The Website Redesign Process: What to Expect Before You Start

Redesigning a website requires strategic planning for success. Modern websites are increasingly complex, demanding robust content strategies that serve both user needs and search engine optimization. Fruition employs a collaborative approach extending beyond aesthetic design, often encountering clients with aging sites needing comprehensive content curation and information architecture overhauls.

How to Prepare for Your Website Redesign

Before wireframing or visual design begins, discovery exercises with teams align stakeholders on redesign purpose and goals.

1. Setting Goals

Website redesigns address various needs — incorporating new branding, improving content, imagery, and functionality. Projects initiate with stakeholder questionnaires gathering insights from customer service, sales, and marketing departments.

2. Measuring Success

Define success metrics early. Whether boosting organic traffic or generating leads, align design decisions with objectives. Post-launch, reassess metrics using tools like Google Analytics to track traffic patterns, bounce rates, and conversion rates.

3. Curating Content

The “Keep, Kill, Combine” exercise organizes and refines site content. Assess each page’s relevance to ensure only valuable, aligned content remains. Update outdated blog sections with fresh, trend-relevant content or merge related topics into comprehensive guides.

4. Planning Navigation

Develop intuitive navigation allowing users to find information quickly. Create sitemaps visualizing hierarchical site structure. Breaking products and services into individual navigation items rather than nested categories often improves user discovery and conversions.

5. Branding Consistency

Ensure brand resonance throughout the website via tone, voice, and visual analysis. Develop digital style guides outlining brand colors, typography, and imagery guidelines for consistency across pages.

6. Competitor Analysis

Analyze competitors to identify best practices, pitfalls, and differentiation opportunities. Identify gaps in competitors’ offerings your redesigned site can address to attract users.

7. Importance of Accessibility

Accessibility is critical in today’s digital landscape. Partner with accessibility experts to meet WCAG 2.2 A/AA guidelines. Government agencies may require VPATs and accessibility statements or face fines.

8. CMS & Hosting

Determine your preferred content management system and hosting solution. Audit your current CMS, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Organizations often migrate from Drupal to WordPress due to lower maintenance costs and more intuitive administration panels.

Conclusion

Use this guide to prepare for upcoming redesigns. Completing these preparation steps clarifies project scope and identifies necessary support levels, enabling accurate scope, budget, and timeline estimates.