How to rebrand your website for 2019

The new year is often the best time to rebrand your website. After all, you’ll likely have some great plans for growth over the next 12 months. However, effectively tying those plans together with your website’s design requires a little forethought.

While we can’t necessarily help you with the plan you put together, we can help you develop the right mindset. In addition, considering how each element impacts on your goals is important to ascertain.

This piece will look at how to rebrand your website for the new year, in a way that’s consistent with your business goals. Let’s get started!

Related: 10 steps for an annual website review

What it means to rebrand your website

Ultimately, a rebrand is just another word for refreshing your site’s look. The official definition of the word refers to “changing the corporate image” of a business, of which the fundamental visuals are just a small part. This means that a rebrand isn’t just about changing the fonts and color scheme.

There are several other visual elements that could also be part of a project to rebrand your website:

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but the key point to take away is that anything related to a site’s visuals is fair game when you rebrand your website. However, the design is definitely not the only area of consideration.

In fact, there’s a more crucial area to revise: Your taglines, slogans and other positioning statements such as a call-to-action (CTA).

We’ll talk a little more about this later on, but in the meantime, let’s discuss why a rebranding process is sometimes necessary.

Editor’s note: Need a little help with a fresh website design? The pros at Tech News’s Website Design Service can build you a mobile-friendly, beautiful site that reflects your industry while following your lead and input.

Why you would want to rebrand your website

You’d be forgiven for thinking that once your logo, visuals and positioning statements are set, there’s no need to change them. After all, there’s a real fear that by making tweaks, you’re essentially tinkering with the “soul” of your business.

The negative impact of this could see customers become confused at the change, resulting in a loss of brand loyalty and trust. Given that these elements are key to continued success, you’d do well to be careful to jeopardize them.

However, a fresh coat of paint once in a while is usually a good idea.

This is due to a few reasons, such as:

• You’ll be able to use the opportunity to launch new products or services.
• It can serve as a way to introduce new personnel, especially if they’re taking up a prominent position in your business.
• You can modernize your approach, especially if you’ve been working to a previously successful formula that is a little worn around the edges.
• If you’ve been unfortunate to suffer a bout of negative publicity, a rebrand could be used to mark a new start.

It’s worth touching a little further on some of the above. New products, services and personnel are often big changes for any business. Matching that with a sweeping change to your branding gives an automatic feel of freshness, and can also help advertise whatever you’re currently pushing.

However, you should also be wary when you rebrand your website. Some of your more experienced customers might not respond well to a significant change. As such, you’ll want to tread carefully, the specifics of which we’ll get into next.

How to rebrand your website for 2019

It’s worth stating that rebranding is not for the non-committal, or otherwise uninterested.

It’s going to take a concerted effort from the entire business to get the best final results.

A weak link — for instance a sales team not onboard with the new message you’re promoting — can seriously hamper your efforts to help your rebrand go as smoothly as possible.

However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The first step on the road to rebranding your business is to ascertain why it’s needed. This is important, as it’s the anchor around which everything else is based. There’s usually a trigger, whether that’s the development of a product, a situation the business has found itself in, or even just to give the business a fresh start at end of the year.

Once you’ve found this trigger point and started planning out a strategy to rebrand your website, assess it in the following ways:

• Does your logo represent your current core values? You may need to consult with a marketing or branding expert on this one.
• If you’re using a tagline, consider whether this is descriptive enough, taking your core values, mission statement, and fundamental service offerings into account.
• Your current CTA might warrant revision, and you’ll want to analyze whether it converts well enough. It should also be relevant and consistent to the message you’re trying to communicate.

You could drill down even further and look at your overall tone, whether your media aligns with your new approach, and practically reassess every aspect of your website. However, this will depend on your goals, and might not be appropriate for every rebranding project.

Conclusion

Rebranding a business is always a dicey subject. This is mainly due to the fact that you can’t always be sure that you’re improving the right areas without impacting the positives of your current strategy. Fortunately, there are a few distinct elements to consider primarily.

For example, figuring out your overall goals for a rebrand will help the whole process run smoothly. From there, looking at each element of your website in detail will ensure you’ll keep your original goals in mind, and make a positive decision about where to take your company.