Marketing Trends: Is It Time for a Redesign to Your Website?

Nicole Hurdle - 4.6.2010 3:00 AM

The marketplace is continuously evolving. In recent years, the number of purchases made online has sky-rocketed. Considering this change, it is essential for companies to have a well-functioning Website for their audience. According to a study done by Nielsen, “the average person in the United States visits 2,614 Websites per month.”*

The convenience of providing your company product, information and brand online can help draw in users that are spending those lengthy hours online. To not have a properly working or up-to-date Website can be detrimental to your profitability. This is why it is important to consider how well your Website is working now. Is it time for a redesign?

Redesign tends to be at the bottom of the checklist, always there but never getting done. Great web design enhances your company image as well as user experience. Here at Webolutions, we help companies to redesign their Websites in order to receive maximum profitability from their online visitors. However, a redesign may not be the best solution for everyone.

Below is a list of things you should consider when deciding on a redesign:

Does your time allow for a redesign?

As mentioned, Webolutions helps companies to redesign their Websites so that they don’t have to spend the time learning how to do it themselves. Hiring a trustworthy and reliable company to do the redesign can save you heaps of time that would be wasted otherwise.

If you do not have the money to hire somebody for a redesign, it is essential that you set a timeline for yourself to complete the redesign. By setting a timeline, you do not get lost in work. Without a plan, problems and road blocks are much more likely.

What types of content should be re-done?

Content may be the most important aspect of a Website. Design attracts the eye and establishes your brand, however solid design and good content will build reliability and accountability. Also well written content portrays your professionalism and knowledge of your industry. Basic things to consider about content include:

Readability – Does your content make sense to the user?
Typography – Does your type appear properly on your Webpage?
Optimization – Does your content allow your Website to be searchable?
Imagery – Does your imagery complement the content?

How do you know what to optimize your content for?

Again, hiring a professional company to optimize and develop your content is a wonderful solution. Optimization of content can be daunting if you are not familiar with the best methods of doing so. Here at Webolutions, we have an Online Marketing team that specializes in specifically optimizing content for our clients based on research and the overall theme of your Website.

However if you are not able to hire a company to optimize your content for you, consider using free tools like the Google Keyword Tool. Other important aspects to consider include: site saturation, header/title tags, meta data, and proper keywords for your brand.

What should you consider about the back-end of your site during a redesign?

There are some questions you should answer prior to deciding how to redesign your site:

Who will be administering your Website?
Is it a content management system?
How often will it need updates?
Will it be built to accommodate future changes easily?

Having these answers will help you determine the proper and best way to redesign your Website.

How will your "call-to-action" appear?

Having a good “call-to-action” is important to convert viewers into clients. Depending on your line of work, your “call-to-action” may appear in different ways. Though, it should always be very easy for a user to find and click on.

What does your target audience want?

Doing some research on your target audience can go a long way. Webolutions provides our clients with a Market Positioning Action Plan that flushes out all this data and leaves the guesswork out. Within this action plan, you will find personas based on their target audience. These personas give insights on how to best market to that audience. Determining your target audience and what they want to see can make the difference between having hundreds of clients and having none. 

What problems did you have with your prior Website?

Clarifying old problems with your Website can help you avoid the same pitfalls in your new site. How was the accessibility of your old site? Analyze not only the accessibility but also your current design. Does your current design need updating? One thing to remember when redesigning is to not make drastic changes to your brand so that it is not recognizable to previous clients.

What do your competitor's Websites look like?

Do some competitor research. This can help you determine what you like and don’t like, what YOU offer versus your competition. You do not want to be a carbon copy of your competitors; you want to stand out in your industry. By doing competitive research, you can determine how to stand out and establish your place in your market.

Remember that these are just a few questions to think about when considering a redesign to your site. The answers to these questions will provide you solid foundation to provide a great Website to your clients.

Also, remember to get feedback as you redesign from designers AND non-designers. Having different sets of eyes and opinions can be crucial in determining what is best for your Website. Asking someone who is not familiar with the project can provide helpful insights out of the designer’s viewpoint. Keep in mind this is not an adequate substitution for proper user testing, but can be very valuable.

Lastly, make sure to review and properly bug-test your entire site prior to launching. There are generally mistakes and errors to be found. Catching these before launching a new Website is crucial. Developing a systematic test plan is the most concise way to test your new Website.

If you are looking to redesign your Website but don’t know where to start, come into Webolutions for a free consultation. We can help you determine some of the answers to these questions and get you on the right path for your redesign.

*http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/facebook-users-average-7-hrs-a-month-in-january-as-digital-universe-expands/

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