When doing a website redesign, the most common question we get asked is how often redesign services are necessary. Generally, if you’re a major company, it’s suggested that you revisit your site’s design every two to three years. At this frequency, you can include the latest technologies, adapt to new user behavior, and avoid ever having an outdated design.
But, if you’re a small business, you can probably get three to five years out of your new website. Of course, this largely depends on the activity levels of your local competitors. If the competition is regularly upgrading their site’s performance, adding new content, or continually updating their look, you may have to do more to stay competitive.
An outdated website can hamstring all of your online efforts. But, it’s hard to say exactly when a redesign project is necessary. It’s not always black and white. Of course, there are some telltale signs: a new competitor outranking you on Google, a huge drop in website traffic, or a feeling of sadness when you look at your existing site.
However, a total website overhaul isn’t always needed. Really, you can often get by with a minor revamp. So, before you commit to a full relaunch, let’s chat about things that can’t be addressed by making small changes to your current site.
Okay, yes, obviously this is a really broad metric. But, one of the most reliable signs you need to redesign your website is that it’s, well, it’s just super outdated. Most of the time, you’ll be able to spot an outdated design. However, it isn’t always easy, so you may need to dig a little deeper.
Old Website (oof!)
New Website (wow!)
If you’ve recently rebranded, you need a website redesign. In fact, relaunching your site should be a top priority, as it’s the world’s first window into your brand. Sure, local clients may see your business cards, billboards, or newspaper ads. Everyone else, though, will get their first glimpse of your company by visiting your website.
Thankfully, if you’ve updated your brand, you’ve already established a solid visual reference for your web design team. And, if you’ve created a brand guideline, you also have all the materials you need to create compelling written content that adheres to your new messaging.
Old Branding (meh)
New Branding (nice!)
Not to be a downer but, like, if your website isn’t built for mobile users, you should chuck it in the trash. As of 2024, Google doesn’t even rank sites that aren’t mobile friendly. So, really, if your site isn’t mobile responsive you’re missing out on a lot of traffic.
Seriously, my friend, mobile responsiveness is one of the most visible, critical, and cost-effective reasons to redo your site. If your site isn’t appearing in over half of all Internet searches, are you even on the Internet at all?
Unseen technical errors can throttle your site’s performance. Whether it’s too many redirects, an incomplete sitemap, tons of unindexed pages, or hundreds of broken links, these seemingly tiny issues can cause major problems.
During your website redesign, it’s essential to identify all – yes, all – of these errors. Usually, this requires an audit of your site, which uses software like Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, and Semrush to diagnose problems and recommend fixes.
Realistically, a lot of these issues arise due to the age of your site. Standards we used ten years ago are vastly different from today’s standards. New software overtakes old. New widgets solve old problems. Heck, even entire programming languages fall out of favor eventually.
Whether you want to update your existing content, boost organic traffic, or better market to your target audience, there are hundreds of valid reasons to pursue a website redesign.
No matter what your business goals are, a website redesign can help you achieve them. Giving you an opportunity to realign your digital marketing efforts, you can build your new website with specific objectives in mind.
So, for example, if you want to grow into new demographics, you may ask the web development team to add key location pages. Or, if you want to simplify the hiring process, you may include a way to accept online applications.
Knowing your goals before you start your redesign project is crucial, as it helps the design team prioritize their efforts. It’s pointless to focus on lead generation if you only care about expanding your brand’s reach. During the redesign process, you should guide the designers to ensure they stick to your plan, your priorities, and the goals you’ve defined.
We built websites a lot differently in 2007. Trust me, I was there. Back then, we didn’t really care about mobile devices. We didn’t really understand user behavior. And, you know what, we didn’t want to. We just designed something pretty, slapped some links in there, and shipped it.
But, modern web design is a lot more refined. It’s more challenging but far, far better. And, at the core of that is the goal of creating a user-friendly site that provides a unique, helpful experience. If your site’s slow to load, hard to navigate, riddled with dead-end links, or populated with images of people wearing clothes from the 90s, you need a website redesign.
When your business grows, your site should grow. If you’ve added new services, expanded into new cities, or made any acquisitions since your last site redesign, you can create new content to highlight those changes.
(It’s bad, guys. It’s real bad. Call the police.)
As the Internet has evolved, it’s become extremely important to have quality, relevant content on your site. All of your content should clearly reflect your business but, more than that, it should be helpful, informative, and rooted in your unique point of view.
If your website is built on an outdated CMS or a proprietary platform that you find difficult to edit, a redesigned site is a great option. Modern web design strives to deliver simplicity, flexibility, and ownership.
At Kzoom, we build all our websites on WordPress. As the industry standard, WordPress affords us tons of creative leeway to design beautiful sites. But, it’s also simple enough that the average business owner can easily step in and take ownership of the finished product.
Your goals will shape how the design team approaches your redesign. Every project is different, so you’ll want to prioritize your goals and create a thorough website redesign plan. For example, do you want more traffic? Do you want better search engine rankings?
But, maybe your site just looks old. Or, maybe you haven’t put a lot of thought into why your site needs to be redone. So, to be extra helpful, here’s a few goals you might set for your redesign.
In 2016, website traffic from mobile devices overtook desktop traffic. It’s only increased its share since then, with about 64% of traffic originating from mobile devices as of September 2024. So, if your website looks janky on mobile devices, you’re losing out on a ton of visitors.
Web standards and user preferences have changed a lot in the last ten years. We’re currently in an age of simplification. Fewer pages, clearer content, and more streamlined navigation are key. And, in addition to usability, there are noticeable SEO benefits to a well-organized site.
Whether you want to integrate ActiveCampaign, build Ad-specific landing pages, or incorporate marketing automation software, a website redesign is a surefire way to accomplish these goals. In fact, designing these objectives in mind is the best way to ensure long-term compatibility.
Running an online business isn’t easy. If you’re struggling to book jobs, sell products, or secure appointments, a few simple optimization techniques can increase your site’s conversion rate by up to 15%. Better yet, conversion-focused design delivers a more seamless user experience.
If you want to be higher on search engine results, you need to understand why your current site isn’t performing. Prior to your website redesign, you should request an SEO audit, which can be used as a roadmap to ensure your new site is built to rank favorably on search engines.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and, likewise, a quality website doesn’t happen overnight. Just like a great Hollywood heist, the process involves lots of planning, organizing, and exercise montages.
Usually, aesthetic choices are the first step of a new web design. And, really, it’s the part where your input is absolutely vital. If you already have a well-defined brand, some of these decisions will be easy. But, if you don’t, you’ll need to sit down with your designer to define your site’s:
Before any real work is done, it’s important to map your industry’s competitive landscape. At this stage, we like to perform a comprehensive SEO audit. During our audit, we analyze a number of factors that can impact your visibility in search results:
Of course, we look at a whole lot more than just these factors. But, once completed, we use this audit to guide your website redesign. We build intentionally, with data-driven goals in mind, as well as clearly defined paths that lead to those goals.
Building a content strategy for your new website requires careful consideration. Let’s be honest, all that thinking is a huge energy suck. Because, for most sites, there are just so many things to think about:
It’s a common misconception that since ‘anyone can write,’ anyone can create content. Website content is different. Your website’s written content has to attract visitors, convince them to stick around, and convert them into customers… and that takes a particular set of skills.
Once we’ve created the design and written the text, we marry the two into a final product. Often, this is the most exciting part of the redesign project, as it offers you your first view of the finished website.
After you’ve reviewed the site in its entirety, provided us with feedback, and given your approval, it’s time to launch your site! Most of the time, your redesigned website will be live in less than 24 hours.
But, launching your website isn’t the last step, there’s one more to go! In order to track how your new site performs, it’s important to install some common tracking software.
Usually, a website redesign can be completed in three to six months. Of course, every project is different. If your new site is larger than average, it may take six months or more. And, additional features, such as ecommerce or user databases will typically result in a longer timeline.
Okay, so only you know what you’re hoping to get out of your website redesign. But, there are a ton of proven advantages to revamping your site. From increased visibility to higher conversion rates, a new website will start paying for itself almost immediately.
Revamping your website is a great way to implement all the customer feedback you’ve received over the years. As the business owner, you’ve probably heard some less-than-flattering opinions on how your website performs.
So, let’s face it: if your website is outdated, you’re probably losing customers to the competition. A website redesign can help reposition you as the local expert. It can reframe your company as the go-to source for types of products and services you offer.
But, redesigning your website isn’t just about search engine optimization, it’s about conversions. On a global level, the average conversion rate for websites is about 2.35%. But, high-performing sites convert at 11%. So, where does your current website fall? If you’re at the lower end of that spectrum, it might be time to rebuild and relaunch your website.
Okay, your new website attracts more visitors and converts them with a better user experience. Now what? Well, now you can focus on your lead generation efforts.
You know, like, just having a nicer website is probably the most obvious motive behind a website redesign. Because, realistically, we have to face facts: a lot of people are superficial. To get their attention, you need eye-catching graphics, text, and video.
If your website is poorly designed, not responsive, extremely slow, or plagued by 404 errors, it’s probably more of a liability than an asset. More importantly, is that the kind of image you want to project? If visitors land on your website and, due to its age, assume that you’re out of business, you’d probably be better off just not having a site.
Whether you use Google Analytics and Search Console or third-party software like SE Ranking, Ahrefs, or Semrush, keeping tabs on your website’s performance has never been easier. Okay, we’re not huge fans of GA4, but it’ll do in a pinch.
Monitoring your site’s impressions, visits, and user behavior is absolutely critical, because it lets you adjust your digital strategies based on cold, hard data. For example, if you discover visitors are abandoning their carts at a certain stage in the checkout process, you can adjust that exact stage. Or, if you notice that people aren’t staying on a specific web page long enough to read its content, you can modify that page’s content to make it more appealing or easier to digest.
At Kzoom, our website redesign services have helped hundreds of companies in the Kalamazoo area take their Internet presence to the next level. So here comes the salesy part. You’re here already, so you probably suspect that your current website isn’t up to par. That’s fine. You know, that’s totally fine. We get it.
We really, truly, firmly believe in the work that we do here at Kzoom. We’ve seen some massive transformations in both visual appeal and actual performance. And, one of the best things about us is that we offer free website audits.
So, if you want to get a feel for where you currently stand and what’s possible, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us today to schedule a free, no-obligation discovery meeting.
Josh oversees all website design and development projects, as well as branding ventures at Kzoom.
His favorite escape is to the outdoors where he loves fishing, hunting, hiking & camping. Most of all, Josh loves traveling with his wife and kids and doing anything adventurous.
