If you’re still using a website that looks like it was built in early 2000s, it might be time for revamping your website! In today’s digital age, your website is the first impression that potential customers will have of your business, so ensuring it looks and functions optimally is crucial.
A website revamp (or website redesign) process involves updating and improving an existing website’s design, layout, content, features, and structure to align with current trends, user needs, business goals, and technological advancements. The process aims to enhance the website’s functionality, user experience, aesthetics, search engine rankings, performance, and mobile-friendliness, with the ultimate goal of creating a more effective online presence that attracts more visitors, generates leads, and drives business growth.
In this guide, we’re going to explore the ins and outs of a standard website redesign and why it’s so important for your business.
Redesigning a website is like a makeover for your online presence.
Think of it as a fresh coat of paint, a new outfit, or a revamped hairstyle – but for your website.
However, a true revamp goes beyond just looking good, as it’s equally important to improve functionality, optimize the user experience, and drive more traffic to your site.
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When it comes to revitalizing your online presence, you’ll often hear two terms thrown around — website revamp and website redesign.
While they may sound similar, there are key differences between the two. Think of it as the difference between giving your car a tune-up versus buying a brand-new one.
Now for the age-old question that keeps business owners up at night — when is it time to give your website a revamp?
Is it when your competitors start sporting sleek new designs or when your bounce rates are higher than the stratosphere?
Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as knowing when to revamp your website is a delicate balance of analyzing data, understanding your audience, and recognizing when your website is hindering rather than helping your business.
However, there are a few tell-tale signs you can use look out for when it comes to answering that question.
Read more: Website Maintenance
You just logged in to your website analytics dashboard to find a downward trend in page views.
Suddenly, panic sets in.
However, don’t fret, as it might just be a sign that your website needs a little TLC.
Think about it this way, if your website hasn’t been updated with fresh and relevant content in a while, your visitors will likely lose interest and stop returning to your site. In the same way, if your competitors recently launched newer and more attractive sites with updated content and great user experience, people may be going to their sites instead of yours.
The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who land on your website and then leave without taking any further action, such as clicking through to another page or filling out a form.
A high bounce rate could indicate that people visiting your website aren’t finding what they’re looking for, and that’s a surefire sign that it’s time to revamp.
You can check the Google Analytics report for more information on your bounce rate.
Without conversions, your business has nothing to give it life.
Having a high conversion rate is key, whether you’re looking to sell products or get better engagement.
So, naturally, if your website’s conversion rate starts to drop, it might be time for a revamp.
When you see your conversion rate drop, it’s probably a sign that your website isn’t effectively communicating your value proposition. You might be missing out on crucial conversion elements, such as CTAs, social proof, or content that speaks to your target audience.
They say that content is king and for good reason.
Your website’s content is the backbone of its user experience and can make or break its success.
If the content on your site feels outdated, irrelevant, or stale, your visitors won’t want to engage with it. Ultimately, they’ll leave feeling uninterested in your website and head over to one of your competitor’s sites.
Your Google ranking can make or break your website.
It’ll become pretty clear if your website is ranking well on Google but has started to slip down the search engine results pages that something needs to change.
Getting to the bottom of what that “something” is can be the difficult part. Ranking losses could mean that your website’s content is no longer relevant or that your website’s SEO strategy needs an overhaul.
Find out more about how website design and SEO go hand in hand.
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The main objective of a website revamp should be to refresh and revitalize your online presence.
However, underneath the umbrella of these specific objectives lie more nuanced objectives. Let’s look at a few.
Of course, these processes are just the icing on the cake, and many revamp dive deeper, focusing on more complex fixes, such as improving operational efficiency or enhancing accessibility for those with disabilities.
Now that you have a better idea of when to revamp your website, let’s look at a few ways you can use SEO best practices to dominate your industry.
Many business owners see SEO as a daunting task or dark art.
In reality, however, it’s pretty simple.
Before you dive in and start implementing SEO best practices, you need to set clear goals.
Do you want to increase your website traffic? Improve your search engine rankings? Maybe you want to boost your conversions?
Whatever your goals may be, make sure they’re well-defined before you start revamping your website.
By doing so, you can develop a strategic website optimization plan with YOUR desired outcomes in mind.
Before you start slapping SEO-friendly keywords throughout your site, take a moment to analyze the current state of your website.
We’re talking about a deep dive into your website’s performance, traffic, and user behavior.
There are several metrics and key performance indicators to look at, including:
With this information in hand, you’ll have a better idea of what’s currently working for you and what you might need to redo.
The articles on your site that are already performing well are your SEO superheroes — the ones already bringing in traffic and increasing engagement.
Your website’s analytics data will help you identify top-performing articles. With that data, you’ll have a guide to your website revamp efforts.
Note which of your articles have the most views, shares, or inbound links. Then, take notes of which keywords these articles rank for. Ensure that you protect these articles at all costs during your revamp process, as these are your site’s greatest assets. If not, it could hurt your search rankings.
They say age is just a number, but when it comes to your website’s content, it can make a huge difference in your search engine rankings.
That 2005 article on “The Best Restaurants in Los Angeles” may not be as relevant or engaging as it once was. If not remedied, it can lead to decreased traffic and lower search engine rankings.
Luckily, there’s a solution — refreshing your older content.
There’s no reason you can’t give your website’s timeless classics a makeover. By updating your older content with new information, visuals, and keywords, you can give your website the boost it takes to climb the search engine rankings.
Make sure each of your articles has the right keywords in the right places, including your title, intro paragraph, heading, body, URL, image alt tags, and meta description.
Internal linking isn’t exactly the most alluring topic when it comes to website revamping for SEO.
But don’t let its lack of glamour fool you, as improving your website’s internal linking structure can have a significant impact on your search engine rankings.
Your internal linking is what guides both users and search engine crawlers to the most important pages on your website. When you strategically link to other relevant pages on your website, you can boost your website’s authority, improve user navigation, and increase the chances of climbing higher in the search results.
We recommend starting with a website audit to identify any missing pages or broken links. Google Search Console and Screaming Frog are two excellent tools to get you started.
Sometimes in life, less is more.
This is where content pruning is so important.
Content pruning is the process of removing old, outdated, or low-performing content from your website to streamline it and boost your search engine rankings.
Think of it as Marie Kondo-ing your website – keeping only the content that sparks joy (and drives traffic).
However, there are also times when you’ll find pages that aren’t worth deleting, such as those with backlinks. In this case, you can set up 301 redirects, which ensures that any visitors or search engine crawlers that go to your site are redirected to existing content if they end up on a “deleted” page.
In a nutshell, your core web vitals are a set of metrics that measure the speed, responsiveness, and overall user experience of your website.
For example, if your website takes too long to load or has a frustrating user interface, it’s not going to rank well in search engines.
So, if you want to revamp your website in terms of technical SEO, you must pay attention to your vitals.
Think of your website announcement email as part of your full-fledged site launch. Don’t neglect it!
As with anything else, you need to create buzz for your website before it “hits the market.”
Your email should include five essential elements:
Here’s an example of an email for the launch of a new clothing website:
“It’s the perfect time for site seeing!
We’re relaunching our online shop today and we can’t wait for you to see what our dedicated team has been working on. Come check out our newly revamped website today and get 10% off products plus free shipping for the next 24 hours only!
Our new site offers
*graphic*
Enjoy!”
Seeking to elevate your luxury business? Let Mediaboom guide you. Secure your exclusive, free consultation with our luxury marketing experts today.
As you can see, revamping your website is about so much more than just giving it a new coat of paint. Whether your website is suffering from higher bounce rates or outdated content, our team of SEO experts at MediaBoom can help.
Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you revamp your website and take it to the next level!
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