A great product. Check. A receptive audience. Check. Stellar marketing techniques. Check. Could a mediocre website be what's holding your business back from entrepreneurial stardom? Do you need a website rebrand or redesign?
"The price of doing the same old things is far higher than the price of change."
Truer words have never been said. However, with diverse audiences, different tastes, views, and beliefs on the backdrop of rapidly changing societal views, embracing change is easier said than done in this age.
As a result, many companies not only have to struggle with the effects of average website design but also the horrors of an identity crisis. This eventually brings out a very controversial topic: change. If you want to know whether you need a website rebrand or redesign, check out the article below.
Difference between Rebranding And Redesigning A Website
Should you rebrand your website, redesign it or just let sleeping dogs lie and go on with your website as it is? Come to think of it, your website is probably not that bad. But before you go on, what are these terms in the first place? What do they mean, and what are their implications in website design?
1. Rebranding
Rebranding your website refers to changing your business identity. Your business holds a place in the public conscience, which the public gets from its tone, values, story, philosophy, and beliefs. That's your brand.
Tesla's website presents its brand as clean, simple, and minimalistic. 98% of the homepage is the image of a Model S, punctuated with about 16 words/links total.
From the onset, Patagonia's website presents itself as a socially conscious company by having an activism option and using most of its page to raise awareness.
However, once in a while, your business may want to rebrand its website. This means that you want to change how you present your business to society and, as a result, how society perceives your business.
2. Redesign
Redesign refers to sweeping changes a business makes to its website with a specific goal in mind. A website redesign is technical and is usually a result of underwhelming website key performance indicators about the general quality of a site.
Some of the performance indicators that may warrant a website redesign include a high bounce rate, lower time on site, high abandonment rate, lower number of returning visitors, and eventually a low conversion rate.
Your website redesign will always aim at achieving something. This could be:
- Increasing the number of leads
- Creating more conversions and sales
- Increasing the return rate
- Creating more engagement (think feedback, comments, and ratings)
Numbers Behind The Website Hype
Websites and their subsequent redesign, rebranding, and optimization are becoming popular, and for a good reason. There is no shortage of statistics and studies showing the ever-increasing prominence of websites as a marketing tool. This includes:
- The first five seconds of page load time have the highest impact on conversion rates
- 70% of small B2B business websites lack a CTA
- An estimated 38% of visitors will stop reviewing a website if the layout is unattractive
- About 68% of companies with a mobile-first website increase their sales
- 75% of consumers judge the credibility of a company from its website
When to Rebrand And When To Redesign
In this competitive business environment, it's pretty clear the cost of doing nothing is something your business can't afford. That's why it's crucial to know why, when, and how to embrace change as far as rebranding and redesigning your website is concerned.
Questions To Ask Yourself When Rebranding
Changing your business image and general public perception is one of the most critical tasks a business can ever undertake. Rebranding is the big picture and will always involve redesign, the reverse of which is not always true. This is what makes rebranding so crucial. While the risks of redesign are apparent, so are the payoffs. An efficient redesign may be what's standing between you and the next stage of your business.
Is My Current Brand Effective For Target Audiences?
Sometimes, your brand website may find itself not being reflective of its growing target audience. This may not necessarily be intentional, but because audiences change as time goes by, among other reasons. Take the Marvel website, for example. In the 90s and early 2000s, comics were mostly for young men, and it was characteristic in their website. However, their audience has grown to be more diverse, and their website has rebranded over time to reflect this diversity.
Does My Current Brand Lack Consistency?
You may find your brand image through your website representing everything in general and nothing in particular. Such websites may have a lot of clutter, contradicting colors, different fonts, and conflicting messages. This can be detrimental since it only takes 50 milliseconds for a lead to create an opinion about a website. Remember, if your brand does not stand for something, it will bow for everything. You may find yourself desiring website rebranding to finally double down on an image or philosophy that represents your business.
Is My Brand Facing An Identity Crisis?
It's a misconception that a brand has to be inconsistent or cluttered to face an identity crisis. On the contrary, your brand may be consistent and defined but still struggle to find its footing as far as tone and perception are concerned. In such a case, your brand may find itself at crossroads between two well-defined faces or approaches. Here, it may be time to embrace change and rebrand your website.
Is My Brand Outdated?
Like 3D logos, branding in websites can become outdated within a short period. Having live images, open displays of wit, and subtle political opinions may be "appropriate" now, but maybe not in the next few years. This especially happens for websites that try to appeal to young demographics or give the perception they are casual. Once you notice your brand is outdated, there are fewer options left at that point besides having to rebrand your website.
Questions To Ask Yourself When Redesigning
Redesigning your website is something you should consider more often. Given that redesigning can be as minor as adding a few landing pages or a call to action, it shouldn't be as controversial as rebranding is.
Are My Customers Satisfied With My Website?
One of the best practices when thinking about website design and redesign is making it customer-centric. You're not making your website more accessible for yourself but for the customers who will eventually get to use it. Read your reviews, comments, and feedback to get an idea of customer satisfaction.
Is There A Room For Improvement?
Even pro athletes still practice each day. That said, there is no such thing as a perfect website, and you should always be looking for better ways to improve yours.Your website may be great on PC but poor on mobile. Subsequently, your website may be great at lead generation but poor at conversion because of the lack of quality landing pages and CTAs.
What Is The ROI Of My Website?
All in all, your website exists for business purposes. This is especially true for businesses that depend on on-site sales or e-commerce. If your website is not breaking even or making your business enough money to make the website itself viable, it's time for a redesign.
What Are My Website KPIs?
Most essential of all is taking notice of your key performance indicators. You may not know what causes a slow website, but the redesign is almost always an effective fix. If your bounce rates, conversion rates, and time on site have been consistently low, it may be time to consider a website redesign.
Reasons For Needing A Website Redesign
Your website may require a redesign for a lot of reasons. Some of the most common reasons for a website redesign include:
1. Lack Of Mobile Optimization
90% of the global population, and probably a significant percentage of your target audience, uses mobile phones to access the internet. In some cases, your website may have been initially optimized for PC but now intends to leverage the flow of traffic from mobile leads.
2. Underwhelming SEO
Search engine optimization has never been more essential for a business website. Your business may initially not have given SEO much weight but now wishes to learn.
Subsequently, your business may have an SEO strategy to perfect using your website and blog as the foundation.
3. Change In Marketing Strategy
Most businesses that started on an outbound-led marketing strategy are now beginning to appreciate the importance of inbound marketing.
These businesses are now embracing SEO, local search, and content marketing which may require a website redesign to execute.
4. Improve Website Metrics
Concern about worrying metrics such as a low time on a page may make business owners seek to redesign their websites to reverse this trajectory.
Where We Come In
Brightscout is your one-stop-shop for all things website design and development. We have spent the last few decades bringing digital transformation to companies around the globe. For more information, contact us today, and let us be part of your story.
