Website Redesign Checklist: Key Considerations for Success

Defining clear, measurable goals is critical and should be the very first step when embarking on a website redesign project. You need to be extremely specific and concrete on exactly what outcomes, results and success benchmarks you want to achieve from the major investment of time, money, and resources involved with a site overhaul. Some examples:

• Increase monthly site visitors from 20,000 to 30,000.
• Grow email list sign-ups by 50% per month.
• Double the number of customer service inquiries.
• Raise the average order value.

Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) to track if you meet each goal, like visitor numbers, email subscribers, inquiry form submissions, average order totals, etc.

Having quantifiable goals tied to metrics focuses your efforts and helps assess success.

Research Your Audience In-Depth

You need deep insights into your target audience to create a user-centered website that matches their needs and preferences.

Dig beyond basic demographics to understand user behaviors, motivations, and pain points. Useful areas to research include:

Buyer Personas

Build detailed buyer personas representing your core customer segments. Include relevant attributes like:

• Job titles, employer industries.
• Location, gender, age brackets.
• Income levels, buying power.
• Values, interests, personality traits.

Customer Journeys

Map out common customer journeys to see usage patterns. Steps may include:

• Initial brand awareness and site visits.
• Comparing products and prices online.
• Seeking input from reviews and experts.
• Final purchasing decisions.

See where they enter your site, engagement levels, pain points causing drop off.

Used Devices and Browsers

Track the types of:

• Desktop vs. mobile visitors.
• Operating systems (Windows, iOS, Android)
• Web browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox)

Design for the devices and browsers used by most visitors.

Audit Current Website Content

Conduct a detailed audit assessing all existing website content prior to redesign.

Analyze Usage Data

Leverage Google Analytics to see current content performance:

• Most visited pages and sections.
• Top landing and exit pages.
• Low traffic and high bounce rate areas.

This shows what content works well to improve and what doesn’t to remove or refresh.

Assess Relevance and Quality

Review all text, images, videos and other content elements based on:

• Relevance to audience interests and business goals.
• Engagement levels like time on page.
• Quality of writing, design, and messaging.

Keep content scoring highly on relevance and quality metrics. Flag outdated or ineffective content for changes.

Identify Content Gaps

Look for website content gaps the redesign can fill, like:

• New products or services not featured.
• Underserved buyer interests and questions.
• Weak sections needing more text, graphics, videos.
• Missing site search capabilities.

Filling content weak spots boosts value for visitors.

Select the Optimal Technology Stack

The technology foundations supporting your website significantly impact capabilities. Make informed selections aligned to business needs on:

Content Management System (CMS)

The CMS manages site content editing and maintenance. Popular options have pros and cons:

• WordPress - Easy to use with open-source plugins.
• Drupal – Very customizable on front and back-end
• Joomla – Focused on flexibility and user permissions.

Web Development Platform

The programming languages and frameworks used to build website apps and functions, like:

• PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
• React JS, Angular JS, Node.js, Python

Hosting Infrastructure

The hosted platforms providing servers, storage, and connectivity:

• Shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers.
• Cloud hosting services like AWS, Azure or GCP.

Factor in technical expertise, scalability needs, security policies and budgets.

Craft Compelling Page Designs

Develop wireframes visualizing key pages that will convince visitors to engage further:

Highlight Value Proposition

Summarize top reasons to buy from you prominently on site and product pages based on strengths versus competitors.

Improve Visual Hierarchy

Use layout, color contrast, and size to make desired actions stand out clearly on each page.

Refine Brand Messaging

Strengthen branding through unified style, tone, and personality across all text, graphics, and media.

Enhance Conversion Pathways

Guide visitors step-by-step to complete key transactions: newsletter sign ups, free trials, product purchases, contact form submissions, etc.

Continuously A/B test page layout alternatives to optimize conversion rates.

Follow Proven Launch Processes

Build in testing time before officially relaunching your live site:

Complete Quality Assurance Testing

• Check every function and user flow works properly end-to-end.
• Identify any broken links, missing assets, UI issues.
• Perform user acceptance testing with a range of representative visitor types.

Fix all discovered bugs and defects before going live publicly.

Set Up Redirects from Old Links

Use 301 redirects to automatically send any existing site links to relevant new URL paths so no previous content gets lost.

Develop Monitoring Alerts

Get notified if problems arise initially like site crashes, slow load times, analytics drops.

Closely track key metrics versus goals daily the first month post-launch then weekly ongoing. Have a process to quickly fix issues and release incremental revisions.

Carefully planning your website relaunch will lead to getting it right the first time for visitors rather than scrambling to catch up.

Key Takeaways

Successful website redesign rests on:

• Setting specific, measurable goals
• Gaining deep audience and content insights
• Choosing scalable technologies
• Testing extensively before officially launching
• Closely monitoring performance metrics

Investing effort upfront leads to maximized results long-term.

Conclusion

To sum up, redesigning a website is a strategic project that requires careful thought and exacting execution. You can create a successful plan by defining specific objectives like raising consumer involvement, growing your email list, or bringing in more visitors. It's important to know your clients' demographics, online habits, and preferred devices to make sure the new website meets their needs. Choosing the appropriate technology, assessing the performance of the present website, and finding content gaps set the stage for a smooth transition.

Presenting value, emphasizing essential features, and reiterating brand messaging throughout the website are critical as you begin the redesign process. It is critical to guide users through an easy-to-use path, evaluate variations for the best conversion rate, and carry out comprehensive quality testing. A smooth user experience requires a cautious launch that includes redirection and ongoing monitoring. In the end, the initial cost of a thorough redesign pays off in the long run by producing a website that not only meets but surpasses expectations, fostering long-term success and fruitful user interactions.