Why and when should your company undertake a website redesign?
Website Redesign Safeguards Your Brand
There is a reason the best brands in the world continually assess and reassess their public image. As time marches on, colors and fonts fall out of favor. Certain graphics resonate less. For example, McDonald’s ads seldom feature Ronald McDonald these days because people view clowns less favorably than they once did.
Consumers demand new ways of interacting with your company. New cultural developments make older versions of a brand feel stale. And if consumers think your brand is outdated, you’re in trouble.
Many small business owners ignore branding. But this is a costly mistake. Branding is vital for every company.
Your Website Is Your Most Important Branding Tool
Chances are, your website is your most essential branding tool. According to TytonMedia, “48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the credibility of a business.”
If half of your potential customers consider your website to be the number one determiner of credibility, your site had better be top-notch.
First Impressions Count, a Lot.
According to researchers at The University of Surrey;
“Recent studies have shown that judgments on web site credibility are 75% based on a web site’s overall aesthetics [6], and these judgments are immediate as they occur as fast as 3.42 seconds”*
That’s a couple blinks of an eye.
We’ve all done it. We follow an interesting link, only to find the destination confusing or the content buried behind ads or items of no interest. What do we then do? We hit our browser’s “back” button. And just like that we relegate the website to the “don’t visit” category in our brains.
You don’t want your business site to fall into this category.
Implement these suggestions and best practices to leverage your website’s potential.
Website Design Attributes
These website design attributes make visitors far more likely to become paying customers.
- the pages load quickly and smoothly
- the design is inviting
- the colors, images, and fonts have a contemporary appeal
- the functions and features are simple and easy to use
What is the Return on a Website Redesign?
According to Orbit Media;
“A great site will produce results for five years or more. A bad site will need to be redesigned within two years or less.”
That sounds about right to us. Where does your website stand on the quality continuum?
If your website has produced excellent results in the past, how old is it? Has lead generation declined over time? How much business are you losing by not refreshing your site and staying ahead of the public curve?
Improving a Satisfactory Website
If your site is satisfactory, how can you make it more effective?
When was the most recent redesign?
If your website has performed reasonably well over the years, does it still reflect your current company and brand accurately?
And is “satisfactory” good enough? The difference between satisfactory and excellent is enormous. How much business is your business forfeiting with a merely adequate website?
Your return on investment for a website redesign can be profound if your existing site looks dated or no longer reflects your brand.
A poorly designed website is a liability. It reflects negatively on your company. If you want your business to thrive, why tolerate a mediocre website?
A high-quality website crafted by a talented web designer means more business. In some instances, a new website can even be a game-changer.
The ROI (return on investment) for a redesign will vary. The key to measuring your ROI is to pick metrics meaningful to you. An obvious measure of website success is traffic. Has traffic spiked since the redesign?
But what about visitor engagement? What is your post-redesign bounce rate? (The percentage of visitors who view one page and leave.) Are visitors viewing more pages and spending more time on the site?
More traffic and better engagement nearly always equate to more business.
Here are a few additional considerations.
- Is the website effectively optimized for search engines?
- Has your copywriter incorporated “long tail” keywords?
- Is your social media optimized?
- How much traffic is coming from search versus social media?
- What percentage of traffic is “direct” traffic?
- Which websites are referring traffic to your website?
- Is anyone signing up for your newsletter?
- Is your content being shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter?
An Experienced Website Designer Is an Excellent Investment
Your website is the face of your company. More than an ad in the paper, a business card, or a shingle hanging over your office, your website says who you are. Your website is a critical interface between the public and your company.
How can you improve your website and boost your key performance indicators? Hire a knowledgeable and experienced website designer. It is an investment that is well worth the money.
*Some researchers believe that website visitors form an opinion about a website in less than 1 second.
