Corporate website redesign in Japan – preview your new company site first

Four pillars of a corporate website redesign

Your corporate site works like your company brochure and business card combined. When you plan a corporate website redesign, thinking in terms of who visits and why makes it clear what to keep and what to add.

• Brand: do the logo, colors and photo style match the business today? Are the CEO message and mission written in current language?
• IR and company information: are the company profile, history, officers, financial documents and news easy to find and up to date?
• Recruiting: can candidates move from job content and team stories to requirements and the application form without getting lost?
• English pages: can overseas partners and international applicants understand what you do and how to contact you?

You can rebuild one pillar at a time. Start with the one causing the most trouble right now, and scope and budget become much easier to decide. If you are building a company site from scratch, see our guide to corporate website creation.

Signs your company site no longer fits your company

Corporate sites often stall after launch as people change roles. If several of these apply, it is time to consider a renewal.

• The business has shifted, yet the home page still features a service from years ago
• The latest news or IR post is over a year old, so the company looks inactive
• The careers page is only a link to a job board and says nothing about the culture
• The English section is one literally translated profile page or an old PDF
• On a phone, tables and text in the company profile break or become hard to read
• Only one person can update the site, or every change goes through an agency

Clients and candidates almost always check your site before a meeting or interview. Ask your sales and HR staff what bothers them when they share the URL – their answers point straight to the first fixes.

A department-by-department redesign checklist

Several departments have a stake in the corporate site. Collect answers to these questions before production starts and you avoid most late-stage rework.

• Management and PR: how would you describe the company in one line? Logo rules, naming conventions and approved photos
• IR: which documents to publish, how often, how far back to keep archives, and the disclaimer text
• HR: open roles, separate paths for new graduates and mid-career hires, and whether staff interviews or photos are possible
• Sales and international: what to say in English, who answers foreign inquiries and in which language, your key markets
• Site editors: who posts news, how often, and who approves it

For English, you can translate every page or focus on business overview, company profile and contact. While overseas inquiries are few, starting with the focused version and watching the response is the practical choice. Put all answers in one shared sheet so everyone decides from the same information.

What to carry over and check before launch

Corporate domains tend to be old, with years of inbound links and search history behind them. Check these points before switching to the new design.

• 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones, especially IR PDFs and careers pages
• Links on job boards, press releases and partner sites still lead somewhere valid
• Contact and application forms send to the right inbox, with correct auto-reply text
• Address, phone and representative name match your Google Business Profile and other listings
• GA4 and Search Console carry over, so you can compare traffic before and after

Our guide to SEO during a site renewal walks through protecting search traffic step by step. For renewals of any kind of site, see website renewal.

How UNANOBO renews corporate sites: see the result first

When several departments have opinions, looking at the finished direction early saves the most time. UNANOBO builds a free demo of your new corporate site, centered on the home page and based on your current content and brand. Share the link internally and collect feedback while everyone clicks through it on a computer and phone.

The process is free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally, from the first demo to improvements after launch, and everything runs by message in Japanese or English – including the wording of your English pages. To start, send your current site address and tell us which pillar you most want to fix.