WEBSITE REDESIGN SERIES

Part of our collection of practical guides designed to help business owners make informed decisions before investing in a new website.

Redesigning Your Website: Where Do You Start?

Decided that your website needs a redesign?. Before thinking about how your new website should look, be clear about what it needs to do.

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Start with your business

Your website should reflect the business you have today. Perhaps you’ve grown since your current website was built. Maybe you’ve introduced new services, changed your focus or started working with different customers. A redesign is a good opportunity to step back and ask:

What does the business look like now?
What services are most important?
Who are your ideal customers?
What has changed since the current website was created?
What do you want the website to achieve?

The new website should be built around where your business is going, not simply where it has been.

Look honestly at your current website

Before throwing everything away, it’s worth understanding what you already have. Some things may still work well. Other parts may be outdated, confusing or no longer relevant. Look at:

Your content
Is it still accurate? Does it explain your services clearly?

Your pages
Are they all still necessary?

Your navigation
Can visitors easily find what they need?

Your enquiries
Are people taking the actions you want them to?

Your technology
Is the website still secure, supported and manageable?

Decide what needs to change

Once you’ve looked at the business, the existing website and your customers, you can start identifying what needs to change. That might include:

A clearer navigation
A better page structure
New or rewritten content
Updated services
Better calls to action
A more modern design
Improved mobile experience
Faster performance
More suitable technology

You don’t need to know exactly how to fix these things. That’s part of the job of a website redesign.

Don’t forget what’s already working

A redesign doesn’t mean everything has to disappear. Your current website may contain valuable things that should come across to the new site. That could include:

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Strong-performing pages

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Customer testimonials

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Case studies

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Useful guides

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Photographs

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Important information

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Established URLs

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Content that already performs well in search

Before anything is removed, it’s worth understanding its value. This is particularly important if your existing website has been around for several years.

Think about your content before your design

One of the easiest mistakes to make is choosing a design before deciding what the website actually needs to say. Your content and structure have a big influence on the design.

If you know which services need explaining, which pages customers need and what information is important, the design can be created around that.

Good design supports your content. It shouldn’t have to rescue it.

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The first step is simply understanding where you are now and what you want your website to do better.

Consider the technology underneath

A redesign is also an opportunity to look at what’s happening behind the scenes. Older websites can have:

Outdated themes
Unsupported plugins
Complicated page builders
Poorly structured content
Features that are difficult to maintain
Technology that no longer meets your needs

Sometimes the existing website can be improved. Sometimes the underlying technology has become such a problem that rebuilding is the better option. Understanding that before you start is important.

What about SEO?

If your existing website has been around for a while, it may already have some visibility in search engines. A redesign needs to take this into account. Changing page addresses, removing content or restructuring a website without planning can affect your search visibility.

That’s why SEO should be considered before the new website is launched, not as an afterthought. We’ll look at this in more detail in our guide: Will a Website Redesign Affect Your Google Rankings?

What happens during a website redesign?

Every project is different, but a typical redesign might involve:

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Understand your business

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Plan your website structure

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Clarify your messaging

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Design your pages

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Build in WordPress

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Test and Launch

A good redesign should feel like a step forward

The goal isn’t simply to make your website look newer. A successful redesign should make your website:

Clearer
Visitors understand what you do.

Easier to use
People can find what they need.

More relevant
The website reflects your business today.

More trustworthy
It gives potential customers confidence.

Easier to manage
You can keep the website up to date.

Ready to grow
The structure and technology give you room to develop.

You don’t have to know where to start

If your current website isn’t working properly, it can be difficult to know what needs fixing. You don’t need to arrive with a complete plan. That’s where an experienced web designer can help.

The first step is simply understanding where you are now and what you want your website to do better.

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Continue learning

Does your website need a redesign. Explore more practical guides to help you make informed decisions before you make a decision.