If your website is underperforming, it might be time to give it a makeover.
Perhaps your website looks outdated and offers an outdated user experience to match. Maybe you’ve gotten feedback from customers that your website is difficult to navigate, or it isn’t mobile friendly. Perhaps you’ve seen a drop in website traffic and sales or want to improve search engine optimization (SEO).
If you’re a small to midsize business (SMB) leader with a website that is showing signs of needing improvement, it is probably time for a redesign.
3 reasons to redesign your website
Your website is your digital storefront, and a poorly designed website can impact your business’s bottom line. However, the decision to redesign your website should not be made without careful consideration.
Here are three reasons why small-business owners such as yourself decide to take on redesigning their website.
1. Help website visitors connect with your business
A website redesign can make your website not only more visually appealing but also easier for customers to interact with your business.
At first, Brandon and Janet Counts[1], co-owners of Potomac Plumbing & Gas, Inc., a local plumbing company, just wanted to update their business’s logo. But then they realized their goals extended beyond a logo.
“The goal was to use a new 'character’ to help make our branding more friendly, but to also prep the website for better SEO and an easier customer experience when submitting an inquiry,” Janet says.
They worked with a branding agency to not only create their new logo but to also redesign their website.
Potomac Plumbing & Gas, Inc.’s website before (left, source: Brandon and Janet Counts) and after their redesign (right).[2]
As a result, their new website features a menu for smoother navigation and a submission form to make it easier for customers to reach out about their services.
2. Stand out from the crowd
Redesigning your existing website can help you stand out from your competitors.
Slam Sarymamedov[3], founder of Ubunzo Ltd, a design studio specializing in refreshing web appearances, decided his own website was in need of a refresh. He and his team realized that their old design didn’t help them stand out in a competitive market and didn’t reflect the creative energy they wanted to communicate to potential clients.
Ubunzo Ltd’s website before (left, source: Slam Sarymamedov) and after their website redesign (right).[4]
In their website redesigning process, Sarymamedov and his team kept the company’s original messaging, like the motto “Elevate Through Design,” but updated the overall look and user experience with interactive elements while including messaging about the brand’s values throughout.
“The result is a website that feels genuinely 'us,' reflecting both our creativity and our commitment to intuitive design,” Sarymamedov says.
3. Portray the evolution of the brand
Although the look of your website isn’t the most important aspect of your website, it is the first thing a visitor will notice. And first impressions, generally, matter.
Michelle Garrett[5], a public relations consultant, wanted to redesign her website because she wanted it to be something she was proud of.
“I was almost embarrassed to send anyone to the site, so that was a big factor in finally taking the plunge,” Garrett says. She was also developing new plans for her business and wanted to revamp her website before rolling them out to clients.
She worked with a copywriter and web designer to craft the messaging, update the theme and aesthetic, remove unnecessary web pages, and appeal to her target audience.
Michelle Garrett’s website before (left, source: Michelle Garrett) and after the redesign (right).[6]
Instead of listing her accolades and qualifications, Garrett’s new website takes a more personal approach by introducing herself and her expertise to visitors.
“I wanted to be proud to send prospective clients there—and I am,” Garrett says.
Searching for a website design company to hire for your business? We’ve got you covered. Check out our list of companies in the following areas:
How to redesign a website
Brandon and Janet Counts, Slam Sarymamedov, and Michelle Garrett are four business owners from different industries who all decided to redesign their website and are happy with their results. So how did they do it?
Redesigning a website is not an easy undertaking. Here’s what these small-business owners had to say about their website redesign project (and lessons they learned along the way).
1. Find your website redesign project partners
Whether you have an in-house team of designers or are planning to hire a website design services company, the first step in any website redesign is to choose and identify your teammates.
Brandon and Janet Counts, co-owners of Potomac Plumbing & Gas, Inc., decided to hire a marketing agency for their website rebrand. Although the Counts are happy with the results, the agency they hired couldn’t help them with all of their website development needs, such as improving their site’s SEO.
“We are learning lessons about what marketing companies sell you and what they actually produce,” Janet says. “These types of things take time to understand and improve upon when it's not normally what you do.”
To reach these other elements of their website redesign goal, they’ve migrated to a different agency.
/ Hiring a website design agency
When hiring a website design agency, make sure you define your website redesign goals, research what different web design companies do, and compare your options. Consider their past projects, your budget, and ideal timeline. Meet with the designers before hiring them to make sure their expertise matches your website redesign needs.
“I would recommend finding someone you really trust to work with. That can be harder than it may sound. They need to work with you like a partner, like a team.”
Michelle Garrett
Public relations consultant
2. Analyze your current website performance
Before redesigning your website, it’s important to understand how it is performing now so you know what to change to make it better.
In what ways is your website underperforming or not meeting expectations?
For the Counts, they felt their old website branding wasn’t conveying the right message to customers or making it easy enough for customers to connect with them. Sarymamedov wanted his website to stand out in a competitive market and show his brand’s values in action.
Garrett didn’t think her old website reflected her brand’s growth and also wanted to reduce the number of “tire kickers” (i.e., people who may not have the budget to hire you, or don’t understand what services you offer, or what they actually need) who reach out to her.
By reflecting on your website as is, you’ll be able to better communicate to your website designer what isn’t hitting the mark now and how it can be improved.
Jose Rodriguez[7], co-founder of Moonman Studio, a branding and marketing agency, says that low site traffic is often mistakenly attributed to website design.
“Before redesigning your site, small-business owners need to evaluate why the site exists in the first place and what they’re actually doing to drive traffic to the site. Oftentimes, the answer is nothing and the real culprit [of low traffic] is that they don’t have an effective or existing marketing strategy.”
Jose Rodriguez
Co-founder of Moonman Studio
Remember: Any website needs a marketing strategy to help it succeed.
3. Define your website redesign goal and brand messaging
After you evaluate your current website, you’ll have a better idea of what you want to change.
Rodriguez urges businesses to consider two main questions when defining the goals of your website redesign project:
1. What are the user’s goals when they visit the site? Are they looking to make a purchase, learn about your product offerings, or access content?
Your customers’ needs should be taken into account when redesigning your website. For example, if you receive feedback from customers that they want to know how much your services cost upfront, then make that information more readily available in the redesign project.
2. What are your goals for the site? Or, how do you turn potential customers into actual paying customers?
Identify your own goals for the website, and keep them in mind when working with your website designer on your new website’s storyboard.
“Redefining our website was a deep and introspective journey. It wasn't about chasing the latest trends; it was about finding our voice in the digital landscape … We wanted a site that felt like us, that told our story in a way only we could. Our goal wasn't just to refresh our look but to reshape how we communicate with our audience and offer something genuine and engaging.”
Slam Sarymamedov
Founder of Ubunzo Ltd
4. Evaluate the competition
Evaluating your competition is a critical part of the website redesign process to know what you should be doing, what to avoid, and what can help you stand out.
When conducting competitor analysis, ask yourself:
Which competitor websites do you admire? Try to pinpoint why you admire these websites. Is it because of how they look, their flow, or user experience?
What do competitor websites have in common? For example, if all of your competitors have blogs, perhaps that’s because your target audience wants content.
What do competitor websites have that you don’t like? It’s just as important to know what you don’t like as well as what you do like. If a competitor has a feature on their website or has a poor user experience, you can use it as an example of what not to do.
What do competitors do better or worse than you? If your website does something better than your competitors, then maybe you’ll want to keep that aspect of your existing site in the redesign, or figure out a way to further improve it. Conversely, if you find something that your competitors do better than you, make a note of it, and try to implement it in the redesign project.
The process of evaluating your competition can help you figure out what you offer to customers that others don’t and provide inspiration for the redesign process.
“Examining our competitors' websites was far from a game of imitation. It was an exploration of possibilities, a chance to see how others in our industry were innovating and connecting with their audience.”
Slam Sarymamedov
5. Focus on the user interface (UI) and website structure
Website structure is how your website and its content are organized, and user interface (UI) refers to how users navigate this structure and interact with website content.
Rodriguez says in this step, he helps businesses build out site maps, which outlines the main pages of the website, as well as secondary and tertiary pages. Then he moves on to building wireframes, which he refers to as the “skeleton” of the website without visual elements.
Doing this, he says, helps him and his clients focus on user experience and allows them to focus on different aspects of the website one step at a time.
Slam Sarymamedov and his team paid close attention to website structure and UI during their redesign process, and Sarymamedov says the transformation of these elements to a more responsive design was exciting to see unfold.
“We moved from a more traditional and somewhat static design to something far more dynamic and interactive. The new UI is cleaner, with more emphasis on visual elements that tell our brand's story. The structure was revamped to make navigation more intuitive, putting the user's needs first.”
Slam Sarymamedov
6. Measure results after launching the new site
After pouring so much time, effort, and resources into your business’s website redesign strategy and project, the last thing you want to do is launch it and forget about it. Instead, measure the redesign’s impact on your business and the goals you outlined at the beginning of the process.
Is it performing how you wanted it to perform?
Jose Rodriguez worked with a restaurant to redesign its website. The owners of the restaurant wanted to revamp messaging to highlight what set them apart from competitors and, ultimately, increase sales.
Mahzu Restaurants’ website before (left, source: Jose Rodriguez) and after the redesign (right).[8]
Because they tracked online sales and reservations after launching the redesign, they were able to measure the impact of their new website: Over a period of about three months, their percentage of online sales went from 1% to 4%, and they were able to increase dine-in foot traffic and weekday reservations.
By analyzing metrics, you can measure the return on your investment, which, in turn, can inform and justify future investments in your website.
Use our website redesign checklist to stay on track
Redesigning your website can be a daunting task. Use our website redesign checklist as a guide to help you stay on track.
It also helps to surround yourself with a team you can trust. If you are ready to give your website a refresh, browse our catalog of website design agencies to find your perfect match.