How to Redesign a WordPress Website (Beginner’s Guide)

Is your CMS web site underperforming? Dropping visitors, low conversion charges, poor cell expertise, or gradual loading instances are clear indicators it’s time for a redesign. However tackling a redesign might be daunting, as you may fear about shedding Search rankings.

At WPBeginner, we’ve redesigned our web site a number of instances, studying what works and what doesn’t by trial and error. Alongside the best way, we’ve developed methods to make the method smoother and simpler.

On this information, we’ll stroll you thru each step of redesigning your CMS web site, from figuring out if you actually need a redesign to picking one of the best redesign technique.

When Ought to You Redesign Your CMS Online presence?

You could be tempted to revamp your CMS web site merely since you’re feeling tired of its present look. Nevertheless, a redesign might be time-consuming, so it’s necessary to think about a number of elements earlier than diving in.

Primarily, it would be best to ensure that redesigning your web site is definitely a worthwhile enterprise.

As an illustration, in case your present CMS web site is shedding visitors, it could be time for a redesign. A drop in visitors typically signifies that your web site not meets consumer expectations.

Additionally, first impressions matter on-line. In case your web site seems to be old style, it might not replicate effectively in your model or enterprise.

A poor consumer expertise, like guests struggling to search out necessary info, is one other clear signal {that a} CMS web site redesign is required. We as soon as addressed this in a earlier redesign by bettering content material discoverability with useful sidebar hyperlinks and mega menus.

Pace is one other necessary issue in case you are contemplating a redesign of your CMS web site. Possibly you’ve tried every thing to optimize your web site efficiency, however it’s nonetheless less than par. This might be an indication that your present CMS web site design is just too heavy and it is advisable make it extra light-weight.

The identical goes for mobile-friendliness. Maybe you’ve tried varied responsive design ideas, however your web site nonetheless doesn’t work effectively on cell units. This might be as a result of your present theme is just too previous, and it is advisable change to a extra mobile-friendly theme.

In case your web site not precisely represents your model or choices, contemplate a redesign. We lately revamped the WPBeginner homepage to raised replicate our experience and authority within the CMS house.

Final however actually not least, in case your web site isn’t turning guests into clients or subscribers as successfully because it ought to, then a redesign may assist enhance your backside line and strengthen your on-line presence.

For those who test some or all of those bins, don’t fear. The subsequent part will stroll you thru our go-to CMS web site redesign guidelines. We’ll cowl what it is advisable do earlier than, throughout, and after the design course of.

Be happy to make use of the short hyperlinks under to navigate by the steps:

1. Acquire Online presence Operation Knowledge

You could be considering, ‘I already know I’m shedding visitors and conversions, so why do I want to gather web site efficiency knowledge earlier than I redesign CMS?’

Nicely, it’s necessary to verify these points with arduous knowledge. Plus, if you redesign your CMS web site, you’ll wish to know in case your efforts are paying off.

By amassing efficiency knowledge out of your present web site, you create benchmarks to match in opposition to after the redesign. This fashion, you’ll be able to measure whether or not your new design truly interprets to raised outcomes.

To make this course of simpler, we suggest utilizing the MonsterInsights plugin for Google Metrics. We now have used the instrument extensively to assist enhance the efficiency of our web sites. We even wrote a full MonsterInsights overview.

This plugin permits you to join your CMS web site with Google Metrics, supplying you with entry to important efficiency metrics proper in your CMS dashboard.

For a CMS web site redesign, we propose checking and utilizing these advertising knowledge factors as benchmarks:

• General visitors – The full variety of guests to your web site. It could actually enable you to perceive your web site’s attain and whether or not the redesign improves general visibility.
• Bounce charge – The share of holiday makers who depart after viewing just one web page. It could actually inform you whether or not your new design higher engages customers and improves your web site velocity.
• Turnaround charge – The share of holiday makers who full a desired motion (like making a purchase order or signing up). You may decide if the redesign improves your web site’s effectiveness in attaining its targets.
• High performing pages – Which pages guests view most frequently, serving to you shield common content material in the course of the redesign and perceive what your viewers likes.
• High visitors sources – The place your guests are coming from (search engines like google, social media, and so on.), serving to you design your new web site to raised cater to those channels and keep or enhance visitors circulation.
• Common session length – How lengthy guests usually keep in your web site to be able to see if the redesign makes your content material extra worthwhile to customers.
• Section views per session – What number of pages a customer usually views. It could actually point out whether or not your new design improves navigation and encourages customers to discover extra content material.
• Cellular vs desktop visitors break up – The proportion of holiday makers utilizing cell units versus desktop computer systems. You need to use this info to information your redesign efforts and cater to essentially the most widely-used units.

You may be taught extra in our article on a very powerful metrics you will need to monitor in your CMS web site.

With MonsterInsights, you may also use the ‘Conversations AI’ function to get fast solutions about your knowledge.

For instance, you can ask, ‘What was my conversion charge within the final month?’ This function makes it straightforward to entry the data you want with out diving deep into advanced analytics studies.

2. Run a CMS Online presence Audit

Earlier than you begin to redesign CMS, it is advisable perceive the actions and elements that led to the efficiency metrics you collected within the earlier step. This fashion, you may make knowledgeable choices about what to vary and what to maintain.

To realize these insights, it is advisable conduct a web site audit, which is a collection of actions you do to know the consumer expertise in your present web site.

We suggest asking in your customers’ opinions straight to be able to perceive their wants, preferences, and ache factors straight from the supply.

The UserFeedback plugin is a wonderful instrument for this, permitting you so as to add surveys to your web site and rapidly acquire customer opinions. We use the plugin on our personal web sites, and you may be taught extra in our full UserFeedback overview.

You may take a look at our complete information to be taught extra about gathering web site design suggestions in CMS. We’ve additionally compiled an inventory of consumer expertise suggestions inquiries to ask your web site guests.

Additionally, you will wish to consider your consumer journey. Guests usually observe predictable steps earlier than making a purchase order or submitting a kind, and there could also be obstacles of their journey.

For those who’re utilizing MonsterInsights, the Person Journey addon will help monitor buyer journeys on common CMS eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Straightforward Digital Downloads, and MemberPress.

As an illustration, in WooCommerce, you’ll be able to view a consumer’s total journey, together with all interactions, instances, and durations.

For extra particulars, see our guides enabling buyer monitoring in WooCommerce and monitoring the shopper journey utilizing MemberPress.

For web sites targeted on lead technology, utilizing WPForms alongside the Person Journey addon is a good answer. It exhibits the referral supply that introduced customers to your web site and the trail they took earlier than submitting a kind.

This info helps you perceive which content material engages customers most successfully. Study extra in our full information on monitoring consumer journey on CMS lead kinds.

Heatmap instruments are one other important a part of your web site improvement audit. They visually characterize how guests navigate your pages, offering insights that uncooked knowledge alone can’t supply.

We personally suggest Microsoft Readability, which we use throughout lots of our model web sites. It’s a free instrument that provides heatmaps, scroll monitoring, and click on monitoring.

To get began with Readability, take a look at our information on putting in Microsoft Readability analytics in CMS.

3. Resolve to Hold Your Website Stay or Put It in Upkeep Mode

Probably the most necessary choices to make if you redesign CMS is whether or not to work in your reside web site or put it in upkeep mode. This alternative can considerably influence your consumer expertise and search engine rankings in the course of the redesign course of.

Listed here are some questions you’ll be able to ask your self that will help you make the suitable determination:

• How in depth is your redesign? For instance, are you simply altering the homepage or redoing the entire web site?
• How lengthy will the redesign take? Is it a fast replace you are able to do in a number of days, or an enormous change that wants weeks?
• Can your web site be offline for some time? Take into consideration if your small business can deal with being down for a while.
• What number of guests does your web site get? A heavy-traffic web site will endure extra from downtime than a smaller, private weblog.
• Will you alter how your web site is ready up? Are you simply updating the way it seems to be, or are you shifting issues round and altering internet addresses?
• Does your web site run necessary components of your small business? As an illustration, do you may have an internet retailer that should keep open, or is your web site primarily for info?

Usually, we suggest holding your web site reside in the course of the redesign, particularly if the method will take some time and/or if your small business operations can be considerably impacted by downtime. It’s additionally a very good possibility in the event you don’t need your web site’s Search to get impacted.

On this case, you’ll must arrange a staging web site or native improvement setting. This lets you experiment along with your redesign with out affecting your reside web site.

A staging web site is basically a replica of your reside web site the place you’ll be able to safely make adjustments. As of late, many internet hosting suppliers supply one-click staging options, together with SiteGround (the place we host WPBeginner).

For extra info, take a look at our information on easy methods to create a staging setting for CMS.

Alternatively, you may contemplate an area improvement web site. This feature entails creating a replica of your web site in your private pc, providing much more privateness and quicker improvement instances.

We suggest utilizing the Native WP instrument for this objective, which lots of our workforce members use to check new options. You may be taught extra about this in our article on easy methods to set up CMS domestically on Home windows and Mac.

In case your redesign is comparatively fast and gained’t disrupt important enterprise features, placing your web site in upkeep mode for a brief interval could be acceptable. That being mentioned, you have to be conscious of the dangers.

Placing your web site in upkeep mode can influence your Search and will require you to arrange some redirects. This isn’t an enormous drawback for small, private web sites, however it may be difficult for greater websites with a number of guests.

Our most popular technique is to make use of the SeedProd web page builder. In addition to turning on upkeep mode in your CMS web site, it permits you to make a nice-looking web page to inform guests about your upcoming adjustments and even generate leads by making a waitlist touchdown web page.

What’s extra, it could actually inform search engines like google your web site is simply briefly down by sending a particular sign referred to as the 503 standing, which is what Google suggests doing.

If you’re on this possibility, it’s possible you’ll wish to take a look at our full SeedProd overview.

4. Select a CMS Redesign Technique

Relating to redesigning your CMS web site, you may have 3 most important choices: customizing your present theme, selecting a brand new theme and customizing it, or hiring knowledgeable CMS design service.

Let’s discover every technique’s professionals and cons that will help you resolve which is finest in your redesign course of.

Choice 1: Customise Current Style sheet

Greatest for: Website homeowners who’re usually proud of their present design however wish to refresh its look or add new options.

Execs of customizing your present CMS theme:

• Aware of the present setup
• Probably faster, simpler, and extra reasonably priced
• Maintains consistency for normal guests

Cons of customizing your present CMS theme:

•  Restricted by present theme construction

If you wish to stick along with your present theme however wish to get extra customization choices, then we suggest utilizing plugins like CSS Hero and WPCode.

CSS Hero is a visible CSS editor plugin that permits you to customise your CMS theme’s CSS visually. Meaning you don’t want to the touch any code to switch the theme, however any adjustments you make will have an effect on its CSS.

You may be taught extra in regards to the plugin in our CSS Hero overview.

However, WPCode is a code snippet plugin that permits you to add customized code snippets to your theme with out coping with the theme recordsdata straight. Every time there’s an error within the code, the plugin will disable it, and your theme gained’t get affected.

The very best half is it could actually protect your code adjustments even when your theme will get an replace, so that you gained’t lose your customizations.

You may learn our WPCode overview for extra particulars.

For those who want some inspiration on what you are able to do to customise your present web site, listed here are some articles you’ll be able to take a look at:

Choice 2: Select a New Style sheet and Customise It

Greatest for: These in search of a big design change with out the price of a totally customized answer. Or individuals who wish to make the most of new theme options.

Execs of utilizing a brand new CMS theme:

• Contemporary begin with trendy design choices
• Entry to new options and layouts
• Potential for improved web site efficiency

Cons of utilizing a brand new CMS theme:

• Potential studying curve with a brand new theme
• Cautious setup is required to keep away from compatibility points

When deciding on a brand new theme, be certain that to choose one that’s quick, responsive, suitable along with your present plugins, and often supported. You also needs to take into consideration its worth for cash and customization choices to be able to edit your CMS web site precisely the way you need it.

For those who’re contemplating a premium theme, you’ll be able to learn our information on free vs premium CMS themes that will help you make your determination. Additionally, be certain that to observe our information on correctly altering a CMS theme to keep away from widespread errors.

For a extra versatile answer, we suggest SeedProd, a drag-and-drop web page builder with dozens of theme kits and templates. That is additionally what we use to design customized touchdown pages for ourselves and our manufacturers.

The truth is, our associates at OptinMonster used SeedProd to revamp their touchdown web page and elevated their conversions by 340%.

With this drag-and-drop web page builder, you’re going to get a theme and a versatile instrument to customise it, so you may make a singular design with none technical abilities. Plus, you’ll get entry to AI instruments to generate content material and customized photos in your pages.

You may be taught extra about SeedProd in these guides:

Alternatively, you’ll be able to browse our checklist of the most well-liked CMS themes.

Choice 3: Rent a Personalized CMS Online presence Layout Service

Greatest for: Enterprise homeowners or bloggers who desire a distinctive, skilled design tailor-made to their particular wants and don’t have the time or abilities to create it themselves.

Execs of hiring knowledgeable CMS design service:

• Distinctive, skilled CMS theme design
• CMS theme that’s tailor-made to your particular wants
• No want for private design or coding abilities

Cons of hiring knowledgeable CMS design service:

For those who’re uninterested in cookie-cutter designs, then this is a wonderful possibility for you. After all, the problem is discovering the suitable CMS designers to work with. We now have an inventory of high CMS companies if you need some hand-picked suggestions.

That being mentioned, it’s possible you’ll wish to take a look at our WPBeginner Professional Providers.

For designing a customized CMS web site, we provide:

• A devoted mission supervisor to supervise the redesign course of
• A number of CMS web site design revisions
• Coaching so that you can discover ways to handle your new web site
• Full WooCommerce setup for on-line shops
• Search engine and efficiency optimization

Rebuilding an present web site begins at $599, which is able to get you a responsive web site design of as much as 5 pages, 2 rounds of revisions, and analytics setup.

Consider it as an funding in your on-line presence that may result in improved consumer expertise, higher search engine rankings, and, in the end, elevated conversions and income for your small business.

For those who’re undecided, you’ll be able to e-book a free session with our workforce right this moment.

5. Again Up Your CMS Online presence

Let’s say you’re already redesigning your web site. Earlier than you make it reside, it is advisable do one step that you shouldn’t skip: again up your present CMS web site.

Right here’s why backing up is so necessary:

• Safety in opposition to errors – If one thing goes unsuitable in the course of the transition, you’ll be able to simply restore your web site.
• Safety in opposition to backlash – If customers react negatively to the brand new design, you’ll be able to rapidly revert to the previous one.
• Preserving necessary knowledge – It ensures you don’t lose any worthwhile content material or settings in the course of the redesign.
• Peace of thoughts – Understanding you may have a backup permits you to launch your web site with confidence.

We suggest utilizing a backup plugin like Duplicator for this job. Duplicator makes it straightforward to create and handle backups straight in your web site.

As soon as created, you’ll be able to retailer the backup file in your pc. Or, for added safety, add it to cloud storage companies like Dropbox.

Restoring your web site with Duplicator can also be easy – you’ll be able to merely drag and drop the backup file. The plugin additionally permits you to set a restoration level, enabling you to rapidly restore your web site to a previous date if wanted.

6. Launch Your Website and Run One other Audit

At this stage, you’re able to publish your newly redesigned web site and present it to your viewers.

For those who’re placing your web site on upkeep mode with SeedProd, then you’ll be able to simply deactivate that mode so that everybody can entry your web site. You may consult with our information on CMS upkeep mode for extra particulars.

For those who’ve been creating your web site domestically, then you’ll be able to learn our information on easy methods to transfer CMS from an area server to a reside web site.

In the meantime, when you have been utilizing a staging web site in your CMS internet hosting, then you’ll be able to merely use its deploy function to make your web site reside. For instance, with Bluehost, you need to use the Bluehost CMS plugin to deploy all of your adjustments in a number of clicks.

You may be taught extra about it in our information on CMS staging environments.

As soon as your web site is reside, you’ll be able to’t chill out simply but. You should be certain that every thing works proper.

One factor it is advisable take note of is your Search settings. For those who resolve to restructure your internet pages, then you will have to arrange redirects and replace your inside hyperlinks to replicate any URL adjustments. In any other case, search engines like google gained’t be capable of crawl your web site correctly.

This course of can take a very long time, so we suggest utilizing the All in One Search (AIOSEO) plugin for this. It’s additionally what we use for WPBeginner to ensure our web site is at all times optimized for search engines like google. For extra particulars, take a look at our full All in One Search overview.

You need to use AIOSEO to simply discover damaged hyperlinks in your total web site content material. If it does, you’ll be able to rapidly exchange the prevailing URL with a brand new one in order that customers don’t find yourself seeing an error web page.

AIOSEO additionally permits you to arrange 301 redirections simply. This can be useful in case your redesign entails restructuring your web site hierarchy.

You may learn our newbie’s information to creating 301 redirects in CMS for extra info.

Aside from that, we additionally suggest doing an Search audit to test for lacking Search titles, meta descriptions, canonical hyperlink tags, SSL certificates, velocity points, and extra. These are necessary parts that may make or break your visibility on search engines like google.

Take a look at our CMS Search audit guidelines for a step-by-step information.

Lastly, do the identical checks we talked about in step 2 once we mentioned to run a web site audit. Use heatmaps and take a look at your Google Metrics knowledge to ensure nobody is having bother along with your new web site.

7. Constantly Keep Your CMS Website

The job of a web site proprietor isn’t ending. Even after you launch your web site, you continue to must do some routine upkeep duties to guarantee that your web site doesn’t turn out to be gradual, susceptible to assaults, or begin exhibiting errors.

Don’t be intimidated, although. We now have a information that breaks down a very powerful CMS upkeep duties you need to do, from altering your passwords and updating your plugins to reviewing your safety logs.

However in the event you discover all this too arduous and you’ve got some price range to spare, then we suggest hiring our CMS upkeep consultants at WPBeginner Professional Providers. You’ll get:

• 24/7 CMS upkeep and help
• Round-the-clock uptime monitoring
• Constant CMS core, theme, and plugin updates
• Routine cloud backups and malware removing
• On-demand emergency help

Our upkeep companies begin from $57.50 per thirty days. Whereas this prices some cash, you’ll be able to consider it as much like getting a CMS safety plugin, however this one is an actual individual sustaining your web site.

We will spot and remedy advanced points that automated instruments may miss and make choices primarily based in your particular wants and web site targets. If you wish to be taught extra, be happy to e-book a free session with us right this moment.

Bear in mind, common upkeep is essential to holding your newly redesigned CMS web site operating easily and securely. Whether or not you select to do it your self or rent consultants, ensure you have a plan in place to maintain your web site in high form.

We hope this text has helped you discover ways to redesign your CMS web site. You may additionally wish to take a look at our article on issues you will need to do earlier than beginning a CMS design enterprise and our professional picks of one of the best CMS theme builder plugins.

For those who favored this text, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for CMS video tutorials. It’s also possible to discover us on Twitter and Fb.