4 Often Overlooked Steps in the Website Redesign Process

When redesigning your company’s website, it’s easy to dive head-first into sitemaps, template options, color schemes, and even content. While these steps are integral to the website redesign process, there are a few other critical considerations that many companies – and even website design firms – often overlook. And when they do, many well-intentioned teams, managers, and stakeholders are left with a pretty website that doesn’t generate results.

Here are the four most often overlooked steps in a website redesign process that can help ensure your new site generates the results you’re banking on:

1. Define your goals
2. Create a measurement plan
3. Define your web audience
4. Think like a salesperson

Keep reading to discover more about these must-haves in any strategic website design plan.

DEFINE YOUR GOALS

The absolute first thing you should do before starting the website redesign process is to define your business goals. Without knowing where you want to go, you’re taking a shot in the dark. Take time to look at desired outcomes, so you get a website that’s specifically designed to make them a reality. Whether your business goals are to increase sales by X amount or increase overall visitors to the site, these goals should inform every component of your website redesign plan.

CREATE A MEASUREMENT PLAN

With any goal, you need to know when you have reached it. By creating a plan for measuring the progress towards it, you can better identify what is working and what isn’t. Which metrics define success? Which measurement tools will you use? How often will you use them? Making these and other measurement-related decisions in the website redesign planning phase will help set the foundation for post-launch adjustments that every company inevitably needs to make – for as long as your site exists. As new insights are revealed through measurement, you can continually evolve and revise your website to better meet your goals. Learn more about  website improvement and conversion services here.

DEFINE YOUR AUDIENCE

Another important aspect to consider in the website redesign process is your audience. Ask yourself:

• What kind of people are visiting my site?
• How many different types of people or audiences are visiting?
• What are the visitors primarily looking for?
• What actions are they taking?

Through these questions, you can incorporate website funnels into your design based on different audience segments and their motivations for coming to your site. Then, consider what you can do to increase the likelihood that they’ll convert into a lead or buy your product. What may prevent or deter them? Looking closely at these factors when redesigning your website can help ensure you end up with a lead-generation tool that actually works.

THINK LIKE A SALESPERSON

You don’t want your website to be a static digital brochure. That will not generate the results you want! Instead, make it more like an online salesperson, doing its best to generate leads and revenue that contribute to your company’s goals.

So, how can you make a website like a salesperson? Think about how your sales team would sell your product in person. Better yet, watch one of your salespeople make a pitch. Take notes and determine how you can integrate these sales techniques into your website. Document the steps they take the audience through and try to replicate them online to create a similar purchasing journey. This thought experiment can help you design a website with high conversion rates.

Many times, companies spend too much time and money on fancy website designs and too little time asking the real strategy questions that will drive measurable results. When you’re going through the website design process, be sure to keep these four often overlooked steps in mind to ensure you get a site that’s infinitely more effective than any trendy design.

Are you interested in taking your website to the next level? Contact one of our Madison-area marketing experts  today to see how we can help you get there.