So, you are running a startup or small biz, and you need to redesign your website.

Your clients have changed, your team has changed, your services have, or even the way you perceive yourself as a company. It’s time to make a website redesign.

Your social media, your website, and your other communication channels don’t match? It’s time for a website redesign!

Well…you get the point, right?

Now that we are on the same page, you may realize this is not another classic article on redesigning your website in 5 steps. Yes, it is, but it’s utterly subjective from our perspective as a small business. 

So, let’s take a look at what the manual says and contrast it with our experience.�

#1 Take a good dive into your existing website

Analyze, analyze, analyze. 

TRUE! This is what you need to do first, not only for your website but every time you are taking on a new project or in the process of making changes and decisions.

Do yourself a favor and ALWAYS audit what you already have. This is the first step to get to know what you really need to change, add, or let go. 

#2 Identify priorities: define the new goal and target audience

Determine the objectives you want to achieve for your new site.

Based on the objectives you want to achieve, you should take care to update your website. 

TRUE! If, for example, the main purpose of your website is to sell products, you should design an eCommerce site, which directs users’ attention to your product and offers pages.

It will help if you redesign your website based on the goals you want to accomplish. If your goal is to keep users on your site pages, you should design your site with engagement in mind —featuring videos, images, and interactive elements.

When you determine your goals, it’ll help you create a concrete plan for your website design since your goals determine site elements, functionality, and more.

At this point, it is essential that you also keep in mind the key messages you want to transmit. Remember who you are, so you can define the tone of the communication and the voice.

#3 Evaluate your competitors’ sites

Ask yourself these questions:

What do they include in their navigation bar? How is their navigation arranged? Do they have a blog? What functionality do you like about the website? And which ones you don’t like? 

#4 Find out what’s working on the current site and create a list of desired changes 

Well, this is quite like the first step. If you didn’t do this before, do it now!

Have in mind what are those things that you really like from your website, therefore, the ones you want to keep in your new one! And take a good look into those pain points, those things that annoy you, so you can identify why and what you would change or remove from them. 

#5 Start building the redesign plan: Create a map of your website hierarchy

With this information, you are good to start building the redesign plan.

You may want to create a different design for different pages, and a different design yet for pages within your sections. Something like this:

• Homepage design
• Contact page design
• About us page design
• Category page design
• Sub-category page design
• Product page design

Moreover, horizontal sections allow us to build the site by reusing the parts, it is faster to do and the content gives the illusion of multiplying. 

So, are you ready to start redesigning your website? Let’s do it!