Which questions should be answered before the website relaunch

When does a relaunch make sense?

There are many reasons why you decide to relaunch your website. However, most projects that we have supported so far focus on one of the following points:

1. Improved user experience (UX): An outdated or poorly navigable website can scare users away. The relaunch can therefore increase usability and thus improve the user experience.
2. Design update: Trends in web design are changing rapidly. A modern, appealing design can help to keep your own brand fresh and relevant and to better show off the innovative character of startups.
3. Increase in conversion rate: By optimizing design and content, a relaunch can help convert visitors into customers more effectively.
4. Improved search engine optimization (SEO): A relaunch offers the opportunity to revise the website in terms of SEO in order to improve visibility and ranking. Often in connection with a CMS change.
5. Adapting to changing business goals: If your company's goals or offerings change, your website needs to be adjusted accordingly to reflect those changes.
6. Mobile optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices, mobile optimization is essential. A relaunch can ensure that a website works on all devices.
7. Integrate new features and tools: New features such as shops, Calendly, forms, or interactive elements can be added during the relaunch to improve functionality and conversions.
8. Privacy and security: With increasing security concerns and data protection regulations, a relaunch can help make the website more secure and ensure compliance with regulations such as the GDPR.
9. Better performance and load times: Faster load times not only improve the user experience, but are also an important SEO factor.
10. Outdated technology: If a website is based on outdated technology, it may be slow, insecure, or incompatible with newer browsers and devices.

Approach the relaunch the right way

Once the decision has been made to relaunch, it doesn't mean that internal design or marketing teams should just be getting started. To ensure that the next website remains scalable in the long term, the relaunch needs to be well planned. Clearly defined goals should form the basis for all further considerations. Once the goals have been defined, you can start implementing them. However, this quickly leads to the question: Are we implementing the website in-house, or are we bringing external expertise on board?

Implement the website in-house

The advantages of implementing your own website yourself are obvious. 100% control over resources, personnel, design, implementation and, in the end, over all resulting designs and the final website. However, a website relaunch usually involves much larger problems. In the following, we have therefore compiled a list of questions which comprises 9 categories of questions that founders and responsible persons should ask themselves in this context:

1. Team skills: Does the internal team have the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out the relaunch? Do you have skills in web design, development, content creation, SEO, and project management?
2. Resource availability: Are there enough resources (time, personnel, budget) available to carry out the project without disrupting day-to-day business? Should the project be deprioritized when day-to-day business gets out of hand?
3. Project Management: Can realistic milestones and deadlines be set? How does communication work for the project?
4. Technical requirements: Which CMS should be used? Are there any known consequences for factors such as scalability, security, and integration options?
5. Design and user experience: Is there any expertise on current design trends, usability and conversion rate optimization? In which software should the design be implemented?
6. Content Strategy: Is there a clear positioning? How must existing content be revised? What new content is necessary to strengthen the brand message and improve SEO.
7. SEO and performance: How is the new content prepared in the best possible way for search engines? Is the technical side covered by SEO and can factors such as load time and responsiveness be implemented in-house?
8. Compliance and security: Is there any knowledge about the GDPR and requirements for website operators? How are these met?
9. Testing and quality assurance: How can user tests be carried out to optimize the website after launch? Are there resources to incorporate feedback quickly and effectively after launch and to continuously optimize the website?

Depending on the planned scope and the initial goals set, it can definitely make sense to implement your own website internally. In particular, if all (or at least excessively) of the above questions can be answered positively, nothing stands in the way of an internal relaunch.

Get external support

However, if some of the questions have been answered negatively, it can be useful and more resource-efficient to implement the new website with external expertise. Working with an external agency for a website relaunch offers several advantages:

1. Expertise and experience: Agencies bring specialized knowledge and experience from a wide range of projects. They know the latest trends and best practices in web design, development, and SEO.
2. Conservation of resources: An external team relieves internal resources so that the team can concentrate on the core business.
3. Time efficiency: Agencies often have the ability to implement projects faster because they have dedicated teams that focus exclusively on relaunching.
4. Professional project management: Agencies usually offer professional project management, which makes the process more structured and efficient.
5. experience with Tools and technologies: Agencies usually have extensive experience with technologies and the integration of tools. This can be used in case of external support.
6. Creative and fresh perspective: An external agency can contribute new ideas and perspectives that lead to solutions that might have been unimaginable internally.
7. scalability: Agencies can flexibly adapt resources to the project, which can be difficult with internal teams. In this way, tight timelines and budgets can be met without jeopardizing day-to-day business.
8. Minimize risks: Experienced agencies have proven processes to minimize risks and ensure that the relaunch runs smoothly. For example, when setting up necessary redirects after the relaunch so as not to destroy your own SEO ranking.
9. Long-term partnership: Modern agencies usually aim to be there for partners and customers in the long term without creating a lock-in effect. If you work together successfully, you gain a partner who can help you with long-term scaling at any time.

Conclusion

The most important consideration that should be made before the relaunch is the question of whether there are enough internal resources available to implement the website yourself in a professional and technically scalable way. If this is not the case, calling in external expertise can be advisable and may even be more resource-efficient.