Top 5 considerations for relaunching your website

Preparing to relaunch your website is in many ways more stressful than the original build, mainly because ignorance was bliss. Now you will have experience and a bagful of issues which need sorting. Here is our guide to some of the main things to get right before going ahead with a new site.

1. Clear design
   
   The design of your new website must be right, something that can be a huge challenge. Most re-launches are not rebrands as such, just an update of the site, however the layout of your site can be seen as part of your branding so make sure that the ratio of new to old elements is balanced. Check out our ecommerce portfolio to get some good ideas.
    
2. Smooth out the bugs
   
   Was there anything in your old solution that really annoyed you or was actually proven to hurt sales? Now is the time to address this. If its a system in the CMS and your new ecommerce company can create bespoke modules, like Advansys can, then make sure you spec the module properly to avoid winding up with the same issue on your new system.
    
3. Streamline the payment process
   
   Take a good look at your payments provider, are they really the best for your business? Do they have any new products which are now available and better for your site? If you are rebuilding your website it makes sense to make any changes to your payment gateway now.
    
4. Go through your Descriptions
   
   Poor product descriptions, either inaccurate or otherwise off putting, are one of the biggest factors in making or breaking a sale online, if you are going into the depth of your data for the new website then why not check these descriptions as you go and make sure that for the re-launch everything is perfect.
    
5. Get your customer feedback
   
   Social Networking and provisions for User generated content mean that you can get the view of your old site from the other side. Ask your customers about what they want to change on the site to make them happier with the place they shop. It is a given that most answers will be flippant “lower your prices” and the like, but amongst these answers there will be genuine issues and suggestions that you can review to make your site as good as it can be.