What to think about before you revamp your website
I often speak to business owners who tell me it's been a long time since they've changed anything on their website, and they've looked at it recently and realised it needs an update.
Sometimes they're right — it does need a revamp. Sometimes they just need to update a few things: new photos, revised content because staff or services have changed, or a fix to something that's stopped working the way they'd like.
Download the Website Revamp Planning Guide — it's free
The problem is, jumping into a revamp without a clear picture of what you want to achieve can cost you a lot of time and money — and the site may still not do what you'd like it to.
So before you call anyone (including us), it's worth slowing down and asking a few questions.
Start with your home page
Before you think about colours, layouts, or new features, it's worth asking whether your home page does the most basic job — telling a visitor immediately what you do, who you do it for, and what they should do next.
This is sometimes called the grunt test. If someone landed on your home page with no context, would they get it straight away? A lot of businesses make this harder than it needs to be. If you're a builder, say builder. If you do bookkeeping, say bookkeeping. Clarity always wins over clever.
It's also worth thinking about your call to action. What do you want a visitor to do when they land on the page? Is that action obvious and easy to complete?
Your goals and purpose
The first thing to get clear on is what you actually want your website to do.
That sounds obvious, but it's surprising how many businesses go into a revamp focused on how the site looks, without stepping back to think about what it needs to achieve.
Is the goal to attract new clients? Generate enquiries? Sell products? Provide information to existing customers? The answer shapes every decision you make — from the structure of the site to what pages you need and what the call to action should be on each one.
It's also worth thinking about whether your audience has changed since the site was last built. A business that started out serving one type of client and has since shifted focus might find that the whole messaging needs updating, not just the design.
Design isn't always the problem
It's easy to assume that if a site looks dated, that's the main issue. Sometimes it is. But often the bigger problem is the content.
Outdated service descriptions, missing information, photos that no longer represent the business — these things affect how potential clients perceive you just as much as the visual design does.
Before you budget for a full redesign, ask yourself whether your current site could do the job if the content was updated and the photos were refreshed. Sometimes the answer is yes, and that's a much simpler (and cheaper) fix.
Photos matter more than most people realise
If there's one thing that makes a website look dated quickly, it's photos.
Pixelated images, old team photos, stock images where real photos would be more authentic — these things undermine trust even if the rest of the site is well designed.
A professional photography session is one of the best investments you can make before or alongside a revamp. Good photos of your team, your premises, and your work will carry the site for years.
Think about what the site needs to do
Beyond looking good, a website needs to function well.
Do visitors have a clear way to contact you or make an enquiry? Are there features that aren't working properly? Is your Google Business profile connected correctly? Would online bookings, a sign-up form, or a client portal make a difference to how people interact with your business?
A revamp is a good opportunity to add or fix functionality — but only if you know what you need beforehand. Going in without a list tends to mean things get missed, or you end up adding features mid-project that blow out the timeline and cost.
Don't forget about SEO
A revamp is one of the best opportunities you'll have to improve how your site performs in Google searches — but it needs to be planned for from the start, not bolted on at the end.
That means thinking about the search terms you want to rank for, making sure your page titles and descriptions are updated, and ensuring that any structural changes to the site don't inadvertently affect existing rankings.
If SEO is important to your business, raise it early in the process.
A planning guide to get you started
To help you think through all of this before you start, we've put together a free Website Revamp Planning Guide.
It covers goals, design, content, photos, features, mobile experience, and SEO — the full picture. Work through it at your own pace, jot down your thoughts, and you'll go into any conversation with a web designer much better prepared.
Download the Website Revamp Planning Guide — it's free
Even just having a rough sense of what you want to change (or keep) will save a lot of back and forth once the project gets underway.