Many organizations are looking for a better website, but few know what to consider when creating a truly effective platform. Sure, 2020 does offer some cutting-edge custom website and web development functions to include. However, not all features are applicable to every project. When it comes to your website redesign, research matters! Below are a six critical marketing steps we highly recommend before adjusting your code.
Tips for Website Redesign
1. Know Your Personas
Most marketers present information on the website and expect the user to absorb it all. For better website development, shift your mindset from “I have this information and I need you to understand it” to how a user is planning on arriving to your website and how they are going to be navigated through decision making process. The user has all the power. When you operate within their control, you guide them through on an effective decision-making process. This is prime time to inform and educate them not just about your services but your organization’s mission and values. It’s one thing in a digital marketing strategy to draw in people, but the best strategies will maximize results and move and engage prospects through the pipeline. Along this journey, build trust and uncover more information about who they are. When you improve relationships and integrity to educate your prospects, it results in a great user experience.
2. Identify Your Data Baseline
Before you launch or redesign a website, establish a baseline for your top marketing metrics. What data to track may differ based on an organization’s objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Some of the most common metrics, tracked per month, include:
- Website visits
- Organic and paid conversion page visits
- Sales close rate
- Cost per click
- PPC advertising click through rate
- Cost per lead
- Search rankings
3. Polish Your Messaging
Take a look at your current website content. Is it conveying what you really are as an organization? When revamping your content, establish a position that no organization can take away from you. Instead of “yes we also …” be sure to update your messaging to “we are the only …” statements. From this research and positioning, you will create messaging standards that you will apply to all your website content and development.
4. Audit Your Keywords
First step in auditing your keywords: Find out where you currently rank. Then, find out what returns search engines are bringing you. It’s common for businesses to want to score for certain search terms, but you may be missing out one some more opportunities to rank for terms you may not have considered yet. There may be a term you use, but your market and competitors avoid it. When you research the data on where you currently stand, you will have a much clearer stance on which terms will yield the best return. Apply your vocabulary from your polished messaging into your keyword strategy. This will result in consistent messaging on your landing pages and search engines.
5. Examine Your Website Navigation
How do things stack up on your website navigation menu? If you feel the stack is too high and too confusing for users, find out what can be trimmed and what needs to stay. Website visitors will decide if they like your website in a matter of microseconds. Much of their decision-making process is based on color, imagery, and how much information they have to absorb. Go back to your personas and make data-informed decisions on how they will absorb your website information. Juxtapose that data with your buyers’ journeys to streamline the navigation. By reverse-engineering this process, you will craft a more comprehensive strategy to list the right menu items that matter most for your website visits.
6. Sharpen Your Brand
According to Webolutions’ definition, a brand is a memory bank of positive emotions created over time. The most effective brands strengthen the relationship between an individual and the entity. Each person will resonate and identify with a brand differently, and they all are correct. Encompass positive feelings and emotions in all your communications to sharpen your brand identity. Successful brands also create positive associations for what they stand for in the world and the moments of happiness in people’s lives. Many organizations put an emphasis on their tagline, which can be shifted from time to time. One aspect of your brand that should be solidified is your mission and values. To boost your brand morale, tie all your messaging to your organization’s mission, purpose, and values. These aspects will steer your organization forward and solidify a positive brand experience for all your website users.
We Empower Passionate People to Thrive
These are just a few ways of improving your website design and development. Ready to take your website to the next level? For more tips, watch or re-watch the April 2020 Webolutions marketing webinar, Growing Sales By Differentiating Your Website Experience on Your Website.
For more than 26 years, Webolutions has been working with organizations who want to achieve something extraordinary. Give us a call today at 303-300-2640 or schedule an appointment.