A well-designed website is essential for building connections with customers, growing your brand, and converting leads into loyal clients. But what does it take to create a high-performing website? This blog article will walk you through the key steps involved in planning and executing a website redesign to meet your business needs.
Identify your goals and plan your website redesign
The first step in creating a successful website is to outline your business goals clearly. This foundational step is critical to a smooth project. Defining your primary message, target audience, and main call-to-action (CTA), helps you stay focused on what matters.
Think about what you want your website to communicate to visitors. Are you a store selling unique products, a service provider with innovative solutions, or a consulting firm offering expertise? Your homepage should immediately convey your unique message, helping visitors feel they’re in the right place.
Designing call-to-actions (CTAs)
CTAs are the prompts that guide your visitors to take action, such as “Enquire Now” or “Call Us”. They help move visitors through the buyer journey and should be placed thoughtfully across your website. Keep CTAs consistent and limit them to 2-3 different options to encourage action without overwhelming your audience. If your primary CTA isn’t clearly defined and executed throughout your website, users typically skim through a page and don’t engage. Google also monitors user engagement and rewards sites with high engagement while penalising those with high bounce rates.
Prepare your website redesign structure and key pages
With your goals defined, your next step is to outline the structure and essential pages. Most websites need a Home, About, Services or Products, Blog (if relevant), and Contact page. Additionally, depending on your industry, you might also include pages like FAQs, Testimonials, or a Portfolio.
Consider the functional needs of your business. For example, an e-commerce site will need a shopping cart, payment processing, and secure checkout capabilities, while service-based businesses might benefit from a booking form or scheduling feature.
Domain registration, hosting and CMS setup
Register a domain that aligns with your brand name and is easy to remember. Choosing a reliable hosting provider is equally important, as your host impacts your website’s loading speed, uptime, and security.
A content management system (CMS), such as WordPress allows you to manage your site’s content and features easily. Ask your designer to install essential plugins, configure backups, and add any security settings to protect your site. A reliable CMS setup ensures long-term usability and flexibility as your website grows.
Theme selection and content creation
Whether you go with a custom website design or a pre-made theme, make sure it’s mobile-responsive and user-friendly. Your content should be crafted with your customer’s needs in mind—explaining clearly how you can help solve their specific problems. Using customer-centric copy in headers, service descriptions, and CTA buttons creates a better user experience.
The website redesign phase: bringing your website to life
With your goals and preparation complete, the design phase begins. Here’s where branding, layout, and user experience come together to create an engaging website. Your designer will incorporate brand colours, imagery, and typography that align with your identity and resonate with your audience. The right colors, fonts, and imagery can evoke specific emotions and associations with your brand. For example, blue tones are often used in financial and tech sectors due to their association with trust and reliability.
Focus on user experience (UX) and responsiveness
A great user experience is about more than aesthetics. A website’s layout should prioritise easy navigation and quick access to key information. Ensure your website has a simple, logical layout with easy navigation, as over half of website traffic now comes from mobile devices. Design your site to look and function well on all screen sizes, from desktops to tablets and smartphones.
Accessibility and SEO best practices
An accessible, SEO-friendly website reaches a broader audience. Adding alt text for images, structuring headings correctly, and maintaining a logical content flow improves your website’s quality and helps with search engine rankings. Talk with your designer about SEO best practices to ensure that your site is optimised.
Review, finalise, and launch your website redesign project
Before going live, it’s important to conduct a thorough website review to catch any last-minute errors, usability issues, or technical glitches. Proofread all copy to ensure it’s grammatically correct and consistent with your brand voice. Even small typos can affect credibility, so don’t rush this step.
Test all links, forms, and functionalities on various devices, browsers, and screen sizes. This helps ensure users enjoy a seamless experience, no matter how they access your site.
Loading speed optimisation
Website loading time has a significant impact on user retention and search engine ranking. Use tools to identify any areas where loading speed can be improved, such as image compression or caching.
Ongoing maintenance and updates
A live website requires regular attention to stay secure, functional, and up to date. Consistent updates help prevent issues that could harm your business’s reputation, such as outdated content or broken functionality.
Regularly updating your CMS, plugins, and content ensures your website remains secure and functional. Outdated plugins can make your site vulnerable, so check for updates regularly.
Performance monitoring and analytics
Use tools like Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with your site. Analysing data on popular pages, bounce rates, and user paths helps you make informed decisions for ongoing improvements.
Some businesses prefer to partner with their web designer for continuous support. This ensures that your site remains up to date without requiring extensive time or technical expertise on your part.
Ready to create a high-impact website?
At Marketigation, we specialise in building powerful websites that deliver real results. Let us help you with your website redesign project and create a site that enhances your brand and grows your business. Contact us today to learn more about our website design services and how we can make a lasting difference on your online presence.