Essential Tips and Trends For Your Website Redesign

An attractive design is an important aspect of Website design. Before you approach web design companies to redesign your website, you need to know about the tips, tricks and best practices of website redesigning. In this article, we will discuss why your website needs to be redesigned and how it can help your business branding. Also, we will provide information on how to upgrade your website design and development to make your Website more appealing and consequently improve your web traffic.

How Do You Determine if Your Website Needs to be Redesign?

Before you proceed to have a look at the website redesign guide, it is important to assess whether your website actually needs a redesign.

• Does your Website look outdated as compared to the Website of your competitor?
• Is your website responsive or mobile-friendly?
• Is the web traffic on your Website either stagnant or decreasing steadily?
• Are your users complaining about a lack of good user experience on your Website?
• Are you unable to make minor changes like adding a blog post or changing a product description quickly?

Now that the decision of redesigning the Website is made, we shall move on to have a look at the process of redesigning the Website.

Top Reasons to update and upgrade your website

Steps to Build a successful website redesign strategy for Existing Website

A business needs to follow certain steps to implement an effective website redesign strategy. A step-by-step procedure will ensure that no critical detail is left out when you redesign the website.

Determine your current standing

In order to improve your website’s design, it is essential that you know what to improve and where to improve. For this conduct, a thorough audit of your website, analyze which are the frequently visited pages, and in which section of the website are your users spending the maximum time. You will uncover a few gems that you thought were not attracting quality traffic and some star pages which you thought were out-performers, will reveal themselves as not so great pages.

For example: on analysis of your old website you find that the cart abandonment ratio is very high, then it is time to rejig your website to encourage users to complete the purchase more often.

Use Google Analytics to identify patterns in your web traffic. Does your Website experience higher bounce rates? Identify the culprit pages, and either changes the content on these pages or remove them altogether if they are hurting your Website.

You could even have digital marketing agencies to help in identifying the problem areas, E.g.:- you would have kept the CTA’s too close, which has resulted in users bouncing off your Website.

By doing this analysis, you will get a fair bit of an idea as to which pages need minor edits and which need to overhaul completely. Everything need not be changed on a website. Especially the elements which are perceived as being the identity of your brand, For e.g.:- if your brand’s logo is well-recognized by the users, then it is advisable not to change it.

Analyzing competition

Analyzing your successful competitors will provide you with invaluable insights regarding web design. What have your competitors done differently on their websites that you can emulate? Where are your competitors faltering? Competitor analysis will help you in answering such questions and get a competitive edge over your competitors.

Moreover, by analyzing competition, you will be able to identify your weak points with respect to your Website structure. Remember not to try to fix something which isn’t broken, if a particular page is generating good traffic, then don’t try to make any drastic changes to this Webpage.

Plan before you play

The redesigning phase of the web development process can be completed smoothly if some time is invested in proper planning. While redesigning your website, it is crucial to visualize all the necessary design elements accurately. Building wireframes and mockups will help you in achieving this goal. By using a wireframe, you could vividly see the effect of placing design elements on the web page. For e.g.:- you can clearly see whether that button will look good on the home page or not.

See which design elements extend across all the web pages, and try to maintain uniformity in these elements. For example, avoid giving different background colors to various web pages on your Website.

Finalize your goals

Website redesigning is a lengthy and cumbersome process. Before initiating this exercise, it is critical to identify your purposes of conducting this exercise. What do you want to achieve? Do you want to build a more extensive email list? Or do you wish to sell your product more often? Or do you want to increase the social media imprint of your Website? Remember to finalize your goals based on cold-hard data and not on your “gut instinct.”

This is important because achieving each goal requires a different strategy, and your Website must be designed to be aligned with this strategy. For e.g.:- if the goal is to achieve more email conversions, then conducting A/B testing with signup forms can work for you.

Re-think about your audience

Before you outsource web design to a team of web developers, you need to dwell on the preferences of your audience. Many times it happens that the Website which you thought would attract a particular set of users is not built according to the user’s preferences. Sometimes the case is that when the Website was initially developed, the user’s preferences matched the Website. But with time, the user has evolved and so have his/her choices. In such a case website redesign is imminent.

Re-examine the buyer’s personal preferences, what appeals to the buyer? Create a detailed buyer persona that includes all the details like Location, age, gender, education, hobbies, sports preferences, income, values, apprehensions, social circles, and other parameters.

Creating a detailed user persona will help you in crafting your Website in a manner that is appealing to the user. For e.g.:- If your Website deals with products for senior citizens, then it is a wise idea to use bigger fonts than usual as our eye loses the ability to read smaller fonts as we grow older.

Crafting a perfect user journey is critical for the success of your Website. You should ask the users about their preferences, questions like, “what do you hate the most about this website?”, “what things would you like us to change about our website?” can work wonders, as users love brands that listen to them.

Prepare a list of changes that you wish to implement

Once the analysis of what needs to be changed is complete, it’s time to move on to the next step. In this step, we advise you to write down the list of changes that you want to implement on your Website. It could be either installing a cool new tool into your Website or initiating changes to the Website’s look and feel. Do the landing pages look good? Should the content be revamped? What could you do to make the UX of your Website memorable? Ask these questions to find the changes that need to be implemented on your Website.

Once you complete these steps, you will then need to chalk out a detailed plan which entails the website structure and the timeline within which the website redesign process shall be completed. Understand that good things take time to build, hence be prepared to spend anywhere between 2-4 months on your Website redesign project. The growth-driven iterative design process is a great way to control budgets as it focuses only on the most important pages first and then on gradually improving the other pages. This way, you get the most benefit out of the Website redesigning process without busting the bank.

Another point to consider while deciding on the timeline of your project is whether any big event or sale is coming up. You would want to leverage this event by having your brand-new website ready before the game starts.

Amazing Tips for Redesigning Your Website

You can ensure success in your website redesign endeavor by following certain time-tested website redesign tips. These tips will not save you time and money in the website redesign process.

Voice interface

Image source: www.bigeyedeers.co.uk

The way we access information on the internet is changing rapidly. In a world that is gradually becoming hands-free, instead of typing, users are using voice-enabled devices to search for information online. Web design needs to keep up with the changing customer preferences.

Reasons to integrate voice search on websites.

• Google says that 1 in 5 searches conducted on Android is via voice searches.
• Smartphones come with a voice feature by default.
• Voice recognition technology will become more accurate in the coming days.
• Amazon, Google and Apple are investing heavily in voice technology.

Due to the wide range of benefits that it provides, voice search will emerge as a viable option to traditional search in 2022.

Chatbots

Image source: gupshup

Chatbots have revolutionized a wide variety of business processes. Chatbots and other virtual assistants have become ubiquitous nowadays as many businesses have realized their importance. Whether it’s a small business or a Fortune 500 company, all of them view chatbots as the future of engagement. A chatbot helps businesses initiate a conversation, help customers make buying decisions, respond to customer queries promptly, and help the business create a more personalized experience with minimal human interference.

The chatbot market is expected to reach $15.82 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 30%

When you redesign your website, you can think about including a chatbot. With progress in artificial intelligence and machine learning, chatbots will become the norm for simple customer service requests and even contribute to making the shopping experience more personalized.

Text-only hero images

Image source: rafaltomal.com

In web design terminology, a hero image is a term used to describe the oversized banner image in the top section of a website. A hero image is the first glimpse of the website for the user and is considered to be a high-value real-estate space in a website.

Hero images are fairly common, and in most cases, the users rarely notice a hero image if it’s not noteworthy. To stand out from the crowd, you can catch a current trend in hero images. Instead of placing a hero image that countless other websites do, you can put eye-catching typography in the hero section. A bold, unique font text with an attractive color combination will help you catch the user’s attention quickly.

Thumb-friendly mobile design

There will be more than 6.5 billion smartphone users in the world by the end of 2022.

Looking at the sheer number of smartphone users in the world, it is evident that to survive and thrive in the online world, your website must be mobile-friendly. There are high chance that you’re reading this blog on your smartphone; hence, your fingers will be wrapped around the phone, and your thumb will take over the browsing part. Most people use their thumbs to navigate a website, and it is understood that you design your website according to user behavior.

When you redesign your website, ensure that you put the navigation bar, menu, and even contact buttons within reach of a thumb. These simple changes will make your site more comfortable to use and improve the UX significantly.

3D visuals

Image source: design4users.com

When 3D designs first erupted onto the web design scene, they were primitive. But with the advent of new design techniques, 3D designs have come a long way from being blocky and beveled edges.

We are now seeing high-quality 3D visuals being seamlessly woven into web designs.

That said, 3D designs have evolved from being just distractions to actually adding something to the overall experience.

A few reasons why you should consider 3D designs on your website

The 3D design is more eye-catching, and it can help improve the click-through rate of the website.

The 3D elements in web design offer a realistic look and create a feeling of physical presence.

The 3D design is a modern and futuristic approach to web design, and it can enhance the image of your brand.

AR

Remember PokemonGo? The game that took the world by storm. Pokemon Go used AR (Augmented Reality) technology to create an immersive gaming experience for its users. With the rising popularity and falling costs, AR is entrenching new arenas like medical imaging, automobile and aircraft manufacturing.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, automobile dealers had to think innovatively to sell cars. Jeep is a brand that once used AR for external walkarounds which provided a unique experience to its customers. Augmented reality technology not only helped Jeep to sell cars contactless but also made the experience more engaging.

More retail and eCommerce websites will tap into the power of AR to sell their products in the future. To lure customers and to make the experience more engaging, you too can choose to integrate AR into your website.

Mobile-first approach

Google has taken a mobile-first approach while indexing websites since July-2019. As a result, even web development service providers are increasingly opting for the mobile-first approach. The effects of this will be far-reaching, and your website should be prepared for this. Make your website mobile-friendly, it should quickly load into a small screen, and the images and fonts should be clearly visible on any smartphone screen.

Pay more attention to your blog

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive quality traffic to your Website. Having a blog will help you in executing your content marketing strategy. A point worth noting is that your Website will earn decent money only if it is able to solve the user’s problem. How your product/service intends to solve the user’s problem can be explained to the customer via the medium of blogs. You should keep disseminating quality content, which aims to address the user’s problem on various subjects related to your industry. You are bound to benefit from increased user engagement and social media sharing.

A picture speaks a thousand words!

We, humans, are visual beings; we prefer to view a picture or a video as opposed to seeing text. It was found that humans process images 60,000 times faster than versions. You should use this to your advantage, implement more visual elements into your website, and use captivating images and videos instead of text. One pro tip is to use custom images instead of downloading and editing them from the internet. When you put your pictures on your website, Google indexes it and websites that have original images with a better perspective, tend to rank higher. You should apply image SEO practices to rank your website even higher on Google. Google image search is a ranking avenue not much explored by the web world, and it’s potential can be tapped by using good Image SEO practices.

Build a brand and not just a website

Your website is the first place where people go to know more about you. Hence, it is advisable that you take interest in the web development process of your website, and as they say, although the first impression is not the last impression, it definitely has a lasting impression. Your website provides you with an excellent opportunity of conveying your brand’s identity to the external world. If you want to project your brand as a peppy, youthful brand, then you should design the layout of your website accordingly. Use bright colors and humorous, informal language on your website, and do not forget to use the relevant slang and references of pop culture to connect with the users. For instance, using a Game of Thrones reference is a good idea if your target audience consists of the young populace.

Another good tip for using colors is that you should highlight essential tabs on your Website by using contrasting colors. For example, if you prefer to use top of the funnel operations with an orange color, then the bottom of the funnel operations like asking for a quote could be given a blue color. This will help the user in quickly identify the area where they need to go.

Hear your customers

Voice is going to be the next big thing in the world of technology in the not-so-distant future. What started with smart home speakers like Alexa and Google Home has spread to voice-enabled home automation equipment and even cars. According to an estimate, 3 out of 10 website sessions shall be done using voice technology by 2022.

You should equip your website for the future and make it voice search-friendly. Voice SEO optimization will help you in achieving this. As you yourself might have noticed, people are starting to rely more on the Internet to find out about their local businesses. Suppose you have a pet store, then it would boost your sales if you could rank your business when someone searches for the best Pet stores near me.

Use the power of SEO

It might sound cliché, but having a good SEO strategy is still relevant in the digital domain. Optimize your website for relevant organic keywords, do thorough research, find out quality low-competition keywords and mold your content to include these keywords. Focus more on Long-form content and give proper meta-descriptions. Simple steps such as these would help your business in getting a better rank. Web development and SEO are interlinked and you won’t get the benefit of your praiseworthy website if people cannot find it easily on the search engines. You can get in touch with top-rated SEO companies who can help you efficiently.

Looking for the Best Web Designing Companies to redesign your website?

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Concluding thoughts

Website redesigning, if implemented correctly, can pay rich dividends to you. Do not look at it as a tedious process that ‘has’ to be done, but instead take this as an opportunity to reconnect with your users. A good web development practice is to constantly assess your website’s design, this can be accomplished by keeping a constant watch on your web traffic.