Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Redesigning Your Website
Websites are the foundation of any business organization’s online presence. They are an essential company asset and must be updated and refurbished every two years. In most cases, business organizations redesign their websites because they simply don’t look that appealing anymore. Businesses need to maintain their brand presence online, and the best way to do this is through a memorable website, meaning that it should be redesigned regularly.
On the other hand, some businesses want to change their business strategy and make it comprehensive by considering everything, including their websites. They want to adjust their website to their new system, so they perform a website redesign. By doing these things, businesses expect that they will be able to improve their brand influence online and improve their bottom line while making their website more functional overall.
However, you must learn to perform a redesign properly to achieve these things. If you make any mistakes during a website redesign, you could have worse results than before, and fixing this will cost you even more money and downtime. To help you do this correctly, I have gathered a list of the 10 biggest website mistakes you should avoid if you want to redesign with the best results possible.
Not setting the right goals for redesigning your website
Naturally, before you start fixing a problem, you need to find out what the issues are and see what is causing them. Without the proper analysis and plan, you won’t know where to start, what to solve, and how you want your website to end up after redesigning it. Setting goals is essential for creating your whole redesign plan, what measures you will take, and what you will pay the most attention to.
If all of these things seem too complicated to you, then it’s generally a good idea to find a website that looks like something you would want for your own, and through it, try to explain to your web designer/developer what you want to accomplish.
Neglecting Website Responsiveness
Let’s talk about a crucial aspect of website development: responsiveness. A responsive website automatically adjusts its layout to fit different screen sizes, providing an optimal user experience. Imagine buttons on your site becoming too tiny on mobile screens, leading to accidental clicks. This is just one scenario that highlights the importance of responsiveness.
According to a Statista survey, 59% of website traffic comes from mobile devices worldwide. So, ensuring your website remains responsive across all devices during a redesign is vital. To achieve this, conduct responsive testing using tools like LT Browser 2.0, a dev-friendly browser by LambdaTest.
LT Browser 2.0 allows you to test your website on various screen sizes and resolutions for mobile, tablet, desktop, and laptop. It provides over 53+ pre-installed devices, including iPhones, iPads, Samsung devices, and MacBooks, ensuring your site looks great on every device. You can view your web application with a few clicks and quickly address any responsive design issues.
Not analyzing your website
It is one of the biggest web design mistakes that determine the goals and results without previously analyzing your website. When you audit your website for analytics data and KPIs, you will be able to understand all of your problems, missed opportunities, things that are working and things that aren’t. These things are pretty valuable and must be considered when creating a new design or structure of a website.
You should also monitor these benchmarks once you’ve relaunched your site so that you immediately catch on and fix any new problems that might appear. With this information, you can also see how your redesign has improved your site, so make sure that you ask for these metrics from whoever is redesigning a website.
Setting a small budget
If you already did a website redesign 4 years ago, you shouldn’t expect you will get away with the same budget as you did that time, especially if you expect a lot from your redesign. In the past, things like online brochures were everything a website needed. Still, today there are so many businesses that compete with each other, and all of them try to deliver consumers fantastic web applications and websites with custom and advanced functionality.
With some advanced functions such as content management systems and responsive design, which are essential to providing excellent user experience and exceptional website functionality, you simply cannot expect to pay the same amount as you did a couple of years ago. Modern websites must be custom to be attractive; it’s merely a standard.
Setting unrealistic deadlines
It takes time to do a proper website redesign. There are multiple phases you must go through, and they are usually: research, wireframing, content creation, changing design, development, and last but not least, testing and reviewing your website. Depending on how comprehensive your redesign is, this can take up to three months, and you cannot afford to rush things.
One of the common web design mistakes that designers usually make is that they go on speeding up the whole process because they fear losing their current clients. This is a total mistake, as it means you will have to cut corners, ultimately leading to subpar results your clients will not appreciate. This brings us to the following error.
Not taking care of your clients during the redesign
You must let your customers know that they came to the right place and that you are simply redesigning. If not, they might think you moved away somewhere or your business shut down completely. The first-time visitors that visit your website during your redesign period will probably never return, even if you notify them about what’s happening.
Even after your redesign has finished, you must let your visitors know that this is the right place and that you simply made some changes and added new things to improve their experience. This is how you will show them that you care.
Selecting the wrong people to do your redesign
Choosing the right team to take care of your website redesign can make a huge difference in how successful it is. Your website is an important part of your business’s marketing strategy, and leaving it to an inexperienced or unqualified team can cause a lot of problems.
To make sure your website is successful, it’s important to find a partner who has the right mix of tech and design skills. You don’t just want a website that looks good – you want it to work perfectly, be easy to use, and match your business goals. Your team should have the marketing know-how and industry knowledge to make sure your website effectively conveys your brand message and grabs the attention of your audience.
if your website isn’t resonating with your audience or isn’t optimized properly, it can really hurt your online presence and lead generation. Before you choose a team to do your website redesign, do some research and look at their past work and client reviews.
Working on your design but neglecting content strategy
A good design and excellent functionality are only half of the work. There is no use having an appealing website if it gets tossed back at the end of the search results. To remain high in searches, you must enhance your design with a brand-new, fresh content strategy considering all stages of your customer’s buying process.
With the metrics you previously analyzed, you can recognize patterns based on how people behave on your website, see where they interact with your content, and determine exactly where they decide to leave. Write valuable and relevant content, including helpful news, industry information, and interviews your customers will like. It is essential that people want your content and that it is adequately optimized for search engines. Google likes relevant content, and you will be ranked higher with it.
Neglecting the importance of mobile users
If you plan to redesign a website sometime soon and haven’t done this for over 5 years, one of your top priorities should be designing your new website for mobile users. Most web searches today come from mobile users, and the number of mobile users is expected to grow even further.
This means that your mobile website visitors will account for most visits to your website, so you must hire web designers that have experience in optimizing your website for mobile users. Ensure they have the same experience as any desktop visitor, or they will leave your website as soon as they enter it.
Bringing all of your efforts to a halt once you’ve launched your website
Most people think they should redesign their website every three years. They do nothing in between, make minor content updates, and expect to generate sales, leads, and new customers. This is simply impossible. You should employ a periodical redesign after you’ve launched your site.
This means you should adjust the same things on a smaller level to seize all the opportunities for sales, engagement, and improving conversion rates. This growth-driven design is powered by relevant data that can show you where you should move to improve your site.
You’ve learned about the biggest website design mistakes to avoid when redesigning a website, but now you might be wondering when the right time is to consider a website redesign and what factors to keep in mind. Don’t worry; the answers are just below. Keep scrolling!
When to Redesign Your Website
A website is critical to any business’s digital presence, serving as a virtual storefront and a customer’s primary touchpoint. However, as technology, user expectations, and business requirements evolve, websites must adapt to remain effective and competitive. Knowing when to redesign your website is essential to ensure it continues to serve its purpose and deliver a seamless user experience.
Outdated Design and User Experience
An outdated website design can give visitors a negative impression of your brand. If your website’s look and feel are no longer modern and visually appealing, it’s time to redesign. An outdated user experience, such as complex navigation or slow loading times, can frustrate visitors and drive them away.
Inadequate Mobile Responsiveness:
With most internet users accessing websites on mobile devices, mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable. If your website is not optimized for various screen sizes and appliances, you risk losing a significant portion of your audience. A responsive design ensures your website looks and functions seamlessly on smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
Declining Website Performance:
If your website experiences slow loading times or frequent downtime, it can harm user experience and search engine rankings. A website redesign can address underlying performance issues, optimizing speed and reliability.
Low Conversion Rates
A website’s primary goal is to convert visitors into customers or leads. If your website is not effectively converting visitors, it’s time to reassess your design and user journey. A redesign can focus on creating clear calls-to-action, intuitive navigation, and streamlined conversion funnels.
Technological Obsolescence
As web technologies advance, older websites built on outdated platforms or coding languages may become vulnerable to security threats and lack essential features. Use the best frameworks for web development to redesign using modern technologies that will make your website secure, reliable, and equipped with the latest functionalities.
Rebranding or Repositioning
When a business undergoes a rebranding or shifts its target market and messaging, the website must reflect these changes. A redesign aligns your website with your updated brand identity and messaging, reinforcing consistency across all marketing channels.
Poor Search Engine Rankings
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for visibility and organic traffic. If your website is not ranking well in search engine results, a redesign can focus on SEO best practices, optimizing content, meta tags, and site structure.
Incorporating New Features
Business needs may evolve, requiring new features or functionalities on your website. A redesign allows you to incorporate custom solutions, such as interactive elements, live chat, or e-commerce capabilities, to meet the changing demands of your audience.
Improving Accessibility and Inclusivity
Website accessibility ensures all users, including those with disabilities, can access and use your website effectively. A redesign can implement accessibility standards and best practices, making your website inclusive and compliant with accessibility guidelines.
Conclusion
A website redesign can be a significant investment in time and money, so it must be done cautiously and with a plan. If you avoid making these biggest website mistakes, I guarantee your website will become a necessary force driving your business growth. People make other mistakes, but I chose these because they are the most costly and significant.
Finoit Technologies is a best web application development company. We have developed over 450 mobile apps and have assisted many solopreneurs in their journey of startups by functioning as tech partners and rolling out their product ideas. For questions/queries, connect with our development expert.
