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Planning A Website Redesign? The Ultimate Resource & Guide
Today, social media and internet technology has become the centre of business. Many organizations are looking to solidify their online presence, and doing so requires a number of things. The first thing that businesses need is a website, where a lot of activities can be conducted without requiring physical contact. Websites are used by business owners to sell products, address issues raised by their customers, as well as advertise any new products. Sometimes, websites have to be redesigned to fit changing times and to repair any issues that may arise with the old website. Redesigning a website can take up a lot of time and resources, and website owners should take a number of things into consideration before beginning the process.
REASONS FOR REDESIGNING THE WEBSITE
Evaluating the reasons for which a website is being redesigned can help in determining how the process should be done. This will not only save on time, it also means that the redesigning will not have to be altered when it is discovered that it does not fit the purpose of the website.
Minor changes in how a website looks or works may not actually require a full redesign. Most of these alterations can be done on their own, without needing to change the entire website. For example, new company logos can be designed separately, then placed onto the specific pages of the site. However, other major website alterations need an entire overhaul, for example:
• How several pages are designed
• The software used for the site
• How clients move from one page to another on the website
The website should be performing at its optimum
One of the most important purposes of a website is to attract new customers and obtain more product sales. Even with new designs, this may not always be the case, and that problem can warrant a website redesign. Some issues causing the problem may be:
1. New technological advancements
As technology evolves everyday, websites will often find that they have to adjust to accommodate changes. Minor adjustments can be done without needing to redesign the website, but if these alterations need to be made very often, then a complete change makes more sense.
2. Changing customer needs
Some needs may also arise with time, and cannot be anticipated. The following posts cover other uncommon issues.
CREATING A STRATEGY
For this, one can look at:
• Website keywords used for search engine optimization
MAKING A REDESIGN PROPOSAL
The SMART Goal Strategy can be used to go through the project while avoiding hitches.
Specific
It is important to provide details for what is to be achieved when the project is being carried out, and this also enhances accountability.
Measurable
To make a project measurable, the designers can include clear guidelines on how success will be evaluated upon completion.
Agreed Upon
Everyone involved in the process should be clear on their roles and what is expected of them.
Realistic
All the plans for the website should be achievable, otherwise, all the parties involved will be under too much pressure to perform. Unrealistic projects can also exceed the budget allocation.
Time Based
The following blogs give more pointers on strategies for the web alterations:
FINANCIAL PLAN
The specific costs of a website redesigning process will depend on a variety of factors, but the approximate can be inferred before beginning the process. If the job has to make a lot of alterations, then it will cost more, and vice versa. This blog looks into the matter more deeply, and one can use it to get a detailed analysis of costs.
CHOOSING WHO TO REDESIGN THE WEBSITE
The website can be designed by anyone, depending on whether they have the relevant skills and whether their services are within the budget. Each option below comes with its pros and cons.
Designing the website individually
While it would be wise to learn how to design a website before undertaking such a project, one can also look at tutorials as well as other learning spaces to see how a website is redesigned. Such websites include Weebly and SquareSpace.
Using a Freelancer’s Services
A freelancing website designer is often a single person who works alone on design projects. Hiring a single person is usually best for those with small websites that encounter minimal traffic. Freelancers are good at designing a website that will suit the needs of the client, especially when it comes to appearance.
Contracting out to an agency
Working with a web designing agency have a lot of advantages, and is often the most ideal option for websites with a lot of traffic and a variety of pages or services. Agencies come with the following pros;
This also means that each aspect of the designing process will be done to perfection because a single person focuses all their energy on that area.
From the above pointers, it is apparent that the most important thing in the entire process is to always ensure that the needs of the business match the web redesigning process.
