Top SEO Strategies for Website Redesign

"Hey, do you know any web design company?"

"Yes. I do know one web design company in Los Angeles."

"Do they provide 360-degree website redesign services?"

"Yes. they do. I shall pass you the contact details."

Also, as you are an SEO expert, I would like to understand what points I should ask my designer to keep in mind while redesigning my website with regard to SEO.

Yeah sure.

You can follow these basic ones and are all set to go. However, it will help you increase your traffic and maintain the same - difficult but very important.

1. Rethink on redesigning

Here, I will tell you an important thing. Being an owner of the brand, it is undeniable that you want the best website and expect to earn traffic from there, which converts into leads. Therefore it is easy to get carried away and get into the redesigning part, changing the old one. You need to be very firm regarding this decision as your already existing users may be used to this website design, and anything new can take them away from liking it. Also, you need to think and jot down reasons for redesigning and once decided; you need to stick to it as it's a costly affair, and any change in the decision may cost you big time. Take your time before you declare a redesign.

2. Make it responsive

First things first. Before anything else, an essential point for any website is to be responsive enough for all devices - Desktop, Tablet and mobile. If it is already, then it's good, but if it's not, the first thing to enhance is the responsive capability of the website. It will help your visitors to stick by and scroll for a longer time frame.

3. Measure your lead score

It's time to know whether you are getting quality leads from your website. Before you improve your design, measure the current leads and compare them post-redesign to get an idea of the betterment. Leads and traffic is the only measure that will help you understand the yield on the investment.

If you want to go deeper and into details to understand the factual matrix, you can check each page's bounce-back rate, including the home page. It will give you exact statistics on which page needs more attention and which requires the least.

Also, here are four essential things to keep up-to-date for lead generation:

1. Contact details

2. Lead forms

3. Call to action buttons at the right place

4. Precise product and service offerings

These will tell your users to take the next step and be in your inbox. Make sure you take advantage of these opportunities due to your design mistakes.

4. Compare and compete!

You may have many ideas for the new design, but when you explain the design in person, it won't be clear, and you might miss a few. Therefore, it is best to do your research beforehand and come up with a list of websites you like and want to imbibe a few of its features on your new website design.

Always give a reference to the designer for comparison and show them what exactly you like about that feature and why you want it in yours. Vagueness will only waste your time and money.

5. Eye for elements

Your website should simplify your visitor's life; therefore, adding some vital elements will enhance the game for you.

You can add -

1. Easily accessible social media icons

2. An online appointment scheduler

3. Smooth sitemap for navigation from one page to another

4. A video or photo gallery for your products and services

5. Testimonials to help them trust you

6. Right breadcrumbs and subheadings

For more, you can hop onto the trends and get them installed on your website.

6. Vouch for a visual hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is crucial. The designers use this concept to keep the design appealing to the eyes and showcase the importance of each section.

It is portrayed by:

1. Colour contrasts:

2. Similar alignment across the page

3. Same font size across the page

4. Style repetition showcasing similarity or connection between the content

These characteristics can be changed as per the need but ensure it is not overused or manipulated to seek the users' attention.

7. Look for a safe server.

You need to check whether the website or the server is the problem. For a long, you have been using a server that supports whatever you incorporated, but for the new design, you might need to upgrade the server or opt for a new one that allows you to inculcate recent changes.

8. Useful user interface

You need to go for a basic interface audit of the website and check what works for you and is not. And if you need to enhance the user interface, which changes are precisely required? Refrain from infusing too many changes in the first go and confusing the users.

9. Recheck the speed of the website

The speed of the website is the most crucial element of the website. It can make or break both. If a user comes to your website and it takes years to load, they will quickly quit it and return to your competitors. Therefore, it is vital to keep the speed up to the mark and help the users to choose you over others over all three devices - Desktop, Tablet and Mobile.

It can be done by:

1. Compressing image sizes

2. Reducing content

3. Removing cache

4. Removing unwanted files

5. Reduced font size

6. Unnecessary pages

You can check any good website, and you will find a good speed that supports their website by allowing the users to scroll better and faster. Also, search engines are getting smart, and they showcase only websites on the top that load faster and don't force the users to wait longer. So if you wish to get on top, check the website loading speed and criteria.

10. Touch up with a new theme

Redesigning can be two things:

1. An entirely new one with a new theme

2. Refurbishing the old one with new elements

Suppose you feel you need to work on fixing the current design and wasting your hard-earned money. Instead, it's best to go for a new look. It will help you showcase a new brand identity in the market. There are multiple themes available on the internet, and you can ask the designer to show you some of the best options that can be best suited to your business category.

11. Content matters too!

Content and design go hand in hand. Even though you may have the best design, if your content doesn't look good to the eyes or pops up in different font sizes and styles on the page, your efforts of a good design go waste. One more critical factor is the quality of the content. If it's average or not up to the mark, it will bounce back the audience, and the design efforts will go to waste again. Content may not directly affect the design, but it makes a huge difference in traffic and generating the right leads, the sole reason to redesign the website.

Now, you know how an SEO friendly website looks and should feel. You can suggest these to your designer and get your work done.

All the best. Eager to see the new look of your brand.

Author Bio: Brijesh Jakharia

Brijesh Jakharia co-founded SPINX Digital in 2005 and takes great pride in crafting web and mobile marketing solutions for mid-market businesses to enterprises. Marketing is his passion, and the thrill to build a brand from the ground up has helped him craft successful brand stories for world-class clients. While not at work, he loves to spend his time on research and reading digital content stories.