7 things to consider when relaunching your website
So you’ve decided to relaunch your website. Whether you’re rebranding, freshening up your copy and design, or doing a total website overhaul, relaunching your website is not for the faint of heart. There’s design, user experience, content, and SEO considerations. Not to mention an immense investment in time, energy, money, and manpower.
The expectation is that your website will be new and improved. So how do you ensure you get the most out of your investment?
We’ve put together a list of seven things to consider when relaunching your B2B website:
1. Consistent visual experience
Beyond looking pretty / modern / fresh / [insert similar adjective here], your website will need a design language—something that holds all of the design elements together and keeps your brand looking uniform from page to page.
A consistent visual experience is part-and-parcel of a consistent brand experience, which we know builds trust. Often website relaunches are the result of a brand update or total overhaul, but they’re also undertaken to make up for a lack of brand and visual consistency over the course of several years. This requires combing through pages far and beyond the homepage and looking deep into how content is presented on your About Us page, in your footer, throughout your product pages, on your Contact page, and your blog or resources page(s).
2. Accelerating the buyer journey
You can put as many demo buttons as you want on your homepage, but if a visitor isn’t ready to buy, they won’t click it. Maybe they’re there to poke around, see what you’re all about but aren’t yet ready to talk to someone. They’re researching, and you know what aids in that? Content.
When you take on your B2B website relaunch project, consider opportunities to put your content on your website pages. This can be done with widgets and embeds. Presenting visitors with an article that speaks to their pain point or challenge while they’re on your website can help move them one step closer to requesting a demo.
3. Personalization on all fronts
Today’s buyers expect most things in their life to be personalized to their interests thanks to companies like Amazon, Spotify, and Netflix. The same rules apply in B2B marketing. It’s not enough to have a website for the masses; your digital experience should be personalized to the visitor.
Changing the messaging on the homepage to reflect a particular account or industry, recommending content that’s been hand-picked based on the visitor’s online habits and intent data, or simply being extremely targeted to a buyer persona are all forms of personalization and should be considered in any website relaunch.
4. Generating leads from your content library
Your website is more than your homepage and product pages. B2B marketers know that their content or resource library is an important part of their digital presence, and a website relaunch should include a look at how that content library is structured. How are your resources presented? Are they easily discoverable and organized in the way in which your prospects search? Is your resource library optimized for lead generation? Are there opportunities to collect information from website visitors so you can nurture them toward a sale?
A website relaunch presents an opportunity to fine-tune all areas of your site, and that includes your blog, or your content or resource library.
5. Search. Engine. Optimization.
Have you taken precautions to ensure your relaunch won’t jeopardize your search engine rankings? Are you prepared to set up 301 redirects? Have you optimized for keywords? There’s a laundry list of SEO considerations that would warrant an entire article.
If you’re relaunching your website, you need to take a deep dive into SEO. Taking special care from the start will ensure you avoid supremely messing this up.
6. Data-driven design
User experience is fundamental to a successful website relaunch. If visitors are struggling to find what they’re looking for, then your website simply is not working for you. High bounce rates can suggest a visitor is having trouble finding what they’re looking for. Similarly, an excessively long time on site could mean that visitors are having trouble understanding what you do, which could call for a tweak in messaging.
Using tech tools like Hotjar can help you determine where visitors are falling off, losing interest, and what items in the navigation are clicked on most. Rather than what you think looks good, look for what works and specifically what works for your audience. Which brings me to my last point.
7. Benchmarks FTW!
If unimpressive data or a downward trajectory are the reason for your relaunch then I may not have to say it—but I’m going to for all those who may have missed this step. Before you start making any changes, understand where you stand today. But not just today. Record all historical data so you have a proper baseline to start from and measure against.
The only way to accurately say your website overhaul was a success is by creating a benchmark of the old site’s performance and comparing it to the new site’s performance.
Whether your success metrics include improved traffic, engagement, or conversions, you won’t be able to show results without first understanding where you started.