business Information in the Age of Mobility”, reveals that nearly two-thirds of executives are confident in making purchases through their mobile devices. So, they need a mobile page that allows: 

• A clear view of detailed specifications.
• Quick navigation through product catalogues.
• On-the-go bulk purchases or quote requests.

Vivion’s product pages streamline the purchasing decision process for these professionals. They give them quick and accessible information, such as use cases and benefits. Moreover, the “Request A Quote” form is readily available on the page. The other products are also easily accessible with a click at the bottom of each page.

To achieve this, design your site with a mobile version from the start. Discuss this with your website designer to allow them to create plans from the get-go. This will save you time since you can avoid later adjustments after building the web version.

If you have the skills, you can use Adobe XD to craft and test layouts for your mobile site. You can test your design through mobiReady to make sure it is user-friendly.

With a mobile-first strategy, you adapt to how your target market prefers to gather information and make purchases today.

Step 9: Test & Get Feedback

Testing and feedback gathering guarantees your site fulfils user needs with data-driven insights. Additionally, it prevents critical usability oversights.

How do you approach this?

One straightforward method is user testing, in which real people use your redesigned website and share their thoughts. Leverage the UserTesting platform to see and hear direct insights from your target audience as they interact with your site.

In addition, do A/B testing with platforms like Optimizely to compare your website’s various versions to see which performs better. You can also do this for a landing page that directs your users to your homepage.

Let’s consider a website refresh for this business selling medical alert watches for seniors. Since your target market is older, the site must be highly readable and easy to use. So, you should ask seniors (or almost seniors) to navigate your most important pages (i.e. product catalogue and blog posts) and observe their interaction.

This way, you will know what they like about your redesigned website and what can be better. For instance, after observing them, you might learn they are having difficulty reading because of the text size.

With this insight, you can change to a more readable font like Arial and make the text bigger. You can also make the graphics and buttons bigger. This lets your audience closely examine products and learn about them without straining their eyes. 

Step 10: Launch & Monitor

You can’t just simply say “Here’s our new web design, check it out!” and leave it at that. To guarantee a successful launch, tap a marketing expert to introduce your redesigned website to the world. Make sure they can craft an effective marketing strategy that includes eye-catching social media posts.

Ask them to create informative materials about the changes. This helps draw attention and makes sure people understand the improvements.

After the launch, keep an eye on how things are going. Use Google Analytics to see what’s working and what’s not. You can track how long they engage with your site and which pages they love most.

Then, based on your data, tweak your web design to keep improving. With this, you can improve the chances of having more visitors come back for more.

You now know the steps to successfully redesign your website, but the journey might not always be smooth. In the next section, let’s explore the potential pitfalls to avoid wasting time and budget.

3 Most Common Pitfalls To Watch For During The Website Redesign Process

Given a website redesign’s cost and effort, avoiding delays by preemptively addressing issues is key to staying on track. Let’s explore these pitfalls and arm you with solutions to dodge them skilfully.

A. Skimping On Security

If you overlook security, hackers could sneak in and get the personal information of your customers. This means losing your user base’s trust and watching them go to competitors.

As your redesign involves continuously updating the site, add strong security measures like:

• Secure hosting.
• Regular software updates.
• Secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption. 

Also, make sure those who update or manage the website use strong passwords and two-factor authentication for logins.

B. Failing To Set Up Redirects

Redirects guide your site visitors from an old webpage to a new location. In website redesigns, not setting up redirects means old links lead to non-existent pages, frustrating users.

Addressing this requires technical skills, so entrust it to experts, particularly for large websites. But if you have the technical know-how, you can set them up yourself. For example, if HubSpot powers your website, create and manage URL redirects in your account settings.

This way, search engines will not punish you for having broken links. Plus, it keeps the traffic flowing smoothly to your new site.

C. Poor Communication With The Design Team

When you redesign a website, you and your design team should be on the same page. They should understand your vision and goals to guarantee that the final product hits the spot and meets your expectations.

Hold regular weekly or bi-weekly meetings and share detailed feedback. Use visuals or redesign examples to clearly explain your ideas and project management tools to track progress and communicate.

Conclusion

A website redesign is more than just adding new colours and fonts. It is about making sure every site visitor has a seamless user experience. Follow these 10 steps, from assembling a team to launching your new website, to set your business up for success. However, do not forget to be in tune with your audience even after the launch. Keep checking what works best.

So, are you ready to take your website to the next level? Partner with ProfileTree to have a redesigned website that goes beyond your expectations. With experts at the helm, you can have a beautiful, user-focused site that converts. Get in touch now and refine your digital brand!