Successfully Redesigning Your Site

Does looking at your old site cause the irresistible urge to shake your head and sigh?  It’s definitely time for a redesign.  The creation of a new website is a partnership between the client and the designer.  You articulate what your customers need, and we provide a product that fits those needs.

Getting found on Google or Yelp is growing more and more important for restaurants and retail stores.  Your potential customers will therefore see your website before they ever step through your door.  It’s critical to make a good first impression, and hold their attention long enough to get the information they need to pay you a visit for the first time.

In order to make this process as successful and stress-free as possible, here are some things to keep in mind.

  • Blink and you’ve lost them
    If you don’t grab a customer’s attention in a few seconds, you’ve lost them.  Sites that are slow to load or difficult to navigate cost you potential customers.  Opening Flash animations drive away more customers than they attract.  We at Andrew Lehman Design don’t wait for those animations to load, and we do this for a living! We will evaluate your site and help you identify what it does and does not do well in this regard.
  • What’s it missing?
    Checking out your competition is often a good next step in a redesign.  It may help you identify useful features that are lacking on your current site.  Surveying the competition also helps us, as designers, get a better idea of your personal tastes in fonts, colors, and layouts.
  • Content > Design
    A good design should enhance the information you want to present.  If your site doesn’t tell customers what they want to hear, no amount of Photoshop magic will save it.   Before we begin the actual design work, it’s important to have your text, images, and site structure lined up and ready.  We can refer you to an experienced copywriter if you don’t have time to write out the site text yourself.
  • Pictures speak louder
    Since personal tastes can vary so widely, visual examples often communicate much more clearly than words.  We encourage you to create a sort of digital scrapbook of links you like so we can pick and choose elements to create a unique new whole.
  • If you build it…they still might not come
    Your website is only a means to an end – product sales, commissions, donations. In order to secure these end results, your target market needs to find your site in the first place. Google rankings are usually the most important way to achieve this. We will discuss with you the best phrases to get your site respect from search engines. If the choice is between a tighter design and better Google placement, we will almost always recommend going with the latter.

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