Does your website need a redesign, or a clearer message?

When a website isn't bringing in business, a redesign is the tempting fix. The reasoning is simple: the site doesn't work, the look is the first thing anyone notices, so the look must be the problem.

But the look is only one part of a website that works. A polished design can just as easily hide the real problem as solve it.

When the look hides the real problem

If a visitor can't tell what the business does, who it's for, or why they should choose it over the next tab they have open, a new look won't change that. It'll present the same unclear message more beautifully.

Some signs the issue sits underneath the design:

• People who enquire often misunderstand what you offer.
• You attract plenty of interest, mostly from the wrong clients.
• You find yourself explaining your services on calls in a way the website never does.
• The site looks good and still nothing much happens.

None of those are fixed by a new colour palette. They're fixed by getting clear on the message first, and then designing around it.

Three checks you can run this week

You don't need an expert to find out which problem you have. Three checks will tell you most of it:

• The ten-second test. Show your home page to someone who doesn't know your business, for ten seconds. Then ask them what you do, who it's for and what they'd click next. If they hesitate, the message needs work.
• Your last five enquiries. Did each one ask for something you actually offer, in words close to your own? If most needed correcting on the first call, the site is setting the wrong expectations.
• The next step. On each main page, is it obvious what a visitor should do next, and is it easy to do? A good page with no clear next step leaves people interested and gone.

If the site passes all three and still underperforms, the design may well be the problem. If it doesn't, that's where to start.

Smaller changes often do more

Fixing the message doesn't always mean a new website. A clearer homepage headline, a services page rebuilt around the questions clients actually ask, or one obvious next step for visitors can do more than a new look, for much less.

And if a redesign does turn out to be the right call, it starts from a message you've already tested. Questions left unanswered at the start of a project don't go away: they come back halfway through the build, where every answer costs more.

Why it pays to fix the right thing first

A redesign built on an unclear message tends to get redone a couple of years later, because the thing that was wrong was never touched. Getting the message clear first means the money spent on design goes into something that works.

I'd rather build a site I know will work than one that only looks like it should.

The takeaway

Before you commission a redesign, try to answer three questions in a sentence each: who is the site for, what should they understand within a few seconds, and what should they do next.

If those answers come easily, a redesign might be exactly what you need. If they don't, that's the place to start.

If you'd like a second pair of eyes, my free website analysis looks at your site the way a new visitor does: how it performs, how the brand and tone of voice come across, and whether the structure leads people to where you'd like them to end up.