7Stepsto succesfully redesign your website

A company’s first website is often something

they hold very dear. They spent a lot of time

getting the colors of the web design just right,

choosing the right pictures, and making sure

the content was crisp and engaging.

But that may have been five years ago. Now the

colors are bland, the pictures outdated and

you’re tired of seeing the same message. You

wonder if it's time to revamp the whole web

design so it’s fresh and exciting all over again!

But wait. Remember all the time you

spent? All the hours dedicated to

poring over tiny decisions? Why go

through all that again unless there’s a

real, tangible benefit? Creating a new

web design simply for your own

enjoyment certainly isn’t a good

investment. You need a website that

truly represents your brand and that

will help your company grow.

and should be treated as such. This means it should be used to convey

your brand message, differentiate your value over the competition, and

ultimately generate qualified sales leads.

Introduction

Your website is arguably yourmost valuable marketing tool

perspective as well. This guide will walk you through the seven steps

involved in a website redesign that can turn your website into a lead

generator and sales converter rather than just an online brochure. As you

read on, you may discover that the process of an effective website

redesign isn’t anything like you imagined it would be.

While a new polished design scheme might look

pleasing to the eye, it won’t necessarily help your

bottom line. Effectively planning every element of

your new website can make your redesign project

successful from not only a design and branding

standpoint, but from a revenue generation

A redesign should be motivated by specific goals that will help your

business grow. A few unjustified reasons to design a site include:

Unju

stif

ied

Reas

ons • “We want the site to POP more.”

• “We have a new corporate image.”

• “It has been two years since our last redesign.”

• “Management wants to do it.”

• “A redesign is in this year’s budget.”

• “Our competitor just launched a new website.”

Step 1Is A Website Redesign Necessary?There’s a difference between “wanting” & “needing” a new website design.

Sure, there’s an element of excitement when you unveil a new

company website, but for the most part that enthusiasm isn’t shared

amongst your customers, and potential customers.

The fact is that changing your site design simply for the sake of change

can actually frustrate customers or potential customers that are used to

the old functionality and image. Unless you have solid rationale

behind a redesign, it may be best not to continue along this path.

Good reasons for a website redesign.You should only invest your money into a redesign if there is a solid

plan behind it that will help your company grow.

A few justified reasons to redesign a site include:

just

ifie

d Re

ason

s

• “We want our website to be easier for prospects to find.”

• “We want to convert more website visitors into leads and, ultimately, customers.”

• “We want to improve our branding.” (Only valid IF based on one of the previous reasons.)

These are all reasons that can result in increased sales and justify the

time, energy and capital invested in a website revamp. You have to

keep in mind that this is an investment. Any good investment needs to

show a return.

Keeping your motivation clearly in mind throughout the process will

maximize the investment you make. Having an attractive, aesthetically

pleasing website is important, but it is secondary to funneling

traffic and generating sales leads.

A funnel is the set of steps a visitor needs to go through before they can reach the conversion. At the beginning of the process, there are a lot of people who take the first step. Then, as the people continue along and take the next steps, some of them drop out, and the size of the crowd thins or narrows.

Quick Fact

Completely overhauling your website could potentially cause damage

to your marketing efforts. If the correct process is not followed, it is

likely that you will wipe out any progress you’ve made establishing

your existing web presence. Assets like existing pages and content,

inbound links, and keyword rankings could all be lost if you start from

a blank slate. If you don’t follow the proper procedures, you are

essentially starting your online marketing from square one. Here are

just a few of the most important steps you should take to make sure

your web assets are safe:

Step 2Protect Your Web AssetsKeep all the SEO you can

Hire An SEO SpecialistIf you’re not intimately familiar with how all the backend materials affect your web presence, you should work with an SEO expert to

help integrate your web assets into the new design. You need to make sure the switch to the new web design isn’t more damaging

than it is helpful. In addition to making sure your web presence doesn’t become diminished, an SEO expert can help you set up a

metrics tracking system for your site. This will allow you to easily view where your web traffic is coming from and how visitors are

interacting with your site, helping you track which of your marketing efforts are most effective.

1) Determine the number of web pages in your site.

2) Figure out which of these pages are the most popular & powerful.

3) Determine how many inbound links your website has.

4) Figure out where these links are coming from.

5) Determine which interior pages the inbound links are pointing to.

6) Determine which inbound links are the most effective.

7) Figure out which keywords you currently rank highest for.

8) Determine which keywords are most effective.

Steps to take:

I hear this team is pretty great

Step 3The Face Of Your WebsiteYou don’t want a website made for radio either!

Just like all this paint, you don’t want to overdo it. You should want your website to look great but not get in its own way. Your main goal should be to convert, not to be flashy! It’s not even worth starting this chapter on this page because it is so distracting!

Quick Tip

How many times have you clicked on a link to a website

looking for a particular product only to be bombarded with

an animation that you couldn’t skip, music you couldn’t turn

off, or information not pertaining to you at all? Frustrating, isn’t

it? But the company’s owner is probably incredibly proud of

that flashy little intro that they paid way too much money for.

Simplicity RulesYour homepage is usually the first impression a visitor gets of

your company, so it needs to be direct. Make sure your web

design highlights your core message by putting it front and

center so that someone completely new to your business can

understand the value you offer within the first few seconds.

Providing a clear site navigation structure will allow visitors to

easily find information that pertains to them without having to

wade through a bunch of unnecessary content. For example,

if you have 20 different services, organize them into 4 over

arching umbrella service groups so that visitors are not

overwhelmed.

Beyond that, make sure that visitors have a way to take the

“next step” toward a relationship with your company. If

providing a demo, consultation, or quote is part of the buying

cycle, you will want to have call to action buttons that lead

toward these actions (We will get more into this soon).

The design of your website is the face of your services or

products. You will get only one chance to impress a visitor by

providing a clear image and the information they are looking

for. Make their experience simple, clear, and direct.

Step 4Your Content Is A MagnetFresh & Original Content Will Attract Visitors & Convert Leads!

Your target market is constantly looking for current and

relevant information online that provides value. They are

looking for content that helps them solve problems, informs

them of changes around a certain topic, or assists them in

making a purchasing decision.

If your new website provides this type of content, you are in a

good position to attract targeted visitors. Once visitors are on

your website and are finding the value they are looking for,

you will become viewed as an expert and there is a higher

chance of them reaching out to you for assistance.

Your new website will need a platform to display this content.

Adding a blog to your website is one of the simplest and

most effective ways to provide content that is value based

and relevant to your industry.

As you publish each blog article on your site, you are giving

visitors a reason to return which increases their exposure to

your offerings. Every blog post also has the potential to

increase your rankings for relevant keywords in the search

engines. This means more exposure for your company and its

products or services.

97%More Inbound

Links

55%Increase In Web

Traffic

60%Of People Make A

Purchase After Reading A Blog Post

Blogging By The NumbersWebsites with actively maintained blogs receive:

If increases in web visitors, inbound links and sales don’t

impress you, remember that these are all opportunities to

connect with your potential customers. The more you reach

your target market, the higher your chances of converting

them into leads and customers.

Content creation isn’t just limited to blog article writing; it can

include videos, podcasts, photos, news releases,

presentations, webinars, infographics and ebooks

(like the one you are reading now).

In fact, video is quickly outpacing other forms of content in

terms of popularity. A recent study by Demand Metric

showed that 83% of marketers believe that video is becoming

more important—and they’re not wrong. Research from Aber-

deen Group demonstrated that video marketers get 66%

more qualified leads per year and see a 54% increase in

brand awareness. Those are some impressive numbers,

making video a smart consideration.

There is no limit to the content that you can use to drive traffic

and generate sales leads. The key is to make your content

valuable and consistently flowing from your new marketing

hub, your redesigned website.

This Is Great... But How Do I Create This Content?The consistent creation of valuable content requires dedica-

tion, but is an essential component to maximizing the success

of your website and online marketing as a whole. If you are

going to invest in a website, you need to have a plan to maxi-

mize the results your investment can provide; content cre-

ation is the vehicle.

There are two primary ways to produce the necessary con-

tent. Each way has its own merits. You can also create

a hybrid of the two if you find it to be more beneficial for your

organization.

1) Form an internal content team - Building an internal content creation team is an excellent way to involve your entire organization in the continued success of the company. It can enhance the team mentality of your workforce and help to establish buy in across your organization for your new marketing agenda.

2) Contract external content providers - Of course, not every company has the personnel or resources to generate all of its own original content. Outsourcing the creation of content to marketing agencies, professional writers, videographers, and graphic designers can help your employees to stay focused on their primary objectives within the company.

Regardless of the strategy you implement, as long as the cre-

ated content has value, the result will be the same: more web-

site visitors, leads, and sales.

Your website has a job, and that job is to connect you with more customers. To do so, you need tools to guide them to

take action. CTAs and landing pages help you do just that.

Step 5Turn Your Website Into A Lead GeneratorThe Magic Of CTAs & Landing Pages

What Is A CTA (call to action)?CTAs, or call to action buttons, are button graphics

specifically designed to spark interest in a content offer. A

CTA button that leads to a downloadable ebook may be

placed on the homepage, while a “request a quote” CTA may

be located within the products or services section of the site.

Call to action buttons need to be noticeable and attractive.

Using sizes and colors that differ from the other design

elements on your site will increase the likelihood that a visitor

clicks on these buttons.

The goal is to anticipate what offer might entice the visitor to

take the next step with your organization and place these

specific calls to action in relevant areas throughout your

website.

What Is A CTA (call to action)?CTAs, or call to action buttons, are button graphics

specifically designed to spark interest in a content offer. A

CTA button that leads to a downloadable ebook may be

placed on the homepage, while a “request a quote” CTA may

be located within the products or services section of the site.

Call to action buttons need to be noticeable and attractive.

Using sizes and colors that differ from the other design

elements on your site will increase the likelihood that a visitor

clicks on these buttons.

The goal is to anticipate what offer might entice the visitor to

take the next step with your organization and place these

specific calls to action in relevant areas throughout your

website.

What Is A CTA (call to action)?CTAs, or call to action buttons, are button graphics

specifically designed to spark interest in a content offer. A

CTA button that leads to a downloadable ebook may be

placed on the homepage, while a “request a quote” CTA may

be located within the products or services section of the site.

Call to action buttons need to be noticeable and attractive.

Using sizes and colors that differ from the other design

elements on your site will increase the likelihood that a visitor

clicks on these buttons.

The goal is to anticipate what offer might entice the visitor to

take the next step with your organization and place these

specific calls to action in relevant areas throughout your

website.

Confession: A few pages back we put this CTA in front of you.

That page was discussing using video content, so we put a

relevant Call To Action about our video services on the page.

What Is A Landing Page?

Landing pages are one of the most valuable components of

your newly designed website (second only to the content

living behind them). They are web pages with the purpose of

displaying the value of an offer (demo, consultation, quote,

ebook, webinar, etc.) and collecting the contact information

from the interested party.

Because the displayed offer is geared around the value your

company delivers in the form of a product or service, the

person that requested more information or downloaded your

content piece is more than likely a qualified sales lead for

your organization.

Landing pages should be concise and showcase the benefits

of the offer that the visitor will receive by submitting their

information. Properly displaying the value of the offer will

maximize your conversion rates.

Remember to only ask for necessary information in your form.

Requiring less information in your forms will also result in

higher conversion rates.

Your main site navigation and other links leading away from

the page should not be displayed on landing pages. The

visitor that clicked on the CTA and was led to the landing

page had an interest in the offer. Removing the navigation

and other links will allow them to complete the offer without

being distracted by other options. Remember, they can

always hit the “back” button on their browser if they truly

don’t want to proceed.

Once you have collected their info, you now have sales leads

you can follow up with. They’ve already expressed some

interest, so now it’s time to convert them to sales. CTA buttons

and landing pages are where the magic happens; they are

the gateway to your conversion offers that create engaged

and interested sales opportunities. These tools allow your

website project to shift from a cost to an investment.

Since CTAs & landing pages are your most valuable tools to quickly collect lead

information, you should experiment with what combination of elements gets

the most leads. Your new website should have a system in place that allows you

to constantly gauge and improve the effectiveness of these elements.

Step 6Conversion ExperimentsImproving CTAs & Landing Pages

A/B testing will allow you to test several different CTAs and landing

pages at once to see which work best. You can experiment with

sales copy, color combination, image usage, and placement to

find the most fruitful application of these elements.

Website design is not a one and done deal. Your website

should evolve and improve over time. This is especially

important for your CTAs and landing pages since they convert

your faceless website visitors into actionable sales leads.

Version A Conversion8.91%

Version B Conversion10.08%

In order to track your website’s performance over time, you will

want to implement some type of analytics software (Google

Analytics, Adobe Omniture, KISSmetrics, HubSpot Analytics, etc).

While analytics software can track a vast amount of metrics, these

are the three main statistics you want to focus on.

Step 7Review Your MetricsVisitors, Leads, and Sales

Metrics to Watch:Visitors - How many people are coming to your website? Where are they coming from? What page are they landing on?

Leads - How many visitors converted into leads? What offer did they convert on?

Sales - How many leads converted into sales?

Metrics to Watch:Visitors - How many people are coming to your website? Where are they coming from? What page are they landing on?

Leads - How many visitors converted into leads? What offer did they convert on?

Sales - How many leads converted into sales?

These three metrics will allow you to discover areas of your site that may need improvement, as well as give you an idea of what

you are successfully doing so that you can replicate it in future marketing initiatives.

Redesign Is An Ongoing ProcessAnalytics is a powerful arrow in your marketing quiver. Finding out where visitors are coming from, and what offers are most

likely to convert visitors into leads and leads into sales, is a requirement for consistent improvement. Adjust your messaging and

offers to appeal to your audience and you’ll see sales rise.

The web design process is time consuming and

labor intensive. By now you may have noticed that

most of these steps don’t even involve the actual

reworking of your web design. Rather, they revolve

around the tools that generate leads and convert

them to sales, the element that actually matters to

your company’s success.

Is a website redesign right for you? Only you can

decide. If you are interested in increasing your

potential to be found by prospects, and converting

prospects into actual sales opportunities, web

redesign may be the solution for you.

What’s Next?

If you do decide that you want to undergo a redesign, make sure you are not throwing away the traction you have already achieved online. Catalog your existing web assets and be sure that they are correctly utilized in your new online platform.Keep your design simple and clean with clear messages and graphics. Let your competition worry about flashy intros and animations. Your focus is on delivering value.

You now know that delivering value is the vehicle that will increase revenue. The integration of a blog, for example, and the consistent flow of value based content will solidify your position in the market and bring you new opportunities.

Organizing and displaying your online offers with call to action buttons and landing pages will be the first step to evolve your site from an online brochure into a lead generating machine. The sales opportunities that these elements create are what allow you to classify this project as an investment with a return you will be able to calculate. Constant improvement is the name of the game. You don’t want this site to go stale like your last one. Keep your website updated with new valuable offers and be sure that you are always testing to make sure you are converting as many visitors into sales as possible.

Don’t Want to D.I.Y.Your Redesign?

All good marketing initiatives must include the ability to track the results. Incorporating an analytics platform that monitors visitors, leads, and sales has a huge payoff and increases your ability to make meaningful improvements over the life of your investment. Although some of you do need to redesign your site to improve your branding, or realign your website’s image with your current brand, the important part is increasing sales. Keeping this in mind throughout the process and insisting on the elements that enable increased sales in your new design. This will transform this from a design project into an investment.

Following the seven steps outlined in this guide will give you the tools you need to market your organization in a way that produces results. The sooner you start, the sooner you will be able to cash that check from your first new customer. You can take that to the bank.

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