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Holly Logan
7,142 PointsWebsite redesign advice
I am designing and making a new website for a client in Wordpress. They already have a basic Wordpress site but it needs a lift and has been built in such a way that my clients can't edit much on it; it's really restrictive and not user-friendly.
My question is, what things do I need to keep in mind when designing a new site for a client who already has an existing site? I believe I would need to keep the page urls the same so that cached urls direct to the new page. I don't want them to lose any good SEO that they have built.
Is there anything else I need to keep in mind before I start on this project?
1 Answer
Rebecca Riley
Courses Plus Student 2,265 PointsWith WordPress, performance is a big concern. Make sure your client is willing to pay for speed - it's usually the top reason for bounce rates. So make sure they aren't on a cheap hosting plan or understand that aesthetics and performance are different. There are a number of plugins that can improve performance, but you want to avoid too many plugins as they can reduce the performance even though they increase functionality.
The second question to ask is if they are using WordPress.com or hosting a free standing version - WordPress.com limits a lot of functionality (like adding any plugin that isn't part of their limited approved list, and I believe they limit templates as well). If it's free standing, make sure it's using a Linux server. If it's Windows, consider Project Nami that has a SQL database backend and can play nicer with Windows.
Here's a good article on performance: https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/speeding-up-wordpress/
One of the best things for SEO is to make sure the site is mobile friendly, and that good quality content is being added frequently. YOAST is a popular plugin for maximizing SEO as well, and there are lots of articles out there that cover improving SEO on WordPress. I usually try to make sure the client understand that they no one can guarantee SEO rankings and that they are responsible for adding any SEO to their new content (and of course train them on best practices).
You may also want to ask if they want different roles for people that log in and see if you need to customize any roles to hide/show functionality (I typically use the User Role Editor plugin for that).
When choosing a theme, be sure to read the reviews and check the support forum to see if it's actively monitored by the author in case you need support. I also like using something like ThemeForest for a paid theme that has more advanced functionality built in and comes with 6-12 months of support included in the price with the option to keep paying for more. Same for plugins as well. People have more incentive to keep things they are paid for up to date and supported than the ones available for free - and the free versions can remove functionality.
If you haven't already given them a quote, I like to make a list of requirements and pre select a theme and any plugins and then bake those into the price. Don't forget to provide videos or documentation that walks them through each step to avoid repeated questions from new or existing users too.