I wrote this article with the intention of challenging common misconceptions about website design processes that cause a lack of data-driven approaches. What makes me “the expert”? Like all other experts, the mistakes I’ve made and corrected over a decade.
“Call a meeting; let’s redesign our website so that we don’t feel guilty about not looking at what we should be looking at.”
John Smith shows up first because he dislikes how the navigation bar “navigates” (I will get to him later).
With this article, I speak on behalf of all data nerds in the marketing field. We see you!
I am sure everyone has an opinion about the colors, messaging, and navigation for the new “design” that will save the business. Data? Overrated! Let’s just redesign and hope things get better!
People: Your visitors, most likely, are not on your website for entertainment or to see beautiful colors and images. If you are a business for profit, you design FOR PROFIT. Next time you are asked to redesign your company’s website or a landing page, ask this simple question: “Why?”
You will hear things that point to the underlying problem that is not quite relevant to the design such as “not enough leads,” “not enough conversions,” SEO traffic is low, “not enough engagement,” “site is too slow.” I promise you, you won’t hear anything other than these.
When redesigning a website or changing value propositions, funnels must start by identifying specific problems to solve, and each one requires different sets of data.
Not Enough Conversions: Are there not enough total conversions or percentages of conversions? For argument’s sake, let’s say you need 400 conversions a day, but you convert 12 a day, yet your site gets 100 unique views daily. 12% conversion? Instead of redesigning the site, you should give the medal of honor to the designer of your current site. In this case, you solve your traffic problem rather than a “design problem.”
If you have enough visits (assuming they are from the right location), you do some grown-up analytics. Analyzing the user journey, exit points, and abandonment rates, and then manipulating your messaging and design to drive the traffic where it converts.
SEO traffic is Low: This one is my favorite because, as the laziest on earth, I have to do minimum work to identify if the design is why my rankings are low. Use tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, or free options like Google Search Console. If your web pages are:
- Indexable
- Acceptably mobile-friendly (GSC refers to them as URLs needing improvement and not “poor URLs”)
- Not misleading users with click-baits or hidden text
Then, your SEO problem essentially has nothing to do with your design.
P.S.: You can improve your rankings with a user-friendly design, but this, by no means, is how search engines evaluate your website entirely. Rethink your content, in this case.
Not enough “engagement”:
Website analytics are often misunderstood. Most marketers, often unknowingly, rely on inductive reasoning by collecting data from their existing websites to make decisions. Data is usually an unprocessed version of information; do not consume it raw. Consider bounce rates, for example. They are meaningless without context. A high bounce rate doesn’t necessarily indicate poor engagement. Suppose your website’s marketing goal is lead capture, with forms on every page. If your conversion rates are satisfactory, a high bounce rate is acceptable. Simply knowing your bounce rate is insufficient to gauge your website’s engagement quality.
In short, no matter how accurate the data you collect for your website, if it’s not initially designed to deliver your ultimate business goals (conversions), you are just “rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic.”
Site is too slow:
I assure you, it’s not the red button or the stock image causing this. Check your PageSpeed Insights. Your site’s slowness could stem from unoptimized images or, worse, your INP (Interaction to Next Paint) failing. You might not need a complete redesign to fix these issues.
Image optimization: Cloudflare APO, NitroPack, Imagify
High INP: Check your field data (your developer will understand).
Relying on data means that, in the worst-case scenario, the time spent is an investment as you gather usable information. Without data, you risk wasting 100% of your efforts. Decision-makers demand that John provides data for every issue he identifies, not just opinions.
I kept the number of examples and tool names brief to enhance article precision. Updates will follow.
So, how do you redesign your website?
Define your goals before deciding to redesign. Identifying goals can be as simple as aiming for “conversions.” Why do you have a website, ultimately? To capture leads for nurturing through emails and calls to close deals? To sell products online? To encourage visitors to try your demo? Perhaps all of the above?
Deductive reasoning is one of my favorite methods before redesigning a website. It involves using general principles about user experience to guide the creation of specific design elements and funnels. If the underlying principles are sound, the resulting website design will effectively meet the needs of your total addressable market.
The end goal will provide a clear path to streamline your website for optimal business output.
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