There are many reasons that can lead to a website redesign. This may be because the site is aesthetically outdated or technically obsolete; or because it no longer aligns with the image you wish to convey.
Whatever the reason for undertaking a website redesign, it is important to act methodically. It is not just about discarding the old site in favor of a new one. For the replacement to be successful, it must be part of a continuity. In other words, before creating the new site, you need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the old one. Thus, your new site will not just be a new version but a better version.
1. Identify the most visited pages
Where to start? First, examine the strengths of the old site. In other words, which content is the most visited. For this, go to Google Analytics (if you have it installed; or in your traffic monitoring tool), in the "Behavior > Site Content" section. The homepage will certainly be the most visited, but what about the others? These are the pages you will need to work on to ensure they maintain their popularity and become even more effective.
2. Identify the queries leading to the site
The second step in the website redesign is identifying the keywords that lead to the site. With Google Analytics, you won't have this information, or only very partially. Google Webmaster Tools can provide some insights in this area. Complement this examination with a deductive analysis based on the most
consulted. Based on the pages viewed, you can generally deduce what the entry queries are according to the words you used within the page.
3. Determine the Typical Profile of Your Internet User
If you are creating a website, it is intended for a specific audience. Therefore, you need to try to understand who this audience is and what their habits are. Do they browse with a tablet? A smartphone? Do they primarily use Google Chrome? Internet Explorer? When you are undertaking a redesign, you have the huge advantage of being able to answer these questions thanks to your old site. To find out all this, go to Google Analytics, under "Audience > Technology."
4. Rephrase Your Offer
Since you launched your website, your service offering has likely evolved. Even if you are still selling the same services, you are probably selling them in a different way. Since your first site went live, your market and its economic context have likely changed over time. Take advantage of your new site to update your commercial offer.
5. Update the Graphic Charter
Like your commercial offer, graphic trends have evolved. Even if we are not talking about changing your company name or logo; trends in usage and web design have changed and need to be taken into account when launching an effective new site.
For this, nothing beats a preliminary benchmarking step. You can visit a site like awwwards or behance to find ideas for designs. You will then be able to identify the trends you like and those you do not wish to adopt.
6. Make the Website Faster
In my opinion, one of the main advantages of redesigning a site is that you can make it technically more efficient. The redesign of a website should allow it to be
build on healthy and up-to-date foundations. The goal is, of course, to achieve optimal performance with pages that load quickly. This site loading speed allows for a more pleasant browsing experience and also ensures better SEO.
My advice: perform tests using tools such as GTmetrix or Pingdom Tools and track your site's bottlenecks.
You can also take this opportunity to switch solutions, for example, moving from one CMS to another. If you are using Spip, then switch to WordPress. If you want to get the most out of WordPress while achieving optimal performance, you might consider a static site in JAMstack.
7. Redirect old URLs
In the introduction, I mentioned the importance of maintaining continuity, which includes preserving the URLs of your old site. Even if a page is no longer relevant during a website redesign, it must be redirected. Either to a page with similar content or to the homepage if there is no equivalent. This is an essential step if you wish to maintain your search engine ranking.
8. Review old content
During your website redesign, there may be a significant portion of content you wish to retain as is. For example, if you run a blog, you will most likely re-import old articles, and you would be absolutely right to do so. However, this does not exempt you from proofreading these articles. First, to update them if necessary; but especially because it is important to verify
that there are no layout issues with the new site's web design. Ensure that images are correctly placed, and there are no broken links, etc.
9. Check for Dead Links
Over time, pages you previously linked to may no longer exist. In such cases, when Google indexes your site, it will notice, and this is not a positive signal to send. Indeed, the search engine will interpret this as "No one is keeping the content up to date," which negatively impacts your SEO. Of course, you won't manually review all the links on your site. To do this, use a tool like Integrity (if you're on Mac) or Xenu (if you're on PC).
10. Submit a New Sitemap
To ensure Google is informed of new content on your site, the removal of old content, or the modification of certain URLs, remember to send an updated sitemap. There are plugins available for generating sitemaps on almost all content management systems, and if you don't have one, there are online sitemap generator tools. To submit your sitemap to Google, you'll need to use Webmaster Tools again.
Bonus Tip: Take Your Time!
And above all, remember that a website redesign is not the same as creating a new website. You already have a site online, so there's no rush. Take the time to ask the right questions, do things properly, and find the right people to work with.