Seven tips for your website relaunch

There comes a time when your website needs a fresh coat of paint, a new structure and new content. But what does it take to make your relaunch successful? Above all, consistent planning. Simply proceed one step at a time.

1. What is good, and what ought to be deleted?

The first step is an honest status analysis. What parts of the website are still captivating? What parts have been neglected for years and belong in the wastebasket? These questions can only be answered with honesty and a consistent approach. Get rid of bad material. What is left leaves you with a good basis for subsequent changes.

Tip: Keep in mind that although things are not captivating they are not necessarily bad. It is sometimes worthwhile to refresh existing content, to repackage it or simply place in a different context. The keyword is Content Republishing.

2. What is everyone else doing?

There is usually one simple reason why a website relaunch becomes necessary: The Internet presence is not achieving its self-appointed objectives. This is why it is very important to be aware of what your competitors are doing better. Take a close look at:

• How are your competitors positioning themselves on the market?
• What distinguishes your competitors’ website from your own Internet presence? This can include design, functionality and most of all, content.
• What keywords are your competitors using that give them better listings with Google?

This is a traditional competitor analysis. It is the only way to conceptualize a unique selling point that will score with your target group.

3. Creating a new information structure

Let’s get started! First of all, you will have to define how you want to structure information and how you want information to lead to the desired conversions. You need a new information structure – it is the basis for an optimized Customer Journey. This architecture is based on the expected user behavior:

1. What is your target group looking for?
2. What keywords are relevant?
3. How do the users reach their goal?

When creating new information structures you can use new material in addition to your existing material. Recycling existing content is timesaving and it can be very inspiring.

4. There is more to content than just content

Content is king. This old saying is still applicable. But what exactly is content? It is definitely more than just information. Every message must be communicated in a professional way. The form is most important here: The choice of words, the structure of the sentences and a captivating narrative. When it comes to texts the finer points are what determines whether the user continues to read or clicks on the back button. This is why it is often preferable to have the texts written or corrected by professional writers. An inexpensive and simple method of finding these experts is to work with text agencies.

Tip:

Ask clickworker to send you a non-binding quotation for your relaunch project. We will show you how you can quickly and effectively obtain aptly written texts

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5. Usability: The website is for the user

Unfortunately, despite the fact that accessibility still is not a routinely practiced web standard, it remains a must-have for every serious website. Usability means more than just accessibility. Usability is based on the demands of the user and is, at the same time, the perfect means of reaching the goal of the website.

• Navigation is clear and self-explanatory.
• The paragraphs are short and respectively furnished with informative subheadings.
• The website offers the users numerous options for interaction.
• Service offers are properly located.

Usability also means providing the user with a media mix so that they decide how they want to be informed. Explanatory videos, informative graphics and lists with the most important information have proved especially successful.

6. Design – because your eyes want to be pleased too

Design also has a lot to do with content. A professional text is useless if it is inadequately displayed on a smartphone. Responsive Design is therefore a must. In addition, consistency plays a major part in web design. If you decide on a particular design it must also be followed through everywhere.

Furthermore, less is more. Design overkill is often a deterrent. Meanwhile, the trend to minimalism has also gained acceptance in web design. The user does not expect annoying flash animations on the start page of a website. The user would rather immediately know how to acquire the desired information or reach a specific service. It is therefore important to limit the use of design elements. A good design suggests reliability, is appealing and inviting. Good design does not disturb content it bolsters it.

7. Tests prior to the ultimate relaunch

Version A or version B? These questions continuously come up in every project work. When the choice of a specific item continues to remain difficult, then one ought to carry out a test. In this context, testing means letting the user decide. This is achieved by means of A/B tests. They provide security – facts instead of speculation. Depending on the requirements, A/B tests can be used for entire website versions, as well as for many details. The new website is gradually optimized on a statistically reliable basis.

Summary

Every website relaunch is a great challenge. The better it is planned, the less time-consuming it is. Many points in the relaunch allow you to have recourse to existing material and adapt good practice. Professionals let themselves be helped when creating or optimizing content – for instance by the crowd.

Tip:
clickworker can provide inexpensive and effective support for some steps of your website relaunch with the help of the crowd – from the creation of high-quality unique content for SEO like SEO texts and translations to informative sentiment analyses. We look forward to your non-binding request.

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Dieser Artikel wurde am 18.December 2018 von Jan Knupper geschrieben.

Jan Knupper