Is Your Website Stuck in the Past? 5 Signs It’s Time for a Redesign and How to Prepare for It
We’re big believers that your website should be working for you, not collecting dust in a corner of the internet. Ideally, your site should be like a high-performing salesperson, bringing in leads and helping to convert your favorite clients. This article will help you take a step back and evaluate how well your current site is working for you.
Wondering if it's time for a website refresh? We've got you covered!
In this article I share five key signs that your site might be ready for an upgrade. Plus, I’ll provide five practical steps to help you prepare for a smooth redesign. Let's dive in!
1. It doesn’t meet your business goals
Evaluate your current business goals and consider how well the site is serving those goals. Like I said, your website should be working for you.
Here are some considerations:
Do you want the site to bring in a certain amount of leads each month?
If it’s already bringing in leads, how is your conversion rate? How could the website increase your conversion rate?
Does the look and feel of the site accurately represent your brand?
Do you feel proud to show it off to people?
Does the information on the site answer your ideal clients commonly asked questions about your services?
Does it establish your credibility so you don’t have to do as much “selling” in discovery calls?
For us, when we built the last version of our site, we really wanted to establish credibility through ample examples of work. We built out a hefty portfolio and we believe our website has done just that.
However, our strategy has shifted to being more SEO-focused. As we brainstorm our own redesign and goals, we’re considering ways to restructure our portfolio pages to meet our SEO goals. This will look like more content on work pages, better use of keywords, and more. (Shout out to Delany Consulting Co for her SEO input!)
2. The design looks outdated
In this day and age, design matters! Companies in industries far and wide are investing thousands of dollars into branding and design services to ensure they look the part and stand out.
Here are some ways to determine if your site’s design is outdated:
Check out this blog post - is your site utilizing these tips for a modern design?
Take a look at your competitors and gauge if your site is of similar quality
Ask a designer for their opinion
Check out our portfolio and compare designs
Consider how long ago the site was built
Depending on your industry, an outdated look could be hurting your business. I tell people frequently you want the quality of the website to match the quality of your services.
3. Your business has changed
It’s common for small businesses to evolve over the years. Here are some common ways we see this:
Your target audience has shifted or narrowed
Your services are different
You’ve introduced a new product offering
Your team is different
You have new work or case studies
You have new photos that aren’t on the site
Your website should reflect your business. This includes everything from the messaging, the content, the photos, and the design of your site. Ask yourself if your current website is speaking to the clients you’re currently serving and if not, what needs to change?
For us, when we built our current site, we spoke to a more general audience of small business owners. In the last year or two, we’ve focused more on industries like consultants and StoryBrand guides. In order for our site to reflect that, we created new pages for those industries and geared portfolio pages and blogs towards that niche. For the next version of our site, we’re going to take this into account.
4. Your navigation is confusing or busy
It’s fairly common for business owners to add pages to their navigation as things change over the years. While updating the content of your site is important, it’s also important to keep your navigation streamlined and strategic. Take a look at your navigation and consider if it’s easy for visitors to navigate and find what they’re looking for.
Here’s some signs that your navigation may be confusing visitors:
Your navigation has more than 5 pages
The page names are long (i.e. About Christopher instead of About)
The page names are difficult to understand quickly (i.e. Intro to Accounting instead of just Course)
We advise clients to keep the navigation as simple and as easy to understand and digest as possible. Don’t make visitors think too hard, and make sure they can find what they’re looking for within seconds.
5. The site isn’t mobile-friendly
This should go without saying but in this day and age, more and more users are only accessing your site from their phone. I regularly see nice looking website that are not mobile-responsive and it’s bound to be affecting user-experience and site performance.
Pull your website up on your phone. How does it look? How does it function? Can you see all the content? It’s it easy to navigate?
Most likely if your site is a few years old, there’s opportunity for improvement of the mobile experience.
Okay, it’s time for a redesign. Now what?
If you’ve determined you’d like to start preparing for the next version of your site, here are 5 steps to set you up for success!
Make a list of what’s working and what’s not working on your site
This is a great exercise to begin brainstorming the next version of the site. Don’t worry about the how, just brain dump what comes to mind.
Determine your website goals
Make a list of what you’d like the website to accomplish. Don’t forget to take into account your current business goals. If you need some ideas, here’s a helpful blog post of jobs your website can do for you.
Brainstorm what needs to change
In light of what’s not working and your goals, consider what needs to change or what you think you might need help with (i.e. new photos, updated design, a few new pages, new strategy).
Consider what new pages you need
If you haven’t updated your site in a while, you’ll most likely need a new page or updated content. Start planning your sitemap and if you’re stuck, this blog post will help get you started.
Get a professional opinion on your plan
It’s helpful at this point to bring in a professional to make sure you’re on track. We’d be happy to meet with you to discuss your goals and strategy.
These 5 steps will help you prepare for a website redesign. Once you feel like it’s time to get started, the next step to pick a team to work with (and I happen to know an awesome team 😉).
Hiring Knapsack for your redesign
Ready for a redesign? We’ve got you! We’ve built over 600 killer Squarespace sites using our quick, collaborative and pain-free process. We keep your goals and strategy at the forefront of the project. Let’s talk! 👇