10 Mistakes to Avoid When Redesigning a Website

Your business website will create the first impression, having a lasting impact to attract visitors. Websites are not only a great medium for reaching a large number of users, but they also provide the credibility and trust of your users for your business.

This is why many businesses seek professional help and get their websites designed by a web development company. Think of a website as an online store – if the store is all well decorated and attractive, many people will notice it even if they’re just passing by.

If your website is poorly designed, unattractive or even outdated, it not only costs you lost opportunities but also spoils your company’s name. If you’re unsure about whether your website needs to be redesigned, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does my website look obsolete?
2. Are my users converting to sales or is it dropping?
3. Is my website user-friendly enough?

If the answer to any one or all of the questions is ‘yes’, then it’s time to redesign your website. Irrespective of the size of your business, following a strategic approach is necessary to make the most out of your website design.

Redesigning a website is a complicated process, which if not done properly could backfire, losing advantage over current web traffic. Carefully scrutinizing as to what works, how well it’s aligned with your business goals and what level of expertise you are engaging to reap maximum benefit out of your web design.

Another approach to realize what must be done is by analyzing what must not be done so as to avoid any repercussions.

10 website redesign mistakes to avoid 

1. Not analyzing your current web design

Before finding a solution to any problem or even improving on what you actually have, you should take time to analyze your current website.

Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your current design and recognize the major issues that need to be addressed and then apprehend the reason why you are looking for a redesign.

With proper planning, you’ll be able to find the missed opportunities that your current website is lacking.

2. Not setting goals

Setting up a clear plan and a process for the web design is crucial for the success of your website. This can be only achieved after proper website analysis discussed earlier. 

When the goals are clearly communicated to the website designer, they are better able to translate those goals in the website design.

Although some designers present a demo of what your website might look like, it’s better to explain your requirements or even provide some reference as to what you seek to achieve in your revamped website.

3. Aesthetics over functionality

Although the main purpose of a web redesign is to make the website look better, you must also focus on making it more functional than the previous one. If an attractive and appealing website fails to retain the visitors due to its poor functionality, then redesigning the web no longer serves the purpose.

Easy navigations and smart layout are integral components of a good website. The users must be able to find all the information they are looking for in one place.

4. Not setting enough budget

Everything has a price, and many entrepreneurs make a mistake of not setting up enough budget. The cost of web design depends hugely on features you want to add in your website.

The budget should be realistic enough as websites represent your online presence, and it has huge potential to give maximum ROI.

5. Setting unrealistic deadlines

Redesigning a website takes time and one has to be patient enough to give sufficient time to the web designers to do their jobs. Although setting deadlines is always preferred, too little time would never result in your favor.

There are many complexities involved, the goal is to make your website stand out and not look like it has copied a predefined template.

6. Choosing wrong designing team

Website designing requires a good level of expertise and it’s vital to survey the works of prospective web designers and even get reviews from their previous clients to know how well acquainted they are with the latest technology and trends.

Choosing the right fit for your web designing needs will make the whole effort worthy.

7. Not focusing on SEO

Having a beautifully designed website is of no use if it isn’t visible to users. Search engine optimization strategies help your website to be visible on the search engines.

So, while you are going for a website design, focus on making it SEO-friendly so that your website gets good ranking on the search engines.

8. Suitable content strategy

Although a part of the SEO process, this is one the most common mistakes which entrepreneurs make.

Content is as important for the website as its design and functionality. It not only aids in your SEO strategy, but is also a tool to directly connect with your customers. Make sure the content is original and relevant with all the keywords and metrics.

Take care of any broken links, loading speed, URLs, redirects and image optimization issues that existed in the previous design so as to create a more engaging website.

9. Not making your website mobile-friendly

Every company knows that their online presence will be assessed on a plethora of devices, from PCs through tablets through smart phones. While redesigning your website you should test if the same design will be rendered accurately across all the devices.

According to one survey, people rely more on their mobile phones to open a website as compared to laptops or desktops. Therefore, it’s necessary to make your design responsive and mobile-friendly so as to offer the same user experience to your mobile users as any desktop user.

10. Post-launch efforts

Most businesses, after launching their redesigned website, stop making more efforts. They believe that web redesign only encompasses a one-time revamp, rather it entails many other things that are often ignored.

After successfully launching, you should always keep your content updated, inform clients about new launches or any business development, enabling your users to actively maximize from your newly designed website.

Final thoughts

Website revamping is a huge risk, if not done with proper planning and research, it can go wrong. Also, it requires a lot of investment in terms of both money and time.

It’s always best to do a proper analysis before you plan out to get your website redesigned. A properly planned strategy and a good website design team are the decisive components that you need to turn your website into a profitable business.