You’ve decided you need a website redesign, first of all, congrats! Secondly, it’s perfect you’re here because I just went through one, so I’ve learned A LOT and want to share it with you. That way, you can be prepared for the time, work, energy, and money it takes to pull off a website redesign project.

Obviously, you’re a smart entrepreneur, and you know that your website is the online face of your business. It’s an important touchpoint for potential clients and customers to scope out who you are and what you have to offer. But, like anything else in your business, it needs maintenance and regular updates. That’s where a website redesign can be a major asset to your entire online business strategy.

If you have updated your branding, updated your offers or products, changed the structure of your business (think solopreneur to an agency or team), or need to fox the structure of your site to improve certain metrics, then a website redesign is probably the way you want to go.

That was the situation I found myself in last year. I had built up my social media management agency, Social and Stuff, with a kick-ass team. I wanted to focus on driving more traffic to my Social and Stuff Simplified membership, and I was adding more digital products for awesome online business owners like you. Those decisions inspired an updated brand vibe. Between rebranding and the other shifts in my business, they created a need for a website redesign.

You’ve made the decision to move forward with your website redesign project; now what?

Website Rebrand vs. Website Redesign

The first question you need to answer is: Is my project a simple rebrand of my existing website, or is it a full redesign from scratch? What’s the difference?

Website Rebrand: This would only be updating the cosmetic parts of your site, like fonts, colours, visual assets, or copy. Maybe you improve the user experience through website updates, but it’s not touching the structure of your site. This option can be thought of as website maintenance and will not have the cost or time commitment that a redesign will have.

Website Redesign: A redesign option is more in-depth and often involves changes to the actual structure and functionality of your website. It updates its look of it and how it works. Because of the amount of work involved in a website redesign, the time it takes and the investment will be greater than a simple rebrand or refresh.

Your Website Redesign: DIY or Professional?

The next step in the process is to decide whether you’re going to tackle your website redesign as a DIY project or outsource it to a professional web designer. There are definitely pros and cons to each option. 

With my first website for Social and Stuff when I moved over to Showit, I started with a website template, which was fairly user-friendly to set up. It was a good option for creating a nice-looking site, giving me an online presence for potential clients to scope out my services, and was cost-effective when starting a business. The downside is there are some limitations when using a template, but if you take the time to research the features, you can land on one that meets most or all of your needs.

This time around, I decided to opt for the help of a pro. But, I stuck with a Showit website because I know the platform now, love the vibe of it and can make minor updates and changes to copy or visuals and upload my blogs. The rest of it though needed more changes than I could do myself, so working with Christine Christopher to build a new Showit website from the ground up was the right choice this time.

Ideal Client and User-Experience Consideration for Website Redesign

Before you officially start work on your website redesign, you need to get super clear on your ideal client. Imagine they are landing on your new home page; think about what they need to hear from you to take action. Remember, your website isn’t really about you. It’s about your ideal client and walking them through their buyer journey. A quick overview of what you need to address for your ideal clients or customers on your website are:

• Their current struggles and the symptoms of those
• How do your services or products address their needs and wants
• The transformation they will go through when they work with you
• The feeling they will have after using your services or products
• The process they need to follow to buy from you and what they can expect from you afterwards

Defining your ideal client leads right to what your offer is (get crystal clear on this!) and whether your current freebie(s) and email sequences will work for the website redesign. From the moment a potential client or customer lands on your website, you want their experience to be seamless. This user experience is one major perk of working with a website designer pro because they have the knowledge about how a person will navigate through the pages of your site.

Choosing the Right Support for Your Website Project

When I made the leap to redesign my website, I updated some of my branding (fonts, colours, etc.), got all new photos and video assets done my fab photographer Camilla, Friday Eve Photo, and worked with my web designer, Christine, to develop the right flow and vibe for the site. Something that really helped to convey what I was looking for was to go and scope out other websites to see how they were set up, the flow, and how user-friendly they were so I could give my web designer direction.

Your experience may look similar to mine. Or you might decide that you need additional support in areas like brand strategy before you even start. This will allow you to have the foundational pieces of your brand and ideal client or customer in place so you can start strong when your new website launches.

What other support might you need to get through your website project successfully? I found having a copywriter for the website copy was a massive time (and brain) saver! I also wanted a blog portion for this new site and knew I would need help with that. Luckily, I have access to a great copywriter from my team, Erika and she had room in her schedule to help. 

Website Redesign Timeline & Budget: What’s Realistic?

You’re off to a good start with all the decisions you need to make for your website redesign. What’s the next piece? Timeline! I was originally a bit too ambitious with how long my new site would take. I was thinking maybe 4-6 weeks; turns out that 4-8 months is more realistic. How long did mine actually take? I started the end of August and officially launched it in December, so right in the middle of that suggested timeline. My advice is to make sure you have the room in your schedule (and brain) to get started on a website project.

Another major step in the planning process is to figure out your budget. Using website templates and DIYing will be on the lower end of the spectrum. But, if you need a custom site built from scratch by a professional, PLUS all the other pieces like branding, visuals, copy, etc., you’ll be looking at a higher price point. You could be in the range of $500-$3000 for less complex web platforms, like Wix, Squarespace, Showit, or Weebly. If you go the custom WordPress route, it could be almost $10,000…just to build the site! You need to know how much you can put towards your website redesign project and find someone to work with your budget.

Wow! That was a ton of info to go through, but you made it. Thankfully, so did I when I tackled my website so I could share all that learning with you. If you want to chat about your website redesign from someone who’s been there and done that, shoot me a message!

Let me know what you think. Peep the homepage HERE

Your Social BFF,

✌️Sarah