Web

13 Questions to Help You Prepare for a Website Redesign

Designing a website is a significant undertaking. Professional website redesign services can provide clarity and help you hone in on what matters most to your brand and your bottom line.

But sometimes you need to spend time thinking through the various aspects of the process before you initiate a relationship with a website development and design company.

In today’s post we offer a list of questions that will help you lay a solid foundation for any website redesign. Whether you’re looking to make major changes or minor tweaks, it’s always a good idea to work through these questions to ensure that your website goals are on track.

13 Questions to Help You Prepare for a Website Redesign

1. Why Do You Want a New Website?

Because websites are constantly evolving, what might have been a great website design two years ago may not be the most up-to-date design today. A redesigned website can help your company maintain a modern appearance, increase user engagement, and generate new leads for your business.

Below are some of the most common reasons why people redesign their websites:

– New logo and branding
– Improve user experience (UX)
– Boost search engine optimization (SEO)
– Improve conversion rates
– Increase revenue
– Add new features
– Communicate better with customers

Each of these reasons is valid and can stand alone to justify a website redesign. Knowing why you want to take on this project will help you stay focused and avoid distractions in areas that aren’t relevant to your business goals.

2. How Has Your Business Changed?

If you are offering new products or services, this is a very good reason to update your website. Sometimes small businesses begin with a “minimum viable product” website, just too quickly get an online presence. But as your business grows, your website needs to grow with it.

On the other hand, some small businesses begin in one direction but refine and redirect the business plan as customer demand or the market changes. For example, many businesses had to pivot during the COVID-19 shut-down in order to stay afloat. In some cases, this pivot led to a discovery of shifting needs, and new service lines were created as a result.

If this scenario sounds familiar, you should definitely consider partnering with a website redesign services team to assess what changes need to be made to reflect the evolution of your business in the current online marketplace.

3. Do You Have a Marketing Strategy?

Redesigning a website takes planning, patience, time, and money to do it right. So before you begin make sure that you have a solid marketing strategy in place to guide your planning and decision making.

Before developing content, deciding on colors, finding photos, or any other bells and whistles, you must first consider the customer journey. From the first point of contact (often your website) through conversion (making a purchase or signing a deal) to satisfaction and retention, you must design a website that aligns with the sales funnel.

Each of the touchpoints on the customer’s journey is influenced by a myriad of factors that marketing, business development, and customer service all play a part in. If all of the pieces aren’t aligned in a marketing strategy, any touchpoint can result in failure.

This is one of the many benefits of web design services. You need an unbiased and strategic team to advise you and help align the website to your sales goals. An overarching strategy will inform the budget, content, timing, and execution of your website priorities over the next year.

4. Does Your Branding Need an Update?

When a business undergoes a rebranding process, a website redesign is often next on the punch list. Brand consistency is key, and it would just be silly to invest the time and money into a visual rebrand and not redesign your website at the same time.

While a rebrand typically leads to a redesign, some businesses start the website redesign process and realize that they also need to update their branding as well. A quality website redesign services team should also offer the in-house rebranding services you need and tackle that before initiating a website redesign.

Avoid Falling into the Logo “Trend-Hole” with Five Timeless Tips

5. Are You Getting Traffic to Your Website?

If you’re wondering why your business isn’t showing up on Google, it could have something to do with the way your website is designed. Some websites simply aren’t designed with SEO in mind. This really is tragic in today’s online ecosystem because there are SEO fundamentals that are not that difficult to apply to a website’s technical structure.

That said, we often see SEO sacrificed on the altar of design choices. While this may lead to a visually stunning website, that won’t matter much if it’s not showing up in search engine results.

When interviewing website design companies, be sure to ask about SEO and how they handle on-page optimization.

6. Do You Need a Web Developer or Web Designer (Or Both)

Website development and website design are somewhat like two sides of the same coin. Design includes the way the site looks, the overall navigation and layout, use of white space and images, etc. Development includes writing the code that brings that design to life.

Some companies love the way their website looks, but want to make changes to the functionality. In this instance, you may need a web developer to assist you. On the other hand, you may want to make your website more user-friendly and visually appealing, in which case a web designer would be the expert to call.

In an ideal world, we recommend going with website redesign services that offer both design and development. Beware of using freelance services, in which case you typically will find a great designer that can’t code or a proficient developer that can’t design. Better to go with an agency that can handle both.

Read More: Web Design or Web Development? How to Know Which is Best

7. Is Your Website Running on WordPress?

The majority of websites worldwide rely on the WordPress content management system, and for good reason. WordPress is easy to learn and use, it’s secure, it’s easy to customize and optimize for search engine optimization.

If you’re not running your website on WordPress, why not? If you are ready to make the switch, we would love to help! When you’re ready to find a WordPress developer, we hope you’ll consider Cross & Crown!

Read More: 10 Questions to Help You Hire a Dedicated WordPress Developer

8. Have You Integrated Social Media into Your Website?

If your social media channels are not properly represented on your website, you are missing opportunities to stay connected with website visitors after they leave your site. Many people rely on social media for information before making a purchasing decision. For that reason, it is critical to integrate social media into your website.

For example, you may attract an organic lead through great SEO, and the lead wants to see your products or services in action. So they head to your footer or “about” section looking for a quick link to your social media pages hoping for videos or reels demonstrating what you’re selling. If this is not easy (or impossible) to find, you will likely lose the lead.

If you want to know how to plan social media content, our digital marketing team would be thrilled to come alongside you and help you make meaningful connections and grow your social media audience.

For more help with this check out our guide to social media management.

9. Do You Have Video Content You Can Repurpose on Your Website?

Video content is consistently preferred over written content in today’s online marketplace. Marketing videos such as brand videos can give your website the extra oomph it needs to really impress your audience. If you don’t have marketing videos on your website, this small update may be the key to more leads and conversions in 2022.

Testimonial videos are particularly powerful and make a significant impact on buyers in the middle of the sales funnel. For a bit of inspiration, here are some examples of customer testimonial videos that have helped our clients get more business.

Read More: 7 Ways to Repurpose Video Content Across Platforms

10. Are You Only Using Stock Photography?

Stock photography has always been (and will continue to be) a mainstay in the marketing world. However, have you ever noticed the same photo appearing in multiple places? Free stock photo sites are great, but relying solely on stock images puts you at risk of seeming mundane or uninteresting to the visual learners in your audience.

If you are generally happy with your website look, feel, and functionality, professional photography could be the next update to take your website engagement from okay to outstanding.

Professional images of your products, service team, and happy customers are social proof that backs up your messaging. Seeing is still believing, and pro photography is a great way to make your website look fresh and new without the effort of a major redesign.

Six Reasons Why Your Website Needs Professional Photography

11. Does Your Website Look Good on Tablets and Mobile Devices?

Every website needs to look good on screens both large and small. The technical term is called “responsive design” and it is somewhat shocking to see how many websites are still not responsive!

As more people rely on mobile phones and tablets for web browsing, businesses and nonprofits simply cannot afford not to invest in responsive website design. If this is the only reason you redesign your website in 2022, it will be worth it!

Read More: 3.8 Billion Reasons Why Your Website Needs a Mobile-First Redesign

12. Are You Applying for Google Ads Grant?

This consideration only applies to nonprofit organizations but it merits mentioning in this list of website questions. Did you know that eligible nonprofits can apply for a Google grant totaling ten thousand dollars in free AdWords? It’s true! But there’s a catch…

Google evaluates websites for usability, design, fresh content, functionality, and clarity, and takes these into consideration before awarding the Google Ad Grant to eligible nonprofits. So if this is something you’re considering in 2022, be sure your website is ready for scrutiny!

The One Thing Nonprofits Must Do Before Applying for Free Google Ads

13. Would Your Business Benefit from a Mobile App?

Depending on the products and services you offer, a mobile app may be an excellent addition to your marketing toolkit this year. It’s one thing to make a website mobile-friendly, but it’s a separate issue altogether to create a mobile app that helps facilitate smooth sales and transactions between you and your customers.

One thing to keep in mind is that your website is a marketing tool generally used for attracting leads. A mobile app is typically geared more towards current customers who are regularly using your products or services. Adding this feature could make a huge impact on overall customer satisfaction and, ultimately, sales in 2022.

If you are unsure whether mobile apps are in your company’s future, give us a call. We would love to talk through the details and help you decide if this tech is right for you.

Read More: Bet Ya Didn’t Know We Build Mobile Apps!

Website Redesign Services You Can Rely On

Cross and Crown is the web development and design agency you can count on for all of your digital marketing needs. We offer a complete suite of digital marketing services for the proactive small business leaders and nonprofit organizations looking to make an impact in their verticals.

Are you looking for a new creative team in 2022? We would love to partner with you! Let’s schedule a meeting to discuss your goals today!