A new year is approaching and many businesses think that a new year heralds the need to re-design their website and give their online shop window a fresh new look.

If you are thinking of getting a new website for 2018, ideally you need to start to think about planning for it now. Like everything in life, the earlier you plan ahead the better the end result and the less hassle you should have during the re-design process.

When you decide to go ahead and get your website re-designed there are many things that you need to consider.
The first thing you need to consider is, who is your target audience? Who are your ideal customers and what do they look for in a website? Do you need a call for action button, blogging section? Think about how you can reach your customer and what it is you are selling to them. An e-commerce website is very different to a website selling a service and these businesses sell their products and services in very different ways and have to represent this in the look and feel of their websites.

You then need to look at what your competition is offering customers in the form of their website. Look at the aspects that you like about their website and what works well. Also, take note of the things you don’t like, as this will help you ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes.

How are you going to visually draw people into your website? Will it be photographs that you have taken or vector images that are sold online? Maybe you want to use video content that you have personally created. This will give your website a nice personal edge and people like to feel that they know who they are dealing with, especially with a service-based business.

Do you have an idea about how many pages your website will consist of? Also, will you write the written content or are you happy for your designer to assist with this aspect of your website. The written content is just as important as the visual content of your website. It is the content that will help your website rank on search engines and a well-written site will help draw people in and sell your product or service to them.

You should have a budget in mind when looking to create a new website. Look at what is financially viable and chat to your web designer about your budget and they will let you know what your most viable options are and how they will go about ensuring that you get a great looking website for your money.

Do you have a digital marketing campaign in place to get your new website out their and noticed once it has gone live? There isn’t much point, after all, in having a great new website and not showing it off to as many people as possible.

As you can see, there are many things to think about when you decide to re-design your website. Therefore, the sooner you start putting the processes in the place the better the final outcome will be. Please feel free to contact Darren at Green Arrow Consultancy who can chat to you and take you through all your options and explain the whole process to you. With over 20 years experience in website design and digital management, Darren is highly knowledgeable and always happy to help. Tel: 029 2117 5902.