How to Start a Website Redesign

Best Website Design Considerations to Start Your Project Off Strong

You’ve finally decided! This is the year you are redoing your website. You are sick and tired of seeing your competitors brand new beautiful websites that shadow your website in comparison. You’re excited, you’ve told your team and… now what?

Do you simply Google, “Website Design Seattle”?
Fun fact, that may get you to our website.

But really, what do you do from there? What should you be prepared for? 

Before you start your search, you should decide a few things internally so you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for.  We’ve narrowed it down to three questions for you to work through. Whether it’s with your board of directors, relevant team members, or just yourself, it’s good to think through this. 

What’s wrong with my current site? 

This question allows you to understand what issues you may be currently facing and can help guide your entire process. A few of the most common answers we hear are:

• It’s not making sales (eCommerce)
• It looks outdated
• It is hard to update
• It doesn’t represent who we are 
• It’s just time to update

Don’t worry if this isn’t one of the issues you are facing - there are tons of options and it’s good to nail down exactly what issue your business is facing so you can address it with a custom strategy. 

What are my goals with a redesign? 

Again, your goals will guide your entire redesign. If you aren’t totally sure, it’s okay, but having a general idea of what you want out of the process can give you an idea of what the purpose of your site is. A few of the common goals include: 

• Increasing sales
• Increasing leads on your site
• Decreased bounce rate
• Increased rankings in search engines
• Decrease of abandoned carts (eCommerce)
• Rebranding of the site

What resources can I allocate to a redesign? 

Depending on how you choose to go about it - with an agency, freelancer, or on your own, you should be prepared for the time and money that’ll go into redesigning your website and redoing your digital marketing strategy. 

In terms of time, the more you want to do yourself, the more time you’re going to have to allocate to your redesign. Even at an agency you’re going to have to respond with design revisions, designate/write content, and attend meetings. If you’re choosing to do it on your own, you’ll have to choose the template, take, crop and optimize photos to fit into the template, and transfer all of your content. If you’re eCommerce or using any sort of analytics for ongoing marketing, you’ll have to set-up and try and learn to optimize those accounts as well. 

When it comes to money, you may have a budget set aside at your company you have to work within, or you may have no idea how much a website redesign costs and aren’t sure what to be prepared for. Depending on how hard you want your site to work, you should consider it an investment into growth - like you’re hiring a marketing/sales person that’ll work 24/7 for you. As with an employee, the higher they are paid, the more skills, knowledge, and revenue they’ll be able to provide. To a certain extent, a website is similar, in that the more you’re willing to invest in your digital marketing strategy, the more you can expect from it. 

For some businesses it works best to pay for their site in large chunks throughout the project process, while others find it easier to do monthly payments over a longer period of time. Figure out what you feel most comfortable with financially and you can move forward from there. 

Start the Search

Once you’ve answered those three questions, you can begin your search for a website redesign team. Whether it’s asking fellow business owners for recommendations, searching online, or looking at ranking sites like Clutch,
A few things to look for: 

• Relevant experience to yours
• Website work that you like 
• Testimonials, case studies, or proof of concept

From there, reach out to the team you feel best suits your needs and have a discovery call or meeting.  This will not only give you more information about their company, but speaking in person can also help you decide if you feel comfortable creating a long term partnership with the agency. 

Choosing An Agency 

After you’ve met with a few agencies, you obviously have to decide on one of them. Depending on your level of complexity and goals, there are a few determining factors you should consider when it comes to picking an agency to work with. 

• Skill Set
  If you have something specific in mind that you need to get done, you should make sure that the agency you choose has the capabilities to get your project done.
  This is especially relevant when it comes to eCommerce websites and platforms. If you know what platform you want to work - Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, or another, it's good to be sure the agency you're working with has experience in working on it. If you don't know, it's helpful to have an experienced agency that can help you choose the right one. 
• Experience
  Every business is unique. But in the same sense, there are some similarities across what is needed for a website redesign. With that in mind, you should consider relevant experience in both time in business as well as similar websites or businesses to yours. 
• Relationship
  You’re really going to get to know the people you’re doing a website redesign with, and you may end up partnering with them long term even to do ongoing optimization. That means it’s important for you to enjoy the people you’re working with! In order to create a website that speaks to your consumers, you should make sure the agency you work with understands you and your team. 

Once you’ve decided on an agency you’re ready to go! Now the fun can begin and your dream can slowly start to become a reality. 

Are you starting a website redesign?

Is there anything else you’d like to know when starting a redesign process? Let us know by emailing [email protected] or filling out our contact form here. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have or see if we’re the right fit for your redesign!