How important is your website to your business?
Have you said these words ‘I really don’t like my website but how do I fix it’!
You are not alone – many people cannot stand their website and others just tolerate it because they don’t know what else to do. Either way, you need to remember that your website is the storefront for your business – Would you leave a window display the same for 2 years or more?
Every 2 years you should be completing a revamp or redesign of your website! This is so that you stay up to date with current trends and ensure that your website is modern and user-friendly. It doesn’t have to be a difficult process and a successful redesign takes planning.
Website revamp checklist
Goals and ideal clients
- What do I want from this website redesign?
- What is my budget?
- How much time can I spend?
- Who are my ideal clients?
- Which is the most popular page of my current website?
- Which key terms are attracting people to my website?
- Does the current website have a good flow?
- What is terrible about my current website?
- Make sure you create your new website with your ideal clients in mind.
- Cheapest is not best.
Competitors and other websites
- What type of content do my competitors have?
- What is the functionality like of my competitor websites?
- Do they have a blog?
- Do they utilise chat on their website?
- What key terms are they using on their home page?
Design and development – These go hand in hand
- Does your designer have development knowledge too?
- Does your developer have design knowledge too?
- Will you be using, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace or Shopify?
- What do you like and dislike about your current website?
- Is your logo modern?
- Do you need new graphics?
- Do you need new photos?
- What colours are you using in this redesign?
- Will it be multi-browser friendly?
- Will it be mobile responsive?
- Is the navigation easy and obvious?
- Are the contact details front and centre?
- Will Google Analytics be set up?
- SSL security is a must.
SEO
- Ensure your old URL’s are forwarded or recreated in the new website.
- Think about using the best key terms throughout your content.
- When choosing a CMS for your website, make sure it suits your needs.
- Choose an SEO company to ensure you are found longterm.
- Your images and content are incredibly important.
- Site structure does make a difference in ranking.
- Internal linking is important.
Content strategy
- Think about which content stays and which goes.
- Review all the content you are keeping to ensure it is relevant
- What content are you adding and who is going to produce it?
- Make sure you have content that is easy to read and understand.
- Don’t forget about calls to action throughout your website. Ebooks, Newsletter subscription, contact, free trials.
Ready for lift-off
- Check that everything is working.
- Double-check for mistakes.
- Check the redirects are working.
- Is your host backing up your website regularly?
- Who is going to be updating the website and providing maintenance?
Ongoing
- Set time aside to regularly review your website and it’s content.
- Have a content strategy
- If you are using WordPress you need to ensure your website is secure, regularly updated and backed up.
- Review your statistics on Google Analytics
- Ask clients/customers about what they think of your website.
- Outsource SEO, website maintenance, blog writing and more.
Conclusion
A new website does not have to be a difficult process but it is incredibly important for your business to do right. Choosing the cheapest is not always the best, this is the storefront for your business and consumers are smart, you don’t want people going elsewhere because your website wasn’t as great as it could be.
Contact Kelly at My Sassy Business for all your digital marketing needs.
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