Website redesign: a new impetus for your SME

 

With the containment and reduction of physical contact, the current health crisis is accelerating the digital transformation of businesses. To make up for the absence of sales representatives in the field, you must have the appropriatedigital tools, starting with a website.

 

If you already have one, it must be regularly updated to meet the needs of your target and the requirements of search engines, which are constantly evolving. Otherwise, you should consider redesigning your website. More than a simple makeover, the redesign of your website transforms your virtual shop window into a real lead generation tool to develop your business.

 

What is a website redesign?

 

The redesign of a website consists in changing its functionalities and/or its visual aspect in order to adapt it to the digital or marketing evolutions of the company. There are two main types of redesigns:

  • Graphic redesign, which is limited to modifying the design of the site ;
  • Structural redesign, which involves a thorough transformation of the structure and tree structure, often accompanied by a change of CMS (content management system).

Depending on your needs and the state of your site, the redesign intervention will be more or less heavy. It is an important operation in the life of a website, which must be thought out and prepared in advance to get the maximum benefit from it.

The steps of a redesign are almost identical to those of website creation:

  • Project definition: audit, specifications ;
  • Modeling: realization of models of the web pages;
  • Development: installation and configuration of the CMS, development of functionalities;
  • Content integration: layout of texts, images and videos ;
  • Search Engine Optimization: optimization of tags, internal mesh, redirections ;
  • Acceptance: testing, validation and putting on line of the new site.

These different phases are orchestrated by a web project manager to obtain an optimal result.

 

What are the benefits of website redesign?

 

1/ An improved user experience

 

Online for several years, your website is now obsolete?

Your website contributes to your brand image and conveys your values to your prospects, customers and partners. The first impression is crucial: a homepage with a dated design can scare off Internet users, which increases your bounce rate.

Thanks to the redesign, you benefit from a more modern, aesthetic and ergonomic website. It will offer a better user experience (UX) in order to differentiate you from your competitors and promote visitor conversion.

 

2/ Optimal technical performance

 

Your website is too slow and not adapted to mobile navigation?

Today it is essential to create a responsive website design, compatible with all types of screens and browsers. Indeed, 64% of French people consult the Internet from their smartphone. A "mobile friendly" site has better accessibility and therefore generates more traffic. The page loading time should also be as short as possible (less than 3 seconds).

The redesign allows you to benefit from a site that is fast, efficient and meets current display standards. These criteria improve the UX, but also the positioning of your site, since Google takes them into account for its ranking.

 

3/ Better visibility on search engines

 

Your site does not appear in the first Google results and generates few visits?

The redesign allows you to work on your natural referencing or SEO (Search Engine Optimization). An optimized site meets the requirements of Google's ranking algorithms to ensure better positioning in search results.

Natural referencing depends on the technical performance of the site, but also on theoptimization of the contents. Redesigning your site is thus an opportunity to implement a content marketing strategy: choice of keywords, work on semantics, definition of the editorial line, etc.

 

4/ A secure website

 

Does the URL of your website start with "http" and not "https"?

Since 2017, Google 's algorithm favours sites in HTTPS (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure). This protocol ensures that the connection between the server and the browser is secure thanks to an SSL certificate.

If your site uses the HTTP protocol, you risk being penalized by displaying an "unsecured" label and losing traffic. Take advantage of the redesign to increase the security level of your site by upgrading to HTTPS. This will promote SEO and inspire more confidence in your visitors.

 

5/ The addition of functionalities

 

Do you want to develop your site to offer new services to your customers?

Much more than a simple shop window, your website must be seen as a real sales machine. This medium is indeed the keystone of your digital strategy.

The redesign allows you toadd functionalities to build loyalty and convert your audience: article sharing, newsletter subscription form, user space, online booking or sale, order tracking, etc.

 

6/ An increase in the conversion rate

 

Your site is technically optimized and efficient, but doesn't convert?

The most important thing is not the aesthetics or design of your website, but the quality of the content delivered and its conversion capacity. We talk about conversion when a visitor performs the expected action: subscribe to a newsletter, fill in a form, place an order, etc.

The redesign makes it possible tooptimize lead collection and conversion by playing on various parameters: increasing page loading speed, optimizing forms, adding call-to-action, etc.

 

How to make a success of your website redesign project?

 

Website redesign

 

1/ Organize an audit of your current site and your competitors

 

Before redesigning, you should ideally analyze your existing site to identify its strengths and weaknesses. This audit consists of four steps:

  • Technical audit: loading speed, mobile compatibility, number of referenced pages, indexing problems, traffic volume, bounce and conversion rates;
  • SEO audit: positioning on keywords, page structure, HTML tagging ;
  • Navigation audit: menu intuitiveness, ergonomics.

Also scan your competitors' sites (e.g. using the SEMrush software) to make a competitive benchmark that will help you stand out from your rivals.

 

2/ Write a set of specifications to define your objectives

 

Following the audit phase, it is essential to reflect on your needs and expectations in order to frame your redesign project. To facilitate discussions with your service provider, draw up a set of specifications containing the following elements:

  • a presentation of the company (activity, market, products or services, key figures, etc.) ;
  • the objectives of the recast ;
  • your budget and a provisional schedule (scheduling interviews, delivery date, etc.).

To maximize your chances of achieving the expected results, define your objectives using the SMART method: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.

 

3/ Opting for a content management system

 

Proprietary solutions are to be avoided, as they require you to go through the provider to update your site. For more flexibility, prefer a site that can be managed via a CMS (content management system). This will allow you to create and publish your content independently, even without any knowledge of HTML.

Choose an open source CMS such as WordPress, the most widely used content management system in the world. Many themes and plug-ins are available to customize your website while respecting your graphic charter.

 

4/ Optimize your website

 

One of the main objectives of the redesign is to improve the natural referencing of your site. The emphasis should therefore be placed onSEO optimization of the following parameters:

  • Technical aspects: responsive design, implementation of an SSL certificate, redirection 301 of old pages, creation of the robots.txt file;
  • Contents: editorial quality, work on keywords and semantics, HTML tagging (H1/H2/H3 tag, title, metadescription), URLs of pages ;
  • User experience: ergonomics, easy navigation thanks to the internal network, short and explicit menu, attractive visuals;
  • Conversion: insertion of CTA (call to action), management of forms, creation of landing pages, analysis of the purchase path.

For more efficiency, you need to connect your website to your company's ecosystem: CRM (customer relationship management), Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts, social networks, emailing platform, lead scoring tools, etc.

 

5/ Register your website redesign in the long term

 

The redesign is just the beginning of a process: then it's up to you to bring your new site to life! Once online, promote it through the different communication channels (social networks, email marketing, etc.) to invite your leads to discover it. Internet users (and Google) are fond of fresh content: regularly offer them relevant information through a blog or news section.

Thanks to an adapted editorial strategy, you will be able to optimize your referencing and increase your organic traffic on the long term. Your CMS also needs to be updated often for performance and security reasons.

 

6/ Entrust your redesign project to a professional

 

The choice of service provider is crucial to the success of your redesign project. It can be difficult to find a freelancer who has all the necessary skills: design, development, integration, SEO, SEO, marketing, project management, web writing, etc.

The simplest solution is often to use a web agency. Thanks to the expertise of its multidisciplinary team, Autour de l'Image will accompany you from A to Z in the creation or redesign of your B2B website using WordPress.

Do you want to generate more leads thanks to a turnkey website?

 

About the author

Philippe Rigault

Philippe Rigault is the founding President of the agency Autour de l'Image. He assists clients in the development and animation of their communication strategy, combining advice, creativity, mentoring and common sense. Autour de l'Image is a global communication agency that simplifies the life of entrepreneurs. It brings together all the communication and marketing skills needed to develop sales and brand awareness.

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