Websites serve as ambassadors for our brands and businesses to the world at-large. How people perceive our websites determines whether or not our online efforts will have the intended effect; because of this, it is very important to make a good impression. Websites may require an occasional redesign for a number of reasons. Perhaps the nature of SEO changes (such as the shift from desktop browsing to mobile browsing). In other cases, the overall design may become antiquated and need an overhaul. Whatever the reason, it is important to consider a few key points before embarking on any redesign attempt. We’ll talk about those points today so that you can proceed in the know.

What the Change Should Produce for the Brand

A site redesign is a pretty hefty task. This isn’t something that you should do just because you are bored with the current layout and features of the site. If the site is working for customers and you are receiving great feedback, then perhaps it is not necessary to redesign the site. However, if you are dead-set on a site redesign, then you need to know ahead of time what it is you expect to garner from the changes. This will not only help you achieve the desired result in the finished product, but it will keep you on track and prevent you from fretting over minor details that do not matter in the grand scheme of things. Pinging your website with massive updates should only be done if there is a substantial reason, so always be aware of the reasons for doing this before you begin.

What Damage Potentially Could Be Done

If you are merely changing the colors of the website, adding a new feature or revising how the shopping cart functions, then you probably won’t have to deal with any major fallout from the design. If, however, you are contemplating a top-to-bottom redesign of the website, then you may have problems with regard to SEO. Some common elements to consider when changing your website’s overall design include the URL structure and how content is preserved and (re)indexed. You also could run into problems with how your reliable visitor base perceives the changes; many people do not like change in general and may feel like the site now has a “foreign” vibe to them. Always be careful with massive site redesigns, as they can create problems with search engines and users alike.

What Branding Changes (If Any) Need to Occur

With a brand new site redesign, there is an opportunity to consider changing a variety of other brand-related elements. Most notably, it may be worth considering whether or not the current iteration of your logo, slogan and other marketing elements are working as intended. If not, then the website redesign can be billed as one part of a broader brand revival/overhaul. That’s something that can be done by the best digital branding agency that can provide advice, tips and might even do a whole redesign of your website. If you have been doing your due diligence at interacting with your audience or customer base, then you may have picked up on ideas they have from them pinging your website with comments. It is always important to evaluate how an audience feels about the brand and weight that against any potential pros/cons that come with shaking up your brand’s image.

Redesigning a website is a very intricate process. You want to gain efficiency and make improvements without losing any existing benefits. What are some potential challenges you think you’ll face when redesigning your website?