Strategies for a Smooth Website Redesign with Content in Focus

Refreshing your website can give your brand a welcome spark, enhance how visitors interact with your site, and help you stay ahead in your field. Yet, in all the excitement, content often becomes the trickiest part to manage. Without the right plan for creating, moving, entering, or formatting content, projects hit roadblocks, users get confused, and brands lose momentum.

This guide covers practical ways to handle the core aspects of content during a redesign. You’ll find strategies to manage tricky spots and handy tips to ensure your new site works as intended, no content missteps required.

Why Content Matters Most in a Redesign

High-quality content is the foundation of a successful website. While a new look will catch the eye, well-organized content provides value, keeping people browsing, sparking conversation, and encouraging visitors to take action.

You’ll get the best results from your redesign by focusing early on:

• Content Creation: Keeps your site timely, accurate, and on-brand.
• Content Migration: Safeguards existing work and prevents losses during platform transfers.
• Content Entry: Makes sure every page is filled in just right, without awkward gaps.
• Content Formatting: Shapes the user experience and builds trust at a glance.

Let’s break down each piece and see how you can tackle them with confidence.

The Role and Challenges of Content Creation

Why Creating New Content Matters

A redesign gives you a prime opportunity to update old information, share your current goals, and build your reputation. Leaving content stagnant, even on a gorgeous site, makes everything feel dated.

But, pulling together content comes with its own challenges:

• Writing About Your Own Organization: If you’re not a professional copywriter, it can be difficult to write new content for the core brand pages of your site (e.g. About Us, Services, etc.). The challenge isn’t generating a volume, it’s paring down what you’ve written so visitors unfamiliar with your organization get the right impression in just a few words.
• Brand Consistency: Mismatched words or tone can make visitors confused or unsure who you are.
• SEO Performance: Do you know words need to stay and which need to go to take advantage of existing SEO? Outdated or under-optimized pieces mean lost spots in search results.

How to Create Content that Works

1. Plan with a Content Calendar: Organize deadlines and responsibilities on a clear schedule. This will help everyone stay on track and prevent last-minute rushes.
2. Work with Content Pros: Experienced writers and editors catch small issues and boost your messaging. They also know what search engines like, which gives your site better visibility.
3. Incorporate Visual Elements: Add a mix of media (photography, graphics, and video) to your pages. For instance, a simple product video can help customers understand what you offer, faster.

Pro Tip:

During a recent redesign, we used ChatGPT with very specific prompting to craft placeholder content. Our prompting included brand voice guidance with direction on how the content was to be used to guide the generative AI. This kept the project moving and removed the stress of missing pages at launch.

Understanding Content Migration

What Is Content Migration?

Content migration means transferring everything, text and images, from your current website to the new one. It seems simple at first, but skipping steps here can cost you valuable information and search ranking.

Common Roadblocks in Migration

• Lost Data: Errors or missed files can leave pages incomplete.
• Compatibility Issues: Some content or formats may not work seamlessly with your new platform.

Tips for a Smooth Content Move

1. Plan Every Step: List out everything to move, update, or drop. A clear checklist helps monitor progress and spot gaps.
2. Rely on the Right Tools: Automate whenever possible. Choose trusted migration tools or bring in specialists for complex moves. You don’t want to end up with a bunch of broken links or miss key high performing content.
3. Test Thoroughly: Double-check for broken links, missed pages, or wonky formatting before your new site goes live. Even though many migrations are automated, there can be failures or edge cases that aren’t perfect.

Pro Tip:

Batch migrations can limit headaches. An B2B research client had thousands of insights, case studies, and product pages. By breaking up the content and moving them in small groups, we avoided big mishaps and kept things rolling. Staying organized and “clean” in your migraiton is critical for complex content, especially if pieces of content are related to one another.

Smart Approaches to Manual Content Entry

What Is Manual Content Entry?

Content entry involves adding new or transferred information to your updated site. While it might seem like an easy job, mistakes in this step can lead to mismatched layouts and jumbled pages.

Typical Hiccups When Filling Pages

• Manual Errors: Simple copy-paste mistakes or missing tags can disrupt flow. This is especially true if you’re moving from another platform.
• Time Management: Large sites take plenty of time to fill, especially without enough help.

How to Make Content Entry Easier

1. Use a Content Management System (CMS): Tools like WordPress or Shopify make adding and managing content much simpler, even for those without a tech background.
2. Batch Uploads Save Time: Whenever possible, add groups of pages or blog posts together. A CSV import is usually faster and cleaner than one page at a time.

Nailing Content Formatting

Why Formatting Should Never Be an Afterthought

Even the best-written page loses its appeal if laid out poorly. Messy formatting gets in the way of visitors and strains credibility.

Common Issues in Formatting

• Device Display: Pages need to look great on phones, tablets, and desktops alike.
• Last-Minute Surprises: Rushed updates near launch sometimes don’t match existing page styles or buttons.

Guidelines for Consistent Formatting

1. Use Patterns: Make sure to keep your formatting patterns consistent across pages. Using patterns across sections, makes it easier for users to understand the content of your site.
2. Clear Formatting: Using the “clear formatting” button and resetting your content hierarchy can be faster for reformatting content than trying to work with whatever came from your source content.
3. Follow Accessibility Standards: Use clear text sizes, color contrasts, and descriptive image text to meet accessibility guidelines.
4. Double-Check Responsiveness: Preview major pages on multiple devices and browsers so everyone gets a consistent view.

Pro Tip:

Use AI to help you format your content. You can ask AI to clean up your content to get it ready for posting. For example, if you’re moving to the WordPress block editor, try asking it to reformat your content as block editor code that you can paste into the HTML view of your content.

Ensuring Your Redesign Pays Off

Here’s what we’ve learned from projects that finished on time and created happy clients:

• Start Content Planning Early: Get your writing and editing tasks lined up before the design phase.
• Include Stakeholders: Ask for team input so your new site supports company needs beyond marketing.
• Set Honest Deadlines: Make room for rewrites and approval cycles.
• Think User First: Prioritize navigation and clarity. The best sites welcome visitors instead of confusing them.

Final Takeaway

Website redesigns come with fantastic opportunities, but only when you focus on your content from the first draft to the last upload. When you plan for content just as carefully as design, the result is a site that delights users and stands up to future needs.

Looking for support to make your content process smoother? Get in touch, and we’ll help you get it right.