What is site renewal? It is to update, renovate and redevelop an outdated website to make it new (renewal).
If you do this site renewal well, you can expect a good effect of SEO .
On the other hand, mistiming or ignoring steps and points will increase the chances of your SEO effectiveness dropping.
As a result, traffic and conversions will decrease.
As a result, sales from the site decline.
To avoid such a bad situation, follow the site renewal requirements and make it a better site.
Based on this point, this time, I would like to summarize and explain the points at issue, focusing on the timing, procedures and points of site renewal, in an easy-to-understand manner for beginners.
Table of Contents
Time to renew the site
There are several timings for site renewal.
- when the design is old
- When features are old
- When old information is crowded
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when the design is old
When is the time to renew the site? When the design is old.
For example, let’s say you have a site design that uses a lot of frames and is configured by loading a number of HTML files.
Also, let’s say you have a site design that uses specular reflections, aqua buttons, black backgrounds, etc.
These designs were common in the early 2000s, but are very rare now.
In other words, the design is old.
In this way, when the design is old, it is time to renew the site.
When features are old
When is the time to renew the site? when the feature is old.
For example, let’s say the loading speed is slow, the site is non-SSL and hard to see on smartphones.
Sites with these features were common around 2014, but are now much less common.
In other words, the functionality is obsolete.
In this way, when the function is old, it is time to renew the site.
When Information is Crowded
When is the time to renew the site? When information is crowded.
For example, let’s say you have a site that creates and increases web pages without designing the site and categorizes it appropriately.
These sites are hard to find because they don’t group content on the same subject.
In other words, information is crowded.
In this way, when information is crowded, it is time to renew the site.
Steps and points for site renewal
There are two major steps to take when renewing a site, each with some points.
- Requirements definition phase
- Site building phase
Requirements definition phase
There are several requirements definition phases.
- clean up the problem
- set goals and objectives
- Summarize in requirements definition document
Clean up the problem
To clean up the problem, Hearing
For example, ask users who have actually used the site about their impressions of usability.
- Hard to tap and hard to see on mobile
- page is slow to render
- It is difficult to reach the desired content, etc…
It is possible to draw these problems from the user.
In this way, identifying problems and defining requirements is the point when proceeding with site renewal.
Set goals and objectives
To set goals and objectives finally digitize.
For example, there are few conversions such as inquiries and applications on the old site.
I would like to renew and increase that conversion.
In this case, the goal is to increase conversions.
Then, the number of conversions is set numerically (KPI setting), such as 5 per day, 150 per month, etc. after the site renewal, and the goal is clarified.
In addition, it is even better to consider personas, customer journey maps, and user scenarios when determining objectives and goals.
In this way, determining the purpose and goals and defining the requirements is the point when proceeding with the site renewal.
By the way, there are also purposes such as wanting to increase access (attracting customers) and wanting to reduce the time and effort of site operation.
In this case, set the number of accesses (number of inflows) and the time it takes to update the site as KPIs to determine your goals.
Summarize in requirements definition document
To summarize in the requirements definition document, Decide “who” to do “what” and “how”.
For example, use an Excel file, etc., to describe the problems you have identified so far in a table.
At this time, we will define “who” should do “what” and “how” to improve the problem and achieve the goal.
| problem | responsible person | Purpose | Target (KPI) | budget | period | working range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| few CVs | Mr. A | Increase CV rate | 150/month | 300,000/month | 6 months | Ads and LP optimization |
| less access | Mr. B | Increase search traffic | 100,000 PV/month | 500,000/month | 1 year | SEO measures, SNS measures |
In this way, defining requirements together in a requirement definition document is the point when proceeding with site renewal.
Site building phase
There are several phases of site building.
- Create sitemaps and wireframes
- Create a design proposal
- Create content (code)
Create sitemaps and wireframes
To create sitemaps and wireframes,First, create a sitemap.
The site map here is a file such as Excel that simply writes out the site structure.
For example, decide the theme of the site and write out the words related to that theme in Excel.
If the theme of the site is “SEO”, write down related themes such as “SEO measures”, “SEO tools” and “backlinks”.
By categorizing the written words and mapping them in a hierarchical manner, the site map is completed.
From the finished site map, you can find the necessary content (TOP page, category page, detail page, etc.), so let’s create a wireframe based on that.
There is a dedicated tool for creating wireframes, so you can take advantage of that as well.
In this way, building a site by creating a site map and wireframe is the point when proceeding with site renewal.
Create a design proposal
To create a design proposal, Use specialized tools such as Illustrator and Photoshop.
For example, based on the created wireframe, we will design it in Photoshop, including the width and length of the content, color, font size, etc.
The design mainly creates four types of page design proposals: TOP page, category list page, detail page (article page), inquiry and application page.
We also create designs such as eye-catching images and logo images for the top page.
Then you can create a design proposal.
In this way, creating a design proposal and building the site is the point when proceeding with the site renewal.
By the way, always consider your site’s theme color (main color) when creating design proposals.
Doing so will give the whole site a sense of unity, making it easier for users to get used to the site.
Create content (code)
To create your content, Use special tools.
For example, refer to the created design proposal and code it with Dreamweaver.
Then, you can create content by expressing the width, length, color, font size, etc. of the content with HTML tags and CSS.
At this time, first code the parts that are common to the entire site.
Next, copy the existing content (manuscript) such as images and text sentences from the old site as it is and pour it into the new site.
In this way, creating content and building a site is the point when proceeding with site renewal.
Things to avoid when renewing your website
There are a few things you want to avoid when redesigning your site.
- Ignore requirement definition
- Ignore SEO
Ignore requirement definition
If you ignore the requirement definition, the effect will fade.
For example, problems are identified, objectives and goals are not decided, and things that are summarized in the requirements definition document are ignored.
Who does what in this case? I cannot do that clearly.
If so, the site will not improve.
As a result, you cannot expect a good effect even if you renew the site.
In this way, ignoring the requirements definition is what we want to avoid when renewing the site.
Ignore SEO
If you ignore SEO, This can have a negative impact on search rankings and search traffic.
For example, neglect SEO measures.
- Reduce the amount of content (text and images)
- Lack of updating internal links
- Lack of updating titles and snippets
- Deny crawlers in robots.txt
- Make it a soft 404
- Forgetting to set up an XML sitemap
- Forget URL normalization
- Forget smartphone support
Doing so will reduce user convenience and crawlability.
As a result, it will be difficult to be evaluated by Google, so the search ranking will decrease and the search inflow will decrease.
Thus, ignoring SEO is what you want to avoid when redesigning your site.
What to do after site renewal
There are a few things to do after the site relaunch.
- Propaganda
- Effect measurement
Propaganda
After the site renewal, Advertise first.
For example, use SNS, e-mail magazines, press releases, etc. to advertise.
At this time, add the purpose of the renewal, the changes before and after the renewal, and the site URL after the renewal.
That way, you can tell that the site is being renewed not only for newness but also for ease of use.
As a result, you can attract more users’ attention.
In this way, advertising is what you do after the site renewal.
Effect measurement
After the site renewal, Measure the effect.
For example, introduce search ranking check tools and register SEO keywords for each page of the renewed site.
In addition, we will introduce access analysis tools such as Google Analytics and Search Console and set them on the new site.
By doing so, you can check changes in keyword rankings, search inflows (number of accesses), conversions, etc.
In this case, you can see the increase or decrease of the keyword ranking, the number of accesses and conversions, so you can measure the effect.
If the keyword ranking drops, or the number of accesses or conversions decreases, the problem becomes clear.
As a result, the site can be operated while improving the problem.
In this way, measuring the effect is to be done after the site renewal.
Summary: Let’s make the site better according to the requirements of the site renewal
In line with the site renewal requirements, Make your site better.
For that reason, it is important to keep steps and points down.
On the other hand, if you ignore the procedures and points when renewing, or if you neglect site operation after renewal, you will not be able to expect results.
Specifically, the search ranking does not increase on the renewed site, and the number of accesses and conversions do not increase.
To avoid such a bad situation, make your site better by following the site renewal requirements mentioned here.