Research and proper planning can go a long way in preparing you for your next website redesign. We’ve gathered a few tips to help you get started and hopefully make things a little less stressful.
Audit Your Current Site
To prepare for your upcoming website redesign, do an audit of your current site. It is best to have a good understanding of what is currently on your website and be able to answer questions like What is the most popular content/pages? What is most searched for by your users? Knowing what pages your audience frequents, what is missing and what is popular, you’ll have a better understanding of what content needs to be updated and added.
If you have Google Analytics for your current site, this information can be used to help you better understand how your audience interacts with your website. This insight will prove to be quite valuable in identifying content and other aspects of your website your users want most.
Set Goals
Your website can be the first interaction potential customers have with your brand. What type of first impression do you want to make? A good one, if not a great one, we’re sure. Providing a great user experience will help to create a great first impression. In order to do this, you’ll need to have outlined clear goals for your website.
You’ll need to identify what type of interaction you want on your website, whether you want to generate leads, and how you will define conversions. (A conversion is a desired action performed by your users, i.e. sign up for a newsletter or apply for a loan.) Your website should educate and inform your visitors. Information should be easily obtained. However, if you don’t want a static brochure-like website, it is important that interaction can be done just as easily as gathering information.
Knowing your goals before you start redesigning your site, will help you have a clear plan and make better design and content choices.
Understand Your Audience
Understanding your audience is a key component of providing a great user experience. Knowing what your audience wants and what problems they need solved, as well as how they prefer to communicate and interact with you, will help guide you through the design process. Understand your user and understand the journey they take when deciding on your products and services.
Knowing your users and their buying journey will help you identify gaps. Once you know your gaps, you can begin to plan how to correct and make adjustments for your new website. This will allow for your redesign to generate real results.
These are just a few tips to help you be better prepared for your next website redesign. Need help redesigning your website? Let our website experts help. Contact us today at connect@epicmc2.com.
