How do you know when it’s time to redesign your Web site?
It seems like some businesses and organizations redesign there sites every few months while others never do.
Here are a few ways you can tell when it’s time to redesign your Web site:
1. If your Web site is more than five years old, it’s time for a redesign
Technologies and styles change. What worked a few years ago may be stale today. Your Web site may have been great for its time, but design standards are different today. Your site may function just fine, but the Web evolves quickly and it’s important to keep pace. If your design hasn’t changed in more than five years, you’re sending signals to your visitors that your organization doesn’t change with the times.
A few years ago, many Web sites had navigation on the left and were aligned to the left side of the screen. Today, most are in the center of the screen. Monitors have gotten larger, so newer sites tend to be wider. New sites can be more engaging and interactive because users are more sophisticated. More and more people are connecting at high speeds. If your Web site design hasn’t changed in five years, bid it a fond farewell.
2. If your identity has changed significantly, it’s time for a redesign
Has your logo changed since your Web site was created, or have you created new marketing materials that don’t fit with your current Web site? A consistent message and identity is important. If you present the same message on your website, on printed materials, and elsewhere, people will understand your organization and what you do without confusion.
If the style and feel of your marketing has changed since your Web site was designed, it’s time to redesign your site so it reflects your other promotional efforts.
3. You’re not ranking well in the search engines
With planning and foresight, a Web site redesign can help your site place higher in the search engines. Perhaps the pages on your site are too broadly focused, for example. If you narrow the focus of each page, they’ll come up higher. Maybe the overall organization and structure of your Web site isn’t search engine-friendly. If you search for your products and services on the Web and your site isn’t placing in the top 30, a redesign may be in order. It may be that simply optimizing your Web site for the search engines will give you the results you need.
4. Your site has grown and grown and is difficult to use, or your site doesn’t work
If your site is unwieldy and hard for people to use or, worse yet, doesn’t work anymore, it’s definitely time to redesign it and fix these problems. Are there links to nowhere? Have pages that used to look great evolved into a sloppy mess? If your site just doesn’t work anymore, for whatever reason, a redesign can fix it.
5. If you have new business requirements
If your business has changed significantly since your site was designed, it’s time for a Web site redesign. Maybe your product line or the services you offer has changed. Or you have new software that you want your website to “talk to”. Perhaps visitors have requested new features (check your email to find out), like private online areas, event registration or online payments. Maybe your staff has new ideas about how to use the Web to save time or money. (Ask them!)
6. If you want to change how you manage the Web site
We hear from prospective clients all the time about how hard it’s been to get other companies to update their Web sites in a timely manner. While we’re committed to making fast and correct changes to your website, we know that, sometimes, it makes sense for you to update the site yourself, whenever you want.
If you want to change how you manage your Web site, consider a robust content management system. Today’s content management systems, including WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, can offer design and functional options than you might imagine.
7. You need new ways to engage visitors
If visitors aren’t doing what you want them to do on your Web site, it’s probably time to look at the design. Could the text be shortened or made easier to read? Is the response process too long and involved? Or is it too hard for people to find what they need? Sometimes, issues are obvious to any professional. Other times, it may not be apparent what’s causing problems. As long as you follow three basic rules (get representative customers, ask them to perform realistic tasks and be quiet while they do the talking) you only need 5 users to uncover most problems with your Web site.
8. If “you’re” sick of looking at it, it’s time for a redesign.
Even the best designs can get old after a while. If you’re tired of looking at the same old Web site, your visitors probably are too. If it seems like it’s been too long since you’ve changed the look of your site, it probably is.