Don’t just put lipstick on a pig
Update your content when doing a website redesign
A lot of companies come to us for a website redesign but most don’t think about the impact it has to the content on their existing pages. When approaching a redesign you have to consider rewriting some of the pages. You may also need to create new ones. Take a look at your existing content and think about your current positioning, messaging, and offerings. Some questions to ask about your current content:
- Does it all still align with your current business goals?
- Do you have new products or services that need to be highlighted?
- Does the content inspire users to act?
You may think your new website looks awesome, but is your content reaching your customers and engaging them?
After about 15 seconds, your users will move on if they aren’t engaged in your website. Updated content that truly speaks to their needs and helps solve their problems will keep them interested in what you’re offering.
How to prepare for a website redesign?
A big part of our website redesign process is strategy and helping clients think about their content. During the strategy phase we look at many factors that informs our recommendations to design and develop a new website, but content is the most important piece to consider.
Here’s a few of the tactics we use when helping companies look at their content during the redesign:
- Content Audit – we look at most, if not all, of the pages on the site. In a website content audit, we make an inventory of all live site content, then focus on key areas of the site to closely review and record site organization, structure, and map page/content relationships
- Content Analysis – now that the content audit is done, we analyze the information and identify patterns in the existing website content, looking for opportunities for improvement on content creation and organization
- Content Strategy – with the audit and analysis done, we can develop a website content strategy that considers the personas of the website audience and create recommendations for updates to the website content and site structure.
- Content Recommendations – we’ll look at recommendations for site launch but also long-term improvements. Typically it’s making sure your content aligns with user needs and engages them. We also give recommendations that will go into the website redesign without losing existing SEO. We also give recommendations on updating site structure, organization, and content curation that will help with future SEO efforts.
Once we’ve completed our research and strategy, it becomes pretty clear that some updates to existing website copy are needed. A lot of times new content needs to be created to really engage users and give them a quality user experience. This includes copy, but also visual content like images, graphics, and videos.
We always recommend businesses take a hard look at their existing content and be ready to invest in making changes but developing a content strategy takes time and diligence. Creating fresh content can be a daunting task if you don’t have the staff or the experience. Be prepared to spend a lot of time if you try to do it all by yourself.
If you’re approaching a website redesign, and don’t have the time, staff, or experience to put together a comprehensive content strategy we can help. Reach out if you’d like a free consultation.
