Your website will often be the first point of contact your audience has with your brand. You only have a few seconds to make a first impression, and making a poor one could send your users straight to a competitor's site.

Approximately 94% of consumers say website navigation should be easy. If your current site doesn't cut it, you may need to develop a website redesign strategy to meet their needs.

We've created a guide full of website redesign tips that can maximize your site's user experience. Let's explore how to redesign a website fast without sacrificing quality.

Assess Your Current Performance Metrics

Before you rework your website, make a note of its current performance. You can use this as an index to determine how successful your new site is.

To get started, take a look at your current monthly metrics. Attributes to consider include:

• Number of unique visitors
• Total traffic
• Bounce rate
• Top ranking keywords
• Total number of pages that receive traffic
• Average time on site
• Total sales generated

Regardless of what you measure, consider the tools you use to acquire this data. It's best to use the same tools after redesigning your site so you can make an accurate comparison.

Determine Your Goals

Since a website redesign is such an involved process, it's important to justify it. Make a list of goals you wish to achieve after redesigning your site. It's recommended to keep your goals confined to data-driven objectives.

Using a reason like "one of our top competitors recently redesigned their site" isn't good enough. A common pitfall entrepreneurs make is focusing too much on their site's aesthetic instead of its functionality. Aim to keep appearance-related goals to a minimum.

A high-quality goal could be to increase the amount of time the average person spends on your site. You could also aim to increase your sales numbers by a certain percentage. Focus on choosing goals that are dependent on each other.

For instance, you'll need to generate increased traffic if you want additional sales. This can help you accomplish more in less time.

Define Your Branding

Redesigned websites sometimes accompany rebrands. This is the perfect time to rework your brand messaging if you desire a change. When creating your new site, users should immediately understand what your company provides and how it can benefit them.

They should also have an idea of why they should choose you over a competitor. Developing your homepage is one of the most important parts of your site's redesign. This is often where people will go to find the information they're looking for.

To craft effective messaging, use concise, clear language. Don't use industry jargon, as this only serves to create a divide between you and your audience. Nobody wants to read content that sounds like it was written by a robot.

Preparing for a redesign is also a great time to assess your company's logo, style guide, and color palette. Don't feel compelled to change the core elements of your brand for the sake of it.

Many businesses simply modify their site to look more modern without changing their branding. As long as the end result accurately reflects your company, you won't encounter issues.

Understand Your Target Audience

There's no point in creating a website that your target demographic doesn't want to see. You'll need to have a comprehensive understanding of them to get the best results.

Some entrepreneurs mistakenly believe they never need to take a second look at their audience. As time goes on, trends develop and people change.

The target demographic you knew from five years ago might not be the same today. The following details about your audience can help you get started:

• Age
• Goals/objectives
• Level of education
• Pain points
• Gender
• Primary language
• Ethnic background

You may have to consider additional details depending on your company's needs, but these serve as a great jumping-off point.

Focus on Intuitive Design

There's a good chance your site isn't as easy to navigate as it should be. Look for ways you can implement intuitive design to give your users a better experience.

They should have no trouble finding the information where they expect it to be. A great example is looking for a search bar in the top corners of a page as opposed to scrolling to the bottom.

Preserve Your SEO Pages

Damaging your site's search engine optimization through a redesign can be catastrophic. You'll have invested a large amount of resources into reworking your site only to have nobody find it on search engines.

By extension, this could make your sales numbers non-existent. The good news is there are steps you can take to prevent this.

Make a list of the pages on your site with the highest SEO value. Looking at your marketing analytics can help you quickly discern this information. If you plan to move any of these pages, it's crucial to use 301 redirects.

These will ensure users still reach your most valuable pages. It's recommended to create a spreadsheet of old URLs and new URLs.

Analyze the keywords your high-performing pages already target. This will help you determine what keywords you should focus on once you begin creating content for your new site.

Research Your Competition

It's not uncommon to feel lost when redesigning a website. This is particularly true if you don't have a solid grasp of what needs to change. Competitor research can help you understand what your new site should look like.

It can also provide info about how to improve your site's function. Research multiple competitors and look for consistencies among them. You can then take these attributes and integrate them into your redesign.

However, you should aim to improve upon the concepts you use. Doing so will help you stand out from your competition.

Use the Right Software

Using a content management system (CMS) can substantially improve your site's redesign. You can use it to develop, design, and publish your website. Don't worry if you don't have substantial coding knowledge.

Most CMS software is highly accessible and doesn't require technical expertise. Not all CMS software is created equal, though. It's crucial to choose an application that can meet your needs.

Develop a Solid Content Strategy

To make an effective content strategy, you'll need to have measurable goals and a strong understanding of your audience. These are key components of preparing for your site's redesign, so they should be fresh in your mind.

When creating content, ensure that it's something your audience is interested in. It should also provide value. No matter how many people you drive to your site, it won't mean much if poor-quality content makes them leave your page.

Use keywords you can reasonably rank for. Imagine if your brand sells men's athletic apparel but doesn't have much of an online presence.

There's no chance you'll rank for a high-volume keyword like "windbreaker." Instead, you should use a more specific keyword like "best windbreakers for men."

Assess Your Performance

After you've published your website, you should continually assess your analytics. Ideally, there won't be areas of concern. If there are, you should take action as soon as possible.

For instance, you might notice that your website load time is slower than you anticipated. Website speed is a crucial SEO metric you can't overlook.

If people spend more than a few seconds waiting for a page to load, they'll likely leave your site and never come back. You should also check your site on multiple devices to ensure it's formatted properly on each.

After you've taken care of outstanding obligations, all you'll need to do is wait. In the coming months, check your site's traffic, the average time people spend on your site, and similar performance metrics. If these fail to reach your goals, investigate why this occurred.

Work with a Professional

Working with a professional can take your website redesign to the next level. Choosing the right firm can dictate whether you reach your objectives. When looking for someone to hire, explore their past reputation.

Were their previous clients satisfied with the results they got? Focus on businesses that have a large amount of positive feedback.

You should also assess how they respond to criticism. If they get defensive or aggressive, look elsewhere.

Do they often work with companies like yours? This attribute ensures they understand your company's nuances. For example, a small eCommerce business has much different needs than a large B2B company.

Research their customer support policy. It can be difficult to handle issues on your own, and you should have no problem contacting a representative.

Understand How to Redesign a Website Fast

There will be scenarios where you don't have much time to revamp your entire website. Knowing how to redesign a website fast will ensure you quickly get the best performance.

At HPPY, our expert team combines creativity and technology to unlock each of our client's full potential. We have the tools and resources to bring your vision to life and get amazing results. Book a consultation today to learn more about how we can help.