How to rebrand a website in 10 easy steps

It’s been mentioned in meetings, added to memos, and chatted about at the water cooler... however, (inevitably) nothing has actually been done about it. The time has come to take action. And who better than you to take charge of your company’s website rebrand?!

No matter the size of your company, a website rebrand is a big project, especially if you want it done right. These 10 simple steps will help set you and your team up for website rebrand success!

Teamwork by Maria Maldonado

Step 1: Determine your website rebrand goals

It’s important to identify the goals of your website rebrand from the get-go. Of course everyone “wants a better website,” but what does that actually mean? Do they want to increase profits? Drive more traffic to the site? Improve customer satisfaction?

“A better website” could mean a number of different things to different organisations in different situations. Here are some common website goals that might apply to you:

Improve the user experience
Drive more traffic to your site
Attract more high-quality leads
Simplify and focus your message
Increase user engagement
Better align the site with your brand ethos

Step 2: Evaluate your current website

This step is all about determining where you stand with your current site. You probably already know what Sarah from the accounts department likes, and doesn’t like about your site, and that Alex thinks you need to add a chatbot, but the really valuable insights will come from your website analytics.

Your analytics is where you’ll see which pages users spend the most time on, which pages they leave without completing any tasks, and which pages have the highest conversion rates (amongst a whole range of other juicy information).

Knowing your current site’s strong and weak points will help you determine what to keep, what to lose, and where your biggest efforts need to be made.

We’ve provided a detailed breakdown of how to go about analysing your existing website in our guide: The Marketing Manager’s 10 Step Guide to Website Design. Check it out.

Step 3: Interview existing websites users

Now that you’ve drawn up some goals, and have a good idea of what the analytics say about your current site, it’s time to focus on what really matters… your customers!

Even though you may feel like you know them inside out, it’s always valuable to hear what your customers have to say. We suggest setting up interviews where you ask a handful of customers what they think about your current website. Try to avoid any yes/no answers by asking open-ended questions. These encourage your users to speak more, and share more insights. And while you’re at, why not ask a few questions about your competitors too?

We’ve received some of our most valuable insights from conducting simple interviews with users. All you need is a few users, a Calendly link, and a list of questions focussed around the type of information you’d like to find out.

Teamwork by Maria Maldonado

Step 4: Gather website design inspiration

This is the fun part! Armed with the insights you uncovered in the user interviews, start searching for examples of websites that are getting it right! Whether it be their overall design, a piece of nifty functionality, or the personality conveyed by their website copy, other companies’ websites can be a great source of inspiration for your website rebrand. These pieces of inspiration will help your web team understand what you’re looking for, and make it easier for them to work with you to create the best experience for your users. It will also help keep you up to date with industry best practices so your organisation isn’t left behind.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to go undercover and analyse your competitors’ websites. This will allow you to avoid the things they’ve done wrong, and improve on the things they’ve done right.

Step 5: Hold onto valuable website assets

Sometimes starting with a clean slate feels good, but it’s not always the best approach when it comes to rebranding your website. You’ve likely created some valuable website assets over the years and now’s not the time to lose them.

Some design elements, pages, and ideas should be reused on your new site, especially if they showed positive results in your website evaluation. This could include items like well-written content, popular pages, frequently used contact forms, or valuable inbound links (these are links from external sites that direct users to certain pages on your site. Inbound links can bring new visitors to your site. Yes please!) Be sure to safeguard these “must-keep” assets during the rebrand process.

Speaking of “must-keep” assets… an item that is often overlooked in the rebrand process is URL redirects. A redirect ensures that if a user tries to visit a page that no longer exists, they are redirected to a different page on your site. This prevents your users from seeing a pesky 404 error, or not reaching your site at all. Here’s an in-depth explanation of redirects and how to implement them on your site. Bear in mind that this article deals with 301 redirects (for pages that must be permanently redirected to the new URL), but you may also need to use some 302 redirects (for pages that have been removed temporarily, but are likely to be added again at a later stage at the same URL).

Step 6: Plan your website structure

If I were asked to name the most important element of a site, I would have to say the site structure. This consists of the pages that make up the site, and how they are grouped, linked, and displayed to a user. Site structure works hand-in-hand with your site’s navigation. If pages are grouped in a logical manner, your users will find it easier to navigate your site and find what they’re looking for. This is not only good for your users, but it’s good for business too, as it allows you to gently guide users to where you want them to be. Depending on your business model, this sweet spot might be a check out page, a sign up form, or booking a consultation.

A clear site structure makes your site more user-friendly, but it also has a significant impact on how your site appears in search results. Google favours well-structured sites, so if you get your site structure right, you’re more likely to show up higher in search results.

Illustration by Maria Maldonado

Step 7: Choose the CMS that works for you

You may already be using a CMS (content management system) to update site content, but if not, it might be something to look into. Having the ability to manage content in-house allows you to make updates quickly, and as frequently as you like. It means you don’t need to rely on your web team to make updates for you. Our favourite CMS’s are Squarespace (for simple brochure sites), and ProcessWire or Contentful (for custom sites). All three of these services are incredibly user-friendly, and make managing your own content a cinch!

For some companies, managing your own website content is just not practical due to time, or resource limitations. In this case, it may be a good idea to have a website maintenance package with your web team, where they dedicate a set number of hours each week or month to updating and maintaining your site. That way, you can rest assured that your site is doing what it should, when it should, and your users are always met with a working, and up-to-date website.

Step 8: Improve website copy & SEO

Now that you’ve determined your site structure, and how your content is going to be updated, it’s time to knuckle down and create your website copy! You can do this yourself, or find a professional copywriter to create your content for you.

Website copy works hand in hand with design to imbue your site with personality, so make sure the tone of voice accurately reflects your brand ethos. We love Firebox’s tongue-in-cheek website copy. Although it might be a bit risqué for your brand, it definitely shows how copy can be used to give a site personality! For more on generating copy for your site, check out our post: Website copy, no problem. Here are 5 things you need to know.

Ok, now that you’ve got the copy down, it’s time to make sure that people actually get to see it! This is where SEO (search engine optimisation) comes into play. SEO is how search engines like Google find and rank your site. It’s important that you use the right keywords in the right places across your site. Here are The 17 Most Important SEO Tips for Higher Rankings according to Backlinko.

Step 9: Spruce up your website design

Next up comes my personal favourite - the design phase! This is where we take all the valuable info you discovered in Step 1 - 8 and use it to guide your website design.

Redesigning a website is about more than just changing a few colours, and adding some trendy designs. We’re not shining up your grandmother’s tarnished cutlery here; we’re replacing it with stainless steel!

Although most people think of designing as a merely creative process, it’s not. Design decisions should be based on the evidence you uncovered during the website evaluation, and user interviews. Thoughtful designs based on real feedback always have the best results. This is why it’s vital to provide your web team, not only with the inspiration you found in Step 4, but also with any relevant information you gleaned from your research.

Step 10: Build your website

Your design team has worked their magic and version 2.0 of your site is ready to be developed! In fact, your developers may already have started working on the site during the design phase (and in some cases, your website designers will do your website development too). Either way, it’s important to mention items like redirects, your choice of CMS, and any functionality you’d like to include on the new site.

Also remember to mention analytics. We touched on this in Step 2, where you evaluated your current site. Ask your developers to set up analytics on the new site so that you can monitor the results of the rebrand. Keeping an eye on your site analytics will give you hard data on the parts of your site that are working, and which aren’t, allowing you to make constant tweaks and improvements.