5 questions to ask before redesigning your website
A new website usually starts with "the old one looks dated". But the real question is not design; it is what visitors find on the site. Here is what to ask yourself before a redesign.
Most website redesign projects start with the same sentence: "Our site looks dated, we want something more modern." That feeling is usually right. But thinking about a redesign only in terms of looks means the new site will end up in the same place within a few years.
We start every project with a single question: WIFT, "What's In It For Them?" What is in this site for the visitor? The five questions below are a practical way to apply that perspective to a redesign decision.
1. Who visits the site, and what are they looking for?
Before deciding on a new design, look at the data from your current site. Which pages do visitors land on, where do they spend time, where do they leave? Google Search Console also shows you which searches people use to find you.
The picture is often surprising: the section of the homepage that took the most effort is barely seen, while a service page nobody cared about brings in most of the traffic.
2. What do we want visitors to do?
Every site needs one main goal: request a quote, book an appointment, buy a product, make a call. If the goal is not clear, the design cannot be clear either.
Ask yourself: a visitor spent 30 seconds on the site and left. What would we have wanted them to do in those 30 seconds? The answer shapes how the homepage and the menu are built.
3. What works on the current site?
A redesign does not have to mean starting from scratch. If some pages rank well in search engines, if customers often use a particular form, or if some content performs well, keep them.
If page addresses are going to change, linking old addresses to new ones with permanent (301) redirects is essential. Otherwise, search visibility built up over years can disappear overnight.
4. How does it look on a phone?
Most of your visitors probably reach your site on a phone. It is easy to judge a new site by its desktop design, but the real test is on mobile: is the menu easy to use, can buttons be tapped with a thumb, how long does the page take to load on a slow mobile connection?
Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool gives concrete answers to these questions in seconds.
5. Who will keep the content up to date?
Even the best-looking site looks dated within months if its content is not updated. Who will add new projects, team changes and campaigns to the site? How technical is that person?
The answer directly affects which platform to choose. A site that will be updated often needs a content management panel the team can use easily.
Conclusion: questions first, design second
A design built by a team that knows the answers to these five questions is not just better-looking; it works better. Starting a redesign with these questions makes sure the budget goes to the right place and the new site does its job for years.
If you are thinking about redesigning your site, we can do an initial review around these questions together.