If your business is considering launching a new website this year, you’ll face several key decisions. At Gekkoshot, your Belfast-based web design agency, we are here to guide you through every step of the website redesign process.
A new website can greatly benefit your business, enhancing your reputation and driving more leads and sales. Maybe your current site is running slowly or the content is no longer current. Or you’re undergoing a complete rebrand and need an entirely new look.
No matter the reason, a website redesign is an exciting opportunity, and we’ve put together a comprehensive checklist to help you prepare.
The Checklist
Brand Assessment
Before making the new design we have to collect an understanding of your brand’s strategy. Why does your website exist? What does your business do? How do you stand out from the competition? Who is your target audience?
Your website’s creative elements must reflect your brand’s personality and values to build an emotional connection with visitors, encouraging them to convert. Your website’s creative elements should reflect your brand’s personality and values to build an emotional connection with users, encouraging them to convert. That’s the essence of brand strategy.
Ensure every user experience (UX) design choice is informed by the needs and goals of your website users.
Whether planning a minor redesign to incorporate new technology or a complete overhaul, you need a clear brand direction. At Gekkoshot, we start by evaluating your brand’s core elements:
- Who is your audience, and what do they use your site for?
- What differentiates your business from competitors?
- Are you maintaining your current branding or rebranding?
- Who will handle content creation, including logos, photographs, and copy?
- Do you have brand guidelines?
Our approach ensures that every aspect of your website—from design to functionality—reflects your brand’s personality and values, helping you connect with visitors and drive conversions.
Content Audit
One of the most time-consuming tasks in preparing for a website redesign is assessing your current content to determine what to retain and what to discard. That is why we conduct a thorough audit of your existing content. Our team evaluates:
- Is it current, accurate, and useful?
- Does it drive business goals?
Using content strategy tools and our expertise, we’ll help you decide what to keep, update, or discard, ensuring your new website has relevant and impactful content.
Strategy
With your brand story and content organised, our team at Gekkoshot focuses on strategy:
- Digital Strategy Integration: We align your redesign with your broader digital marketing efforts, ensuring consistency across all channels.
- Strategic Questions: We’ll address how your website interacts with social networks, advertising campaigns, and email marketing.
Consider strategic questions:
- Are your social networks driving traffic and business? Do you need to adjust your strategy?
- How does your website interact with your advertising campaigns?
- Is your email marketing strategy effective? How will the new site drive sign-ups?
- Is your content marketing plan robust? What media types will be featured on the new site, and where?
Our strategic approach ensures your new website will support and enhance your overall digital strategy.
SEO
Another critical aspect of preparing for a website redesign is SEO. Over time, your old website will have developed authority, with each piece of content being crawled, indexed, and ranked for numerous keywords.
If you don’t adhere to SEO best practices during the content migration process, you risk encountering crawl errors, raising major red flags with search engines, and potentially facing penalties. At Gekkoshot, we:
- Properly following SEO best practices during content migration
- Determine who will handle technical SEO during the migration.
- Ensure your keyword strategy and content optimization are up-to-date and shared with content creators.
Technical Requirements
If your website redesign aims to integrate a new sales or email platform, that’s straightforward. However, it’s still crucial to clearly understand what you and your visitors need to achieve with the new site. We address all technical needs for your redesign, including:
- Identify your website’s technical needs:
- Who uses the site, and do you need gated content with login portals?
- What marketing technology needs integration?
- Do you need custom features like geolocation filtering or e-commerce functionality?
Budget
Everyone desires a high-quality website that’s also affordable and delivered quickly. Additionally, asking the right questions is essential to understand potential cost factors that could impact the project’s budget. Unexpected expenses are the last thing you want during your website redesign. That is why, our team at Gekkoshot:
- Define your budget upfront to avoid surprises.
- Manage Costs: Identify potential additional costs early to avoid surprises.
Team
This is a significant investment for your business, and any missteps in communication or process can lead to costly delays. It’s crucial to conduct thorough research before making a commitment At Gekkoshot, we:
- Facilitate Communication: Streamline communication between your internal team and our designers and developers.
- Ensure Coordination: Oversee all aspects of the project to avoid delays and ensure timely delivery.
Ready to bring your Website Vision to life?
We hope this checklist equips you with the knowledge to start your website redesign preparation and move forward with confidence.
At Gekkoshot, our Belfast-based web design team specialises in creating stunning, functional websites that drive results. Whether you’re looking for a complete overhaul or a simple refresh, our team is here to guide you through every step of the redesign process. From brand assessment to technical requirements and SEO, we offer comprehensive services tailored to your need.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help boost your online presence and align them to your business goals. Visit our page to learn more about what we offer and get started on your project with Gekkoshot.
