Redesign of an e-commerce website: first steps to do it

Second, by second, technology is changing and transforming, so updates in this industry are constant. It may be that your e-commerce website, the one you just implemented two years ago, is a bit obsolete today, for example. Do not be alarmed, as it is normal due to technological advances. The next step is to redesign the website so that it adjusts to your users' needs today, boosting the productivity of your e-commerce and thus improving its online positioning.

The word “redesign” can be scary: Does it mean that you have to create your e-commerce from scratch? Well no. It is about working on the web page that already exists, to give it an improved appearance, adding new features and making adjustments that improve the user experience according to current demands.

What does the process of redesigning e-commerce involve?

The most obvious is a refresh of the e-commerce design, it also involves aspects such as improving the data structure, enhancing SEO, 301 redirects for new URLs, new host configuration, as well as the planning of new content/ pages, pointed out about it in an article on the OuterBox portal.

Pre-redesign steps

A redesign is not about tearing down from one day to the next everything you've worked on. Before making any changes, you have to apply certain steps to determine the status of your e-commerce website and verify what needs to be adjusted.

UX audit

Here it is about making an exhaustive review of the UX or user experience in the e-commerce platform. “Depending on the complexity of a project and its tasks, an audit may include stakeholder interviews, analytical data analysis and click maps. We also analyze successful examples of e-commerce websites and see what we can put into practice”, they explained in this regard on the Agent Studio portal.

UX Research

Once you are certain of the state of the e-commerce website, now comes the UX research stage to see how you can improve the experience of your users or customers. It is about seeing the weakest points of your platform and investigating how to solve them.

Create a model

Here it is about creating a graphic representation of what the e-commerce website will be, with all the functionalities and adjustments proposed in the previous stages.

Design

Then begins the redesign stage of the e-commerce website, applying all the data and structures worked on in the previous stages. Once the design stage is finished, then the development of the software and the implementation of the changes begins. It is always important to apply tests to these changes, to verify that everything works correctly.

Something that you should keep in mind is that, when we talk about e-commerce platforms, design is not everything. A redesign has to have a purpose, it must be guided by the business objectives of the company, it must also be functional.

“Focus on making incremental improvements to your website that are supported by insights from your analytics and customer research. Use A/B tests to identify the changes that will be implemented”, they recommended in an article on the BigCommerce portal.

Among the best decisions is to apply an "evolutionary" redesign, which is based on applying gradual changes that gradually increase the user experience.

Signs that indicate that you should work on the redesign of your e-commerce website

If you still don't know if you should redesign your e-commerce website, there are some clues that may indicate that your platform needs a refresh.

• If you have a low conversion rate, you need to review the design and structure of the e-commerce website to determine what is failing or what is turning consumers away. Many users do not make any purchase in an e-commerce if the web page is very slow, if the design is confusing or if the functionalities do not adjust to intuitive navigation, for example.
• When your users do not understand how to navigate the page or get lost during navigation, it is a sign that the look and feel of the e-commerce platform needs to be redesigned.
• If the checkout process is complicated, it's time to think about an e-commerce redesign. This is perhaps the most important area as it makes customer conversions possible. The payment process should be as intuitive as possible, with the fewest steps, they recommend in an article on the Northell portal.
• When increasing competition in your market niche, it is a good idea to review the current design and functionalities of your e-commerce website, since by improving your platform you will be increasing the possibility that you will position yourself better.

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