7 Tips for Building a Successful Online Presence

6 minute read

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It only takes 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about your website (and no, I didn’t make that up). 48% of people say that a brand’s website is the number one way they determine the credibility of a business. If your website doesn’t look, feel, and sound like you, you could be leaving money on the table and missing out on dream clients and customers.
If one of your goals this year is to build a website you are proud of and leverage it to build your brand and business, keep reading.

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If you want to grow your business sustainably, your website must work for you even when you’re off the clock. However, many entrepreneurs hastily put together a website over a long weekend and call it a day. Then they cringe whenever they need to send someone to their site, wishing they could keep the interaction via Instagram and email.

So why do so many entrepreneurs procrastinate when it comes to redesigning their website? The answer is simple: redesigning your website is a lot of work. 

You deserve to have a website you’re proud of, and there is so much to learn from the experience of redesigning it. I’m here to share tips on preparing for a successful website redesign and creating an online presence you’re proud of.

The Role of Branding in Web Design

Your brand is the foundation of your website design. It’s the personality and identity that sets you apart from your competitors. A brand identity that looks, feels, and sounds like you is crucial to creating a user experience that resonates with your audience and communicates your unique value proposition (what makes what you do one-of-a-kind).

When designing your website, it’s essential to consider how your brand will be incorporated into the design. This includes everything from your colors, typography, logo, brand voice, and overall visual style. Your brand needs to look, feel, and sound the same on every platform you work on, and your website should set that standard.

Your website should be easy to navigate and use, with clear calls to action that align with your brand messaging. A clear and consistent message across your website will help your audience better understand your brand identity and what you do.

The more clarity you have about your brand, the strategy behind it, who you help, how you help them, and from a visual standpoint, how you attract them, the higher conversion rates and longer engagement times you will see on your website.

Establish Your Goals

Before diving into the redesign process, it’s essential to establish your goals. What do you want your website to achieve? For example, do you want to increase traffic, improve user experience, or increase sales? Defining clear goals will help you make informed decisions throughout the redesign process. 

Set a goal for your website as a whole and the individual pages. This will help create direction and focus in the redesign process. Typically the homepage’s goal is to navigate users to the information they’re looking for on your website. You need to make a good impression fast with clear and concise navigation. 

•  Your homepage should communicate who the website is for and how they can find the information they want. 
• Your About page should establish you as someone who can guide viewers, your ideal clients, to their solutions. 
• The goal of your sales, shop, or services pages is simple – to articulate the value of your solution and convert viewers into customers.

List out each page on your website, identify the number one goal of that page, and what you want the person on that page to do. You only have a few seconds to make an impression, so let’s ensure it’s a good one.

Consider Outsourcing

Redesigning a website can be a complex and time-consuming project requiring a varied list of skills and expertise. If you lack the necessary resources to handle it on your own, outsourcing all or parts of the project to a professional can help make your website all the better. For example, consider working with a Brand & Web designer, copywriter, and/or brand photographer to help create a website that aligns with your brand identity and resonates with your audience.

It’s essential to do thorough research and find service providers that you connect with. Redesigning your website is a personal experience, and it’s crucial to trust that the person you’re working with can bring your vision to life.

Once you’ve found a service provider, it’s crucial to communicate your goals and expectations. Outline your timeline and budget for the project upfront so everyone is on the same page. By doing so, you can avoid any misunderstandings or miscommunications.

Outsourcing your website redesign can free up time and allow you to focus on your core business activities. You can leave the design work to the experts and ensure your website is completed to the highest standard. It can also ensure that your website is consistent with your brand identity and resonates with your target audience.

Evaluate Your Current Website

Take a deep dive into your current website and evaluate what’s working and what’s not. This includes analyzing website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates. This information will help you identify areas that need improvement and provide valuable insights for your website redesign. You will need to use a tool like Google Analytics to implement some of the ideas below.

When evaluating your website, consider the following:

• Website traffic: How many people are visiting your website? Where are they coming from? What can you do as part of the strategy behind your new website to drive more traffic?
• User behavior: What are visitors doing when they come to your website? Are they clicking on buttons? Filling out forms? Bouncing off the page?
• Conversion rates: How many visitors are taking the desired action on your website? Are they making a purchase? Filling out a form? Downloading a resource?

By analyzing this information, you can identify areas that need improvement and make informed decisions about your website redesign.

Analyze Your Audience

Understanding your target audience is crucial to creating a website that meets their needs and expectations. Start by identifying your target audience and what they are looking for. This will include their demographics, interests, pain points, and motivations.

Some ways to analyze your audience include:

• Conducting surveys or interviews to gather feedback
• Analyzing website analytics to understand user behavior
• Researching industry trends and competitors to identify what’s working and what’s not

By analyzing your audience, you can create a website that speaks directly to their needs and provides a great user experience. This will help you achieve your goals, strengthen your brand, and drive more traffic to your website.

Plan Your Content Strategy

The content of your website is one of the most critical components of a successful redesign. It consists of the overall messaging, copy, and visual information that will be included on your website. When planning your website content, consider the following:

• Who is your target audience? What are their pain points and needs? How can you leverage your brand story in the website content?
• What type of content will resonate with your audience? Blog posts? Videos? Infographics?
• Do you need to update your brand’s messaging to effectively articulate the value of what you do?
• What kind of images do you need to tell the story of what you do and how you do it? Do you have brand photography for this? Do you want to use stock imagery? Do you need to work with a photographer?
• Do you have testimonials that speak to your ideal client’s pain points and the value of your solution?
• Who will create and publish your content (This comes back to the outsourcing piece)?
• What are you selling? What do you want people to do? What action are you asking for? What does someone need to do to give you their money?

In the digital landscape of 2023, simply having a pretty website isn’t enough. The content and copy on your site are where the conversion happens. By creating a content strategy that aligns with your goals and target audience, you can ensure that your website redesign effectively reaches your audience and achieves your desired outcomes.

Once you have your content and copy ready – it’s time to redesign that website. Redesigning your website is a crucial step in building a successful online presence. By taking the time to establish your brand identity, clearly define your goals, and analyze your audience, you can create a website that speaks directly to your target market and drives results. Whether you tackle the redesign process independently or outsource to a professional, remember that a successful website effectively communicates your unique value proposition and resonates with your audience. So take the time to plan, strategize, and execute a redesign that you can be proud of.