Your website is an 24/7 invitation to view your company and its product/service. With that in mind, it’s essential to
present your customers with a the most relevant up to date image of
your business.
But what is your motivating factor for changing your website? The
answer will define whether your site needs a simple update, refresh or a
complete redesign. It’s perfectly fine to redesign the entire design from
the ground up if there’s good reason to. But if you have a good starting base, a refresh may be what you are after.
And if you have a great design and structure then an update is all you need.
Step 1. Define your website goals
Clearly define the purpose of your website redesign. Put
it in writing and give it to your web designer. This will keep the redesign/refresh reason on the forefront of everyones mind. The top questions to ask yourself are:
- Is it easy to navigate, find information and contact me?
- Does my website deliver the right message and instill confidence in my business?
- Am I easily able to update my website?
- Is it search engine friendly?
- Is it creating leads and/or sales?
Step 2. Do your homework
Find out as much as
possible about the current state of your website by analyzing web
traffic and feedback from users. Take time to learn more
about your target audiences needs by setting up
online surveys, focus groups or usability
tests.
Step 3. Talk to your website designer
Discuss with your web designer whether you need a website redesign or refresh.
A website redesign is driven by both aesthetic and functional needs. It
involves re-styling the look of your website, re-structuring
navigation and re-creating functionality (such as cms, shopping cart etc).
A website refresh is driven by a specific purpose. Its a smaller job
than redesigning that involves addressing a specific issue with your
site or new goal. Refresh examples include: adding a CMS to your
current website or tweaking the look of the current design.
We can redesign, refresh or update your website depending on your
requirements. We recommend you talk to us about your current site and
what your goals are.
Step 4. Spend time on your content
Once you know more about your users
expectations and needs, start to review and reorganize your website
content. This is often an overlooked part of redesign. Your website content is extremely important for both users and search engine page rank.
Step 5. Think about long term goals
Updating your website content on a regular basis is extremely important for both user experience and page rank. A content management system (CMS) makes it easier to maintain your website content inhouse.
When redesign or refreshing your website it is the perfect time to add a CMS.
Also note, a good quality CMS will make your next redesign/refresh much cheaper and faster by separating content from design.
Lets briefly look at the J6 website redesign
Our new website
The new site has a bolder look with a fluid expanding background of a cityscape that changes with weather and time as you progress through the site.
So whats new - why did we redesign / refresh?
- More wow factor
- CMS for fast updates
- Larger gallery images and more portfolio information
Our old website
The old J6 design website has a clean, crisp, corporate look and feel with a splash of colour for creativity.
To smooth the transition to the new site we kept a few elements the same, such as:
- The business card at the top
- Left hand menu with sub menu hovers
- Two column content area
Contact us about your website redesign / refresh today.
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