Read This Before Your Website Redesign 

So, you’re thinking about hiring Drio for your website redesign project? We may be biased, but that is an excellent decision! 

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past 13+ years of building websites, it’s that the pay-off is in the prep. Once we get started, our team will be with you through every phase—but there are some essential things you’ll need to consider before we jump in.

Get your key stakeholders together, review the steps below, and set yourself up for a smooth website redesign. If you aren’t sure about something in this list, just let us know and we’ll help you out. 

Is It the Right Time for a Redesign?

If you’re not sure whether it’s time for a redesign, we start by asking, “When was your site built?”

We believe a typical website’s lifespan is about five years. After that, it’s often no longer aligned with current technology, design standards, or your evolving business needs. 

In five years, a lot can change—not just in tech, but in your organization. You may have added new services, grown your team, refreshed your brand, or shifted your goals. At the same time, user expectations increase, security requirements evolve, and performance standards improve. 

If your website is older than five years, there’s a good chance it’s no longer telling the full story—or delivering the experience your audience expects today.

The Website Prep Checklist

Use this list of steps to keep you focussed. We’ll elaborate on each of them below. 

• Define your website goals
• Assess your current website
• Create a content plan
• Know your audience 
• Review branding (design elements, brand images, and messaging) 
• Research competitors
• Identify must-have features
• Set a budget
• Establish a timeline

Part 1: Take Stock of Your Current Website

These first steps are designed to get clear on your website goals and priorities so we can build a website that supports your business. 

Define Your Goals

What makes you want to redesign your website right now? These are some of the common goals. Jot down the ones that suit you. 

• Create a better user experience
• Update information
• Strengthen your branding
• Create a more compelling brand message
• Improve SEO
• Increase inquiries, bookings, or purchases
• Build your email list 

Assess Your Current Website

Insight into your current website will go a long way when planning your redesign. Evaluate what’s currently working well and what’s not. You can look at analytics (via Google Analytics, Google Search Console, your website’s internal analytics, etc.), collect user feedback, or conduct internal reviews with your team. 

Consider questions like: 

• What’s confusing?
• What’s clear and on-brand?
• What pages are/aren’t getting traffic?
• Are you receiving enough of the right enquiries?
• Do users get lost?
• What do you like most about your current website? 

Create a Content Strategy

Your existing website might have a mixture of excess content, out-of-date content, and content you want to carry over to your new website. When you’re planning a redesign, the last thing you want is to bring over a bunch of clutter. 

Before starting your project, consider what content needs to be updated, removed, or created. By getting organized ahead of your website redesign, you’ll save tons of time (and stress) so we can hit the ground running calmly and quickly.

Use our process for organizing website content. 

Part 2: Know Your Brand

Your website is your digital home, which means it must speak to your ideal clients and represent your brand! You’ll set yourself up for success if you come to your project with a clear picture of your target audience, branding, and industry landscape. 

Know Your Audience

The more insight you can provide about your target users, the better. Think about what they need when they’re visiting your website. What are they looking for? What challenges do they need help with? What will they need to find on your website? How do they already interact with it?

This will all help us build a user-friendly journey that helps your audience engage with you in the way you want them.  

Review Branding & Messaging 

You can’t redesign a website without a brand. Your brand involves everything from your visual identity (color palette, logo, typography, branded graphics) and your brand photos to your brand voice and messaging (your language, verbal personality, and key messages). 

Make sure you’re happy with your branding before embarking on your website project. We’ll be implementing your visual brand into your website. We can also provide content guides or connect you with a copywriter to complete your website copy. That said, you’ll want to have a strong grasp of what you need to say and how you say it beforehand to make sure everything is aligned. 

To recap, be sure to prepare:

• Visual brand guidelines and files
• Brand photography, if available 
• Brand voice and messaging guidelines and/or existing on-brand copy, if available

Research Competitors

We can help you with competitor research, too, but you know your industry best! Your insight here is important. Scope out competitors to see what trends you notice. What do you love? What don’t you like? What seems overdone? This will help us identify opportunities for differentiation while also considering any important industry standards. 

Part 3: Website Wish List & Plan

Lastly, jot down your logistical ideas and requirements. 

Identify Must-Have Features 

What functionality does your website need? For example, do you need an e-commerce platform? Do you need a client portal or specific CRM integration? 

Set a Budget 

Determine how much you can invest in design, development, content creation, and ongoing maintenance. This will help us recommend the best solution possible. For reference, a fully custom website up to 13 pages starts at around $15,000, while our 4-Week Website with 6 pages starts at $5000 + $219/month for ongoing support. 

Establish a Timeline 

When do you want to have your new website launched? Whether you have an important deadline or you’re relatively flexible, we’ll need to know. 

Part 4: Choose the Right Partner

 You’re already here, so you’re on the right track! At Drio, we deliver values-based website design and digital marketing strategy to help you strike the perfect balance between “head-turning”, “revenue-generating” and “impact-making.” We specialize in WordPress websites because it’s one of the most powerful, customizable, and user-friendly platforms out there.  

If you haven’t already reached out, get in touch or schedule a call directly. We’ll make sure we’re the team for you and talk about your website redesign options.