How to rebrand your business like a boss
There are so many different reasons a small business owner might decide to change a website’s name: poor conversions and/or sales, confusing navigation, or an outdated design, to name a few.
However, as I mentioned in my previous blog The Right Reasons to Rebrand Your Business Logo, it is essential to have sound reasoning, logic, and statistics behind rebranding your business.
For example, are poor conversions due to ineffective design or a faulty shopping cart?
Is your website really out of date or are you just bored with the color scheme?
This guide will help you first understand whether or not you need to reinvent your business, and if you do, how to most effectively rebrand your website.
I am going to share a personal example for this article. We are renaming our website at the moment. We decided it was a good idea because:
• Now we also target new entrepreneurs coming from the corporate world and we want to attract established entrepreneurs who are ready to improve their business.
• It was time to update how we present our services on our home page. We did not feel that we were presenting our benefits clearly enough in some areas.
• Some of the features and functionality of our existing site were failing. It was time to upgrade and use newer technology to display our offers.
• We’ve had some confusion around the penguin logo. Some people see a woman’s hair or are not quite sure what it is.
Our first step in the rebranding process was to update our logo.
We’ll be revealing our new website in the next few weeks and I can’t wait for the big reveal! And before jumping into the redesign process, first determine if this is something that is really needed, as explained below.
Part 1: Is it time to reinvent your business?
You will need to take a good look at your online presence. You should ask yourself the following questions, but it also helps to have outside opinions from clients, focus groups, and social media followers; you may not have the most objective opinion.
1. Am I addressing a new type of audience/customer?
2. Is the site well optimized for mobile devices? According to Statista, more than 52% of web traffic now happens on a mobile device. If your online store is slow or looks terrible on a smartphone, you have a lot to lose. The best way to check if this statistic is accurate for you is to check your Google Analytics.
3. Have my products or services changed drastically?
4. Is my bounce rate high? Google defines the bounce rate by how many users leave the page they landed on, without interacting with anything. According to a RocketFuel study, average bounce rates are between 26% and 70% for most websites.
Now, if your bounce rate is high on a Contact Us page, where a customer simply wants their contact information and walks away, that’s one thing. But if you’re on top of the pages you want people to stay on and engage with, it’s time to dig into why potential customers aren’t sticking around.
5. Am I receiving complaints about the design or the user experience?
6. Does the design look outdated? Website design appearance can change quickly and often drastically from year to year. You can almost guarantee that sites that were designed 5 years ago look out of date now.
If the name “Tupperware” evokes images of avocado-colored plastic and ’80s block parties, you’re not alone. Tupperware struggled to appeal to a modern audience, but it did so by modernizing everything from its logo to its Pinterest-esque images.
Part 2: The Reinvention
If you have decided to get started with the website redesign process, you are in for an exciting and challenging journey! Here are 9 ways to achieve your goals in the most user-friendly way possible.
1. Complete a competitive analysis.
This is a crucial step in many marketing and branding processes. You should have made one when you were building your company.
This time, look at how fast your competitor’s website loads or how user-friendly their navigation is. By exploring what you’re up against, you can do better when you rebrand your business.
2. Review your values and brand positioning.
Before hiring a web designer, I recommend reviewing your business values and brand positioning. Be clear about why you are in business in the first place, your values, and your mission.
Also pay close attention to the impression you want your website visitors to get by the time they land on your site. How do you want your business to be perceived? What brand personality do you want to portray? What values do you want to be known for?
By having a clear understanding of these types of branding questions, you will now have a clear branding guideline for your web designer to follow.
Here are some resources to help you in this process:
– Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
– Find Your Why: A Practical Guide to Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team Too by Simon Sinek
– Building a StoryBrand: Clarify your message so customers will hear it by Donald Miller
– Work with me as your business and marketing mentor.
3. Define your goals.
Rebranding your online business is not just about looks. You want to improve your customer experience.
Let’s say you want to collect more email addresses. You’ll need to decide where to place the email newsletter signup box or freebie offer to compel visitors to give you their information.
If your goal is to convert a new type of customer, you’ll need to think about the calls to action that will resonate best with them.
Whatever your goals, they should be focused on the needs of your customers, not yours!
4. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
We can get so caught up in renewing and renewing that we go too far. If your company logo has received a lot of attention and/or praise, why would you change it?
If a certain article on your blog gets a lot of organic traffic, don’t delete it just because you’re tired or want to focus on a new audience. It is just as important to know what not to change.
Always keep your target audience in mind. What do they find useful and informative that helps them make a decision about doing business with you? It is not about you and your personal preferences. It’s about them and what they need from you.
5. Create a design and content plan.
Depending on your target audience, brand positioning, and goals, you may be able to reuse existing marketing material or you may need to start from scratch.
Review all copy and design elements prior to the website redesign process so that you have an accurate inventory of what you need to create.
6. Create a Wireframe and Mockup.
A wireframe is a layout that shows what elements will be on a web page. You don’t just start creating menus, slapping images, and putting links on a live page. You need to plan and visualize before you rebrand your website, so that users have the best possible experience.
A mockup is also a visual representation that includes copy and design elements, although the copy can be demonstrated with a placeholder, as we’ve done here. We’re still working on the messages in this section, but we wanted to plan where they would go.
7. Incorporate voice search into your SEO plan.
It is no longer enough to focus solely on the copy. People want instant solutions when they search for something online.
As you reinvent your business, you need to think about ways to optimize your website for voice search in addition to what people type into the search box.
Many consumers already use it to find what they are looking for, and according to ComScore, 50% of searches will be done this way by 2020.
Learn more about voice search here.
8. Make mobile a top priority.
A big part of the website redesign process is ensuring that your website looks great on any device, from desktop computers to smartphones. Images and font sizes may look perfect on your computer, but be broken or cluttered on a phone screen.
Always optimize and test for mobile while rebranding your website.
9. Hire a professional company to help you.
Unless you’re a marketing guru, rebranding your business isn’t a do-it-yourself project. There are too many important branding, programming, and implementation elements at play.
You should consider hiring a professional, full-service web design and development company.
The website redesign process is iterative. You’re not going to nail it with a version.
By planning ahead and hiring the right people to get the job done, you’ll end up with a beautiful and functional online presence that you’ll be proud to share with the world.