Website Redesign 101: The Getting Started Checklist

By Jeff Ficker

In today’s digital age, a well-designed, user-friendly website is critical to your organization’s success. But with the ever-evolving landscape of technology and user preferences, every organization will eventually face a point where it’s time to revamp its website to stay relevant in the eyes of consumers and competitive in its respective market. Complete these steps before beginning a website redesign.

1. Evaluate Your Current Website

After you decide a new website is necessary, it’s important to first do a deep dive into your current website. What works well? What doesn’t? What areas of the site could be improved? Make sure to gather feedback from key stakeholders on your current site and input on hopes for the new site.

Steps:

• Assess the overall design, functionality and usability of the current website. Review the website layout and navigation. Check for broken links, slow loading times and technical errors.
• Identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. Note any standout features or content, as well as areas that may need enhancement or redesign.
• Gather feedback from stakeholders. Conduct surveys or interviews with staff and website visitors to gather insights on user satisfaction, preferences and pain points.

2. Determine Your Audiences

In order for your new website to resonate with users, you must first understand your target audiences that will be using your site. Look at demographics, preferences and behaviors of your audiences to help inform your plan for the new site.

Steps:

• Conduct research to understand the demographics of your target audience. Gather data on the demographics, interests and online behaviors of the people who will ultimately be using your site.
• Outline the needs of each target audience. Detail the goals, challenges and motivations of key audience segments.
• Consider their needs, motivation and pain points when planning the redesign. Tailor the website content, design and functionality to address the specific needs and preferences of each audience segment.

3. Define Your Goals and Objectives

Of course, an important step in the process is to lay out all the goals and objectives you want your new site to achieve. Perhaps it’s to drive donations, improve engagement or increase brand awareness. Whatever they are, your list of goals will be your guiding light as you begin your website redesign.

Steps:

• Outline the goals and objectives of the website redesign. Determine specific outcomes you aim to achieve, such as increasing awareness, improving user engagement or serving as a resource hub.
• Align goals with your organization’s overall marketing and communication strategies. Ensure that the website redesign supports broader organizational objectives and messaging.

4. Identify Requirements for Your New Site

This step in the process is your chance to dream big. What do you want your new site to be able to do? The features and functionalities of your new site need to be documented before you begin the redesign process.

Steps:

• Identify the key features and functionalities needed for the new website. List essential features such as event calendars, directories and contact forms.
• Determine content requirements, including multimedia assets and interactive elements. Plan the organization and structure of content, including text, images, videos and interactive tools.
• Consider integration with other systems or platforms. Ensure seamless integration with existing systems and platforms used by your organization for data management and communication (e.g., CRM, customer portal, etc.).

5. Conduct a Comparative Analysis

Your next task is to surf the web, taking a deep dive into the websites of your competitors. As you analyze other top sites in your industry, create a list of features you like and things that work well. This will serve as inspiration when it’s time to begin the redesign.

Steps:

• Analyze “competitor” websites to gain insights into industry trends, best practices and areas of differentiation. Study websites of peer institutions or similar organizations to identify design trends, content strategies and user experience features.

6. Think Through Technical Considerations

A user-friendly website is essential for keeping visitors engaged and driving conversions. Make sure you plan ahead so that any technical needs are accounted for when you begin the redesign process.

Steps:

• Understand the strengths and limitations of the content management systems you’re considering using. Familiarize yourself with the features, functionalities and customization options offered by each platform to leverage its capabilities effectively.
• Consider accessibility. Ensure that content complies with accessibility standards and guidelines to provide an inclusive user experience for all visitors.
• Plan for conversion needs. Think about calls to action, forms, third-party integrations and landing pages to drive conversion rates.

7. Dive Into Website Analytics

Hard numbers and data can oftentimes paint the best picture about your current website. These analytics can show which pages on your site are the most visited, how long users spend looking at your site on average, whether users find value in any given page, etc.

Steps:

• Review bounce rates for each page. Analyze bounce rates to identify pages with high bounce rates and investigate potential causes such as irrelevant content or poor user experience.
• Analyze average time spent on the website. Evaluate average time on site to assess user engagement and identify pages with unusually high or low time on site that may require further optimization.
• Examine performance metrics for individual pieces of content. Review performance metrics such as pageviews, time on page and conversion rates for individual content pieces to identify top-performing content and opportunities for improvement.

8. Conduct a Content Audit

Take stock of your existing content to determine what should be retained (migrated to the new site), refreshed (updated for timeliness and relevance) or archived/deleted. Use this opportunity to optimize content for SEO and ensure consistency across all pages as well.

Steps:

• Conduct a thorough audit of existing website content to determine what should be kept, revised or removed. Review all existing content pages, blog posts, images and multimedia assets to assess relevance, accuracy and quality.

9. Develop a Content Strategy

Your content strategy for the new site should build upon your existing efforts to ultimately create a plan for the new site. Your plan should outline how your content will engage intended audiences across all key content areas and support your organic search and paid digital marketing efforts. It should also establish a recommended tone and direction for content on the new site.

If you’re also planning on including a content hub on your new site — in other words, a news-style blog — you’ll also want to include a plan for it in your content strategy.

Steps:

• Develop a content strategy that aligns with your goals, target audience and messaging. Define content themes, topics and formats that resonate with your audience and support your strategic objectives.
• Plan for new content creation, including copywriting, photography and multimedia production. Identify gaps in existing content and prioritize the creation of new content to fill those gaps and meet user needs.

10. Determine Your Budget and Resources

The final step before you’re officially ready to begin your website redesign is to determine how much money your organization can allocate to the project. Beyond that, you’ll also need to figure out any other resources — such as help from an external third-party, for example — you may need to build your new website.

Steps:

• Determine the budget available for the website redesign project. Consider factors such as design, development, integrations with existing systems, content creation and ongoing maintenance.
• Allocate resources, including personnel, tools and external vendors, if necessary. Identify internal team members who will be involved in the redesign project, as well as any external vendors or agencies that may be needed for specialized tasks.
• Assemble a cross-functional project team. Identify key stakeholders and departmental representatives who will contribute to the redesign project, ensuring a diverse range of perspectives and expertise.