Website Redesign Tips for Marketing Success

Website redesign can be an exciting, thrilling process, but usually requires more planning beforehand than a website made from scratch. There needs to be real strategy behind what you’re wanting to accomplish with your whole new look. And there are plenty of pieces you’ll need to prepare on the backend before altering anything superficially in the front.

After our very own redesign for our Manufacturing Marketing Tools page, which went live late last week, our team is happy to share the process we went through as well as website redesign tips.

1. Identify Past Setbacks and Future Goals

Is simply improving the look and feel of your site the goal? Is it to drive more traffic? Or, is the goal to increase conversion rate and sales? Is it all of the above? Consider what you’d like to accomplish most with your website redesign and any techical components and details that may or may not need to be addressed such as navigation, menu, image placement, videos, blog, social media, or SEO compliancy.

2. Establish a Redesign Timeline 

A timeline from when you start to when you finish is important, especially if you’re collaborating with a team. Since there are many elements involved in a redesign, it’s crucial that you approach redesign in a methodical way to ensure that every team member is on the same page. Jot down a general outline with goals and assignments for the entire process – strategizing, planning, and executing. You can always add more later on, but it’s always good to have an estimated time of completion at the least.

3. Save Your Content, Keywords, and URLs 

Have a general idea of where your current site stands in the search results. Record any keywords that you’ve used from your current site as well. This will come in handy when you continue with your SEO efforts. Save any popular content such as blog posts or videos that drew in a lot of traffic. These can always be repurposed and posted on your new site!

4. It’s All About Content 

Content is considered the life blood of your site. Without content, your website simply wouldn’t be interesting. Compelling, relatable information is what draws your visitors, leads, and customers to your site. Consider rewriting or editing content so that it’s conversational, simple, and straightforward. For example, since our website is for manufacturers, we needed to figure out how to easily relate to our target and help them understand our products and services. We came up with a story about Jane, an executive at a successful manufacturing company. Take a look at the story here.

5. Make it Mobile-Friendly

With the increasing usage of mobile devices, it’s important that your website is mobile-ready. We decided to make ours a responsive site for easier approachability and access. At the very minimum, place your most important content on a mobile version of the site and a way for visitors to call or contact you for more information.

Here are screenshots of our manufacturing site before and after the redesign: 

Before:

And after:

A fresh new look for your website has the potential to bring some real pizazz to your overall web presence and marketing. Although it’s a challenge figuring out how to create an entirely new look and feel using the same content and branding elements, it’s rewarding, nonetheless.

For more tips on website redesign, check out Small Screen Producer’s free ebook, “7 Steps to Website Redesign Heaven” or comment below if you have any questions!

About Small Screen Producer

Small Screen Producer is a full service, marketing firm located in Houston, Texas that specializes in online digital media marketing through a 4-step process. Step 1: WE PLAN a custom web presence strategy for your business through website design and development, mobile development, social media account creation and branding. STEP 2: We then POSITION your brand through Pay-Per-Click advertising and search engine optimize tactics that include on-page and off-page SEO that are Google and Bing approved. STEP 3: We then PROMOTE your brand using an Inbound marketing strategy or a content marketing strategy to help you accomplish your marketing goals. We do this through blogging, video production, infographics, call-to-actions, landing pages, and free educational offers. We help you build trust and rapport with your customer base. STEP 4: We then PROTECT your brand’s web presence with a reputation management program that monitors social media and on line reviews. Get started today with a free online marketing assessment of your company’s web presence. Your company deserves it.