Websites function as the online representation and the foundation of the businesses they represent. They are important assets that website owners need to take care of and update based on changing requirements and technology. However, not all website redesign projects are smooth sailing, and if you’re wondering what are the common mistakes of website redesign, going through this post might work well for you.
Before delving into the mistakes, you ought to look at why a redesign is important. It’s common for businesses to redesign their websites because their visitors don’t find them attractive or interesting. In addition, while some businesses want to change their products or services, others want to present themselves in a new light. In any case, a redesign will give your website a fresh and improved look that will help attract more traffic and meet all the new rules set by search engines.
To achieve desired results, it’s best to leave your website’s redesign to a professional web design company. After all, simple mistakes could end up making your website worse than it initially was, and they may cost you a great deal of time and money, especially because of the downtime. If you decide to go ahead with redesigning your website, make sure you avoid making these mistakes, failing which, you may set yourself up for disappointment.
Table Of Contents
1. Not Having the Right Goals
Before starting any project or fixing a problem, it is important to understand what the problem is and determine its causes. Without this analysis, finding out what to solve, where to look, and the expected results will be a difficult task. Creating a plan for the website redesign starts with setting goals, looking at the processes involved, and establishing which needs more attention than others.
If the analysis and goal-setting processes seem complicated to you, the best thing to do is find a few websites you want to replicate. You can show these to your web designer, which will make the process simpler and faster. If you don’t have predetermined goals for your redesign project, it can take off in any direction and you might not like the results.
Common Website Redesign Goals
Not every website owner chooses to go the redesign way for the same reason, and their goals may vary based on the type of business they run and their competition. Here are some of the most common website redesign goals.
- Rebranding a business
- Building or improving brand awareness
- Positioning yourself as a subject matter expert or an industry leader
- Attracting organic traffic
- Improving domain authority
- Increasing conversion rates
- Making your website responsive
- Improving user experience
- Generating more sales
- Increasing repeat business
- Converting customers into brand ambassadors
2. Prioritizing Aesthetics Over Functionality
A common goal of redesigning a website is to make it look better, but even more important is to ensure that it works better than its previous avatar. The truth is that sometimes these two elements tend to overlap and you might need to favor one over the other. While getting an aesthetically pleasing website is important, you should not prioritize how your website looks over how it functions. After all, a website that looks like a million dollars but does not function well is bound to deliver poor results.
Without a doubt, one of the biggest mistakes to avoid when redesigning your website is faltering on the functionality front. What you should go for is a website where your target audience can find the information it is looking for in a quick and easy manner, as this helps decrease bounce rates and increase conversion rates.
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3. Not Carrying Out Website Analysis
You cannot set suitable goals without a proper analysis of your existing website. You need to analyze its metrics to find out what needs to change and what needs improvement. This analysis will give you the opportunity to understand the problems you are currently facing as well as the means to identify the things that are working and those that are not. Then, you need to incorporate these elements into the redesign process for optimum results.
After your website’s re-launch, it is crucial that you monitor the elements you analyzed previously. This helps in identifying problems and fixing them before they cause any further damage. The analysis also gives you a chance to find out how much the redesigning has helped your website and your business. Bear in mind that these metrics are important, and professionals who work on website redesign projects monitor them routinely to make suitable tweaks to further improve the results they deliver.
4. Limiting Your Budget
Having a working budget for your website redesign project is important to prevent over- and under-spending. Most website owners typically stay at the lower end of the spectrum for obvious reasons, although this might be a mistake. Bear in mind that if your last web design or redesign project took place half a decade ago, it does not mean your expenses will remain the same.
Tools and technologies related to web design and development have changed over time, and so has the cost of designing or redesigning a website. Until not so long ago, all you needed to redesign a website was to make a few tweaks and create an online brochure. Now, the process has become way more complicated and time-consuming, both of which have affected the cost.
Bear in mind that businesses across sectors now face stiff competition, and the ones who wish to get ahead are trying to improve their websites’ aesthetics and overall functionality. By choosing to cut corners on the cost front when you redesign your website, you might end up losing more in the long run.
With aspects such as responsive web design and content management systems, your website holds the potential to do more than you can probably imagine, and you cannot expect to pay a small price for the benefits at hand. While you don’t need to overspend, limiting your budget will mean that the changes are minimal, which, in all likelihood, will not benefit your website and business much.
5. Having an Unrealistic Deadline
Another common website redesign mistake to avoid is setting up an unrealistic deadline. Bear in mind that it takes time to redesign a website properly. Depending on the scale and size of the project, it could take three or more months, so you should definitely not expect to get a redesigned website overnight.
A typical website redesign project takes time to complete because it involves different stages such as research, wireframing, content creation, redesigning, development, and testing.
In most cases, website owners want the process handled fast, mainly because of the fear of losing clients during the time their websites remain inoperative. If you want to complete the process faster than it actually takes, you will need to cut a few corners. Then, the resulting website could end up being a good example of a redesign project gone wrong.
If a web design company opts to complete a project in haste, the client it was afraid of losing or disappointing might actually not appreciate the final result because of missing or poorly functioning elements.
6. Forgetting About Your Customers
This is among the most common website redesign mistakes you need to avoid because leaving your customers in the dark is never good for business. As your website goes through a redesign, it is crucial that you keep your customers in the loop.
They should know what you are doing and that you have not shut shop permanently. If you have a physical store, you need to let them know it’s still open for business. This is possible through popular social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter that can take the place of your website while it gets a facelift.
Bear in mind that first-time visitors who make their way to your website during the transition might never come back regardless of whether or not you inform them of what is happening. After the redesign, make sure you inform your customers that you are back and that the website underwent an overhaul to improve their experience. These simple gestures can make your customers feel you really care about them. Whatever you do, never forget your customers.
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7. Giving the Redesign Task to the Wrong People
Just how well your website redesign project turns out depends on the people at the helm. In this fast-paced digital age, websites are important assets in the business world and you need to treat them as such. If you are changing your website’s design, you need to make sure you leave it to thorough professionals because there’s no room for trial and error.
If you’re wondering how to choose a web design company, ensure selecting one that brings exceptional design abilities and technical skills to the table, and going through its portfolio should give you a good indication of where it stands. In addition, the company you select should be aware of what goes on in your industry. Choosing an incompetent designer or agency might result in a catastrophic website, which is something you just can’t afford.
8. Neglecting Content Strategy
Giving your website’s visitors a great design and excellent functionality is akin to winning just half the battle. It does not make any sense to have an attractive and user-friendly website that is at the bottom of the ranking list on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Remember that all your competitors are probably aiming for the top spots. As a result, after the redesign, you should reinforce the new look with fresh and interesting content. The content strategy you come up with should account for all the steps your customers need to take.
By using the metrics from the initial analysis, you may organize your content based on visitors’ behavior. Check which sections they pay more attention to than others. Your content strategy should include relevant information such as industry-related news, trends, and technologies that your target audience might find interesting.
You should also ensure that the content you write is search engine-friendly, and turning to search engine optimization (SEO) can help push your website to the top of search results pages.
9. Forgetting About Mobile Users
If a website overhaul is on your mind, it is important to steer clear of this website redesign mistake. Most website visits now originate from mobile devices, and there are more people using smartphones to access the internet than those using desktops. This means that your redesign should pay due attention to mobile users.
Just like most other websites, chances are your website will get the most amount of traffic from mobile phones. Even before the project gets underway, you need to inform your web design agency that it should optimize your website for mobile users, and the experience they have should be at par with desktop users. Most mobile users will not stay a second longer if your website is not mobile-friendly and they will, in all likelihood, head to your direct competitor.
10. Discontinuing All Efforts After the Launch
Most website owners feel that their work is complete after the redesign process. However, if you stop putting in ongoing effort, the redesign might serve little to no purpose. After all, running a website is not just about having an attractive design and useful content. What was useful yesterday might not be all that beneficial today. This is where the smaller yet rather important tasks come into the picture. For example, you need to update your content regularly to attract customers and generate sales.
Small adjustments are beneficial when it comes to seizing sudden opportunities for engagement, working on conversion rate optimization (CRO), and generating sales. Remember that you might experience hardly any growth if you do not keep working on the website to keep up with your competition.
Conclusion
Irrespective of the time and money that goes into the process, a website redesign can be a good investment. However, you need to be cautious, and when in doubt, it’s best to seek advice from your web design partner. While you need to focus on various elements to make your website a strong driving force in the growth of your business, you also need to avoid the common mistakes of website redesign.
Partnering with a digital agency that specializes in website redesigning can help you steer clear of these mistakes and save you a great deal of time and money. You may also look forward to getting a website that meets and needs and expectations of your business and its target audience alike.
