Is a Complete Website Redesign Really the Answer?

Nowadays, with the right knowledge and education, it can be quite easy to design and build a website, whether you are doing it yourself or having someone do it for you. Content management systems (CMS’s) like WordPress come packed with beautiful themes and are easy for just about anyone to use, even without any coding knowledge at all. Beautiful websites are not uncommon, and in fact are quite prevalent all across the internet. However, just because a website looks good and is user-friendly, does not necessarily mean that the website is effective.

When a website is ineffective, if it’s not generating traffic or leads, website owners are often quick to assume that there is something wrong with the website, and oftentimes jump to the conclusion that they need a completely new website. A website redesign can, however, be extremely costly, at times even more expensive than you paid for the original website. Before you decide to go this route, it would be wise to ask yourself a few questions first to find out if a redesign is really the right answer for your business.

You should start by asking yourself whether or not your website is truly attractive, professional and user-friendly. Put yourself in the customer’s perspective and try to look at your website from an objective standpoint. Is the site easy to navigate and find what you are looking for, and does it have the information that potential clients would be seeking? Equally important, does your website have a professional appearance – if you were a customer visiting your site, would you trust your company to provide as it says it will, or does the site appear sloppy and thrown together quickly by amateurs?

Once you’ve established that you have a professional website, but are still wondering about your lack of leads or sales, the next question you should be asking yourself is whether or not your website provides enticing calls to action. Sure the right information is there, but do customers know what to do next? Do you have easy to find and prominent buttons with phrases like “Get Started Now” or “Make an Appointment” to guide them? Is your contact information clearly displayed and visible on multiple pages? One of the biggest reasons that a site receives a lot of traffic but not a lot of leads is because it contains ineffective or a complete lack of calls to action for the potential clients to follow.

If your site is professional in appearance, contains numerous calls to action, but is still not receiving traffic or being found, then your next consideration should be whether or not your site is search engine optimized. Are you making use of meta titles and descriptions that call attention to specific keywords in your niche? Do the photos on your website contain alt tags with your keywords, and do blog posts have appropriate category and tag labels to help users find you in searches? Many times business owners look at the visual aspects of their websites without considering what is going on behind the scenes, but the backend of a website is equally, if not more, important in terms of a website ranking high in search engines.

The last question to ask yourself is whether or not your website has quality written content. A website can easily be visually pleasing and yet still not have the correct information or service that someone is looking for, and is likely to lead customers elsewhere. Many SEO experts agree that having quality content is the single most important thing that a person or business can do to drive traffic to their website and increase their search engine rankings. Quality content should not only have important focus keywords contained throughout, but should most importantly be well-written, grammatically correct, and factually accurate.

Addressing the SEO of a website can oftentimes solve all the problems involved with a website that is not receiving traffic or generating sales, and in most cases, is far less expensive than a website redesign. Many web developers treat SEO as a completely different and separate aspect of web design, so having your website redone will still many times leave you with a website that is not optimized for search engines, requiring you to pay for additional services in order to do so. If you are considering hiring a web developer to redesign your website, make sure to ask yourself whether you have exhausted all other options before you take any unnecessary risks.

Damonaz Designs has a talented and experienced team of web developers and SEO writers and experts who are well-prepared to tackle a poorly performing website and turn it into a powerful and influential tool for your business. Our team always has your best financial interests in mind, and we offer plans that are both flexible and affordable to suit your needs. Call Damonaz Designs today for a free SEO report and evaluation, and we’ll be happy to help you determine the best option for your business.