As an eCommerce business owner, it’s essential to keep your website up-to-date to stay competitive in today’s online marketplace. Your website is the face of your business, and it’s often the first point of contact with potential customers. So, how do you know if your website needs to be redesigned?
One of the most common signs that your website needs a redesign is if it’s outdated. If your website hasn’t been updated in several years, it’s likely that it’s no longer meeting your customers’ needs. An outdated website can be slow, difficult to navigate, and may not be optimized for mobile devices.
Another sign that your website needs a redesign is if it’s not generating enough traffic or sales. If your website isn’t attracting the right audience or isn’t converting visitors into customers, it’s time to reassess your website’s design and functionality.
Your website’s design should also reflect your brand and business goals. If your website doesn’t accurately represent your brand or isn’t aligned with your business goals, it’s time for a redesign.
Another factor to consider is your website’s functionality. If your website’s functionality is outdated or isn’t user-friendly, it can lead to frustration for your customers and impact your sales.
It’s also important to keep up with the latest website design trends and technologies. If your website isn’t utilizing the latest design and technology trends, it can appear outdated and unprofessional.
Finally, if you’re planning on expanding your business or launching new products, it may be time for a redesign. A redesign can help you create a website that’s optimized for your business goals and can support your business’s growth.
You’ve now gone through and weighed out whether a redesign makes sense for your business and concluded that it does. That’s great!
However, this process can be complicated and, if not executed correctly, can lead to disastrous consequences. In this blog, we’ll discuss the biggest mistakes to avoid during an eCommerce website redesign.
Ignoring User Experience (UX)
One of the most significant mistakes businesses make during an eCommerce website redesign is ignoring the user experience (UX). Your website’s design should prioritize ease of navigation and functionality, ensuring that visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for and complete their purchase. Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly and optimized for fast load times.
Ignoring the UX is one of the biggest mistakes that businesses make during an eCommerce website redesign. A website’s design should prioritize ease of navigation and functionality, ensuring that visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for and complete their purchase. Neglecting UX can lead to frustrated customers, increased bounce rates, and ultimately, lost sales.
To avoid this mistake, businesses can conduct user research, including usability testing and feedback collection, to ensure that the website is user-friendly and meets the needs of their target audience. A well-designed website that provides a positive user experience can significantly improve customer satisfaction, increase sales, and build brand loyalty.
Neglecting SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is crucial for any online store’s success. It helps your website rank higher in search engine results, increasing your visibility and driving more traffic to your site. One of the most common mistakes during a website redesign is neglecting SEO. Many business owners get caught up in the aesthetics and functionality of the new design, forgetting about the critical SEO components.
When redesigning your eCommerce website, it’s essential to work with an SEO professional who can ensure that your site is optimized correctly. This means analyzing your existing content, identifying the right keywords, and structuring your new site to maximize your SEO potential.
There are a variety of very helpful SEO eCommerce tools to help your team get the ball rolling and stay on track with what’s important to your business.
Changing URLs Without Proper Planning
One of the most significant risks during a website redesign is changing URLs without proper planning. Your website’s URLs are a critical component of your SEO strategy, and if you change them without a proper redirection plan, you can lose significant traffic and rankings.
It’s essential to conduct a comprehensive audit of your website’s current URLs. Make a list of all the URLs on your website, including product pages, category pages, and any other pages that may have inbound links or traffic. This will help you identify which URLs need to be redirected to the new site’s URLs.
Next, create a redirection plan. This plan should include a list of old URLs and their corresponding new URLs. It’s important to use a 301 redirect for each old URL, which tells search engines that the page has permanently moved to the new URL. This will ensure that your old URLs pass on their SEO authority to the new URLs, maintaining your rankings and traffic.
Once you have your redirection plan in place, it’s essential to test it before launching your new website. You can use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl your website and ensure that all of the old URLs redirect to the new URLs correctly.
Finally, it’s crucial to update any inbound links to your website that may be pointing to old URLs. You can use a tool like Ahrefs to identify any inbound links to your website and contact the webmaster to update the link to your new URL.
All of this will work in your favour to help maintain your SEO rankings and traffic, preventing any loss during the transition.
Ignoring the Importance of Website Speed
Website speed is an essential factor in today’s eCommerce landscape. Online shoppers have become accustomed to fast-loading websites and expect nothing less from their shopping experiences. If your website takes too long to load, shoppers are likely to leave and shop elsewhere, resulting in lost sales and revenue. Google reports that a one second delay in website speed on mobile can impact conversions by 20%.
When redesigning your eCommerce website, it’s essential to focus on website speed. This means optimizing your site’s images, minimizing scripts and code, and utilizing a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up page loading times.
Curious to see how fast your website currently is? You can test your website’s speed here!
Failing to Test the New Website Design
Testing is crucial during any website redesign process. A new design may look great on paper, but the real test comes when users interact with it. If your new design is not tested correctly, you risk losing valuable customers who may find the new design confusing or difficult to navigate.
When redesigning your eCommerce website, make sure to test your new design thoroughly. This means conducting user testing, A/B testing, and ensuring that all functionality works correctly. Testing will help you identify any issues and make the necessary adjustments before launching your new site.
Tracking Errors & Catching Regressions
Catching regressions when shipping new eCommerce products or website designs is crucial to ensure that any new updates do not negatively impact the website’s functionality or user experience. Regressions are often unexpected issues that occur when new changes are made, causing errors or unexpected behaviour.
To catch regressions, eCommerce teams should perform thorough testing of their website and new updates before launching them. This includes testing for functionality, compatibility, and performance across different browsers, devices, and platforms. Automated testing tools can also be used to catch any unexpected regressions or issues before launch.
It is also essential to have a plan in place to quickly address any regressions that are caught after launch. This includes having a system for users to report issues and having a dedicated team to address and resolve them quickly.
By catching and addressing regressions early, eCommerce teams can prevent any negative impact on their website’s user experience and ultimately maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The most optimal way to do this is through error monitoring technology, which coincidentally is what Noibu is built to do, specifically for eCommerce businesses. Barstool Sports uses Noibu to catch regressions as they constantly push out new features and products. This helps save eCommerce teams and developers hours of time and detects any new errors instantly to ensure they are being proactive in working towards not negatively impacting any customer on their site.
Conclusion
A website redesign can be a significant undertaking for any eCommerce business, but it’s essential to get it right. By avoiding the mistakes outlined above, you can ensure that your new site is optimized for SEO, speed, and usability, providing a positive user experience and increasing your revenue potential.
