Every few months or years, the time comes that our websites need to be readdressed and reevaluated. What was all the rage when the page was created has become outdated, slow, and just doesn’t fit the fresh and modern image that we want our websites to give off. But even though these revisions and remodels are necessary for keeping a strong website, we want to do everything we can to ensure that the time between redesigns is as long as possible.
If you’re getting ready to redesign your company website, here are a few tips you should keep in mind during the website remodel or website transfer. These tips can keep your website looking fresher longer and ensure you don’t need to go back to the drawing board in only a few short months.
1. Don’t Forget About Mobile
In this day and age, a mobile responsive page is one of the most important things to give to your website. As the number of individuals who use their phones or tablets for all web browsing increases, you need to ensure you’re not alienating that group of people.
No matter how big your business is, you need to be mobile responsive. If you do one thing during your website revision, make sure that it is fully responsive to fit the many different screen sizes that could view your website.
A mobile responsive website will help you reach higher levels in a Google list of search results and can further promote your business. When potential customers have a pleasant viewing experience no matter where they are looking, you can get more sales, more repeat business, and develop your loyal customer base.
2. Don’t Get Creative with Your Platform
While you may want everything about your website to be totally unique, it isn’t a smart idea to go off and find a platform that only you have heard of. You may see yourself as different and away from the crowd, but it also means you’re probably going to have unanswered questions, problems you can’t fix, and angry and confused customers.
If you’re not already using a popular platform, like WordPress, you should seriously consider doing a website transfer with this redesign. Having a strong community of individuals who also use your platform can allow you to solve problems more efficiently and you won’t need to worry about websites crashing or losing your valuable information.
3. Stay Simple
There once was a time when website design was all about being the flashiest. People expected to see 3D shapes, glittering objects, and items flying in from all different angles. Well, those days have long passed and what used to be interesting and exciting is now old, outdated, and honestly, a little untrustworthy.
Today, people expect websites to be clean and simple, with easy to read fonts and simple navigations. While you are free to infuse your own personal style into your website, you want to ensure it is in a tasteful, modern, and up to date fashion.
4. Keep it Stationary
Many people choose to use sliders throughout their website, but while you may think it’s giving a clear overview of all your services and products that your company can offer, it really is just distracting and wasted space.
Consider the way someone would view your website. Once they reach your page, they won’t sit and wait as the sliders go through their rotation. Instead, they’re going to begin scrolling and clicking while looking for the exact piece of information that they are looking for. You need to consider that the people of today are always on the go and always looking for answers right when they need them. If your answer is lost in a slider, they’re going to move on to someone new.
Instead, keep all important information clearly displayed somewhere on your homepage.
5. Stay Consistent
When you make a change with your website, chances are you’re going to shift your logo, colors, tagline, or other bits of information that you’ve been using throughout the web. If you do make changes to these items, even if they are small, be sure to apply those changes to other areas that it may be found.
One of the biggest areas you’ll want to stay consistent in is with social media. Your social media pages should look like extensions of your website, so if you do a website redesign, prepare to redesign your social media pages as well.
6. Be in Control
If you’re still a small business, you may be tempted to use a free service offered by one of the major platforms. While these templates can be great for things like personal blogs or a place to store photos from a family trip, they can appear extremely unprofessional to customers and clients.
More than that, if you don’t own your domain, you don’t own the information on the website. That means if your provider chooses to shut down your page for no reason, they have the right to do that. Although it is your page, they still technically own the website. If you don’t already, you need to purchase your page.
7. Stay Prepared
Even if you do your new website perfectly, you’re probably going to have updates, minor changes, and little shifts periodically. If you are serious about keeping your website strong and reducing the amount of work you’ll need to do at the next website redesign, be prepared to make these changes.
Don’t allow your website to fall to the side just because you believe you’ve finished. Instead, view it as an ongoing project that always needs a bit of attention.
If you are about to redesign your website, consider these seven tips and what they can do for you throughout your website remodel.