How Often Should I Redesign My Website?
How often should I redesign my website is a question often asked by clients. The answer depends on several factors. Below are the most common reasons.
The shine of a newly designed website feels like getting a new pair of jeans. Your old pair still do the job, but the new jeans get looks from people and comments (normally good ones).
A design works to meet all your functionality requirements and visuals at a given time. Therefore, as things change, so will the initial needs and requirements evolve.
As a rule of thumb, every three years, you may need to redesign your website.
Why Do You Need to Redesign Your Website?
The Design Looks Outdated
A striking and fresh design is essential for websites. This will interest the user in viewing and exploring more of the website.
As there are trends in fashion, there are trends in website design. Templates visually change as aesthetic values change as well.
This goes as far as the typography and visual effects to use. As your competition keeps up with those trends, so should you.
Keeping up with the latest design trends encourages users to view your site because it makes you look modern and relevant.
Poor User Experience
Perform regular checks on your analytics. Find out which pages are getting high bounce rates.
Investigating your site analytics will pinpoint what could be causing users to leave your website.
Work On Zeroing In On The Cause:
- What page is leading to their leaving?
- What is on that page?
- Can it be changed?
If the page is determined as not being the cause, look at the overall experience.
- Are users finding all the information easily?
- Is the page taking a long time to load?
Another tool you can use on the website is a pop-up comment box. This may possibly lead to feedback on what the issue is.
Change In Business
Businesses evolve over time, and you may have taken a different direction or added other services.
As the business is restructuring, the requirements of your website should change to accommodate those changes.
Some websites have team pages, displaying all members of the organisation. These must be kept up to date.
Has there been a change in the vision and mandate? It is essential to make these changes.
New Technology
There is a new technology developed almost every day to make basic functions easier and more efficient.
The internet is brimming with new techniques to enhance the user’s experience. These simplify and automate the management of your site.
Another problem with old sites is outdated plugins or functions.
These could cause major security breaches for custom-written code. This can cause a lag in functions and the loading of your website, due to the lack of regular updating of code.
Mobile Optimisation
Ensuring your website is mobile-friendly is pivotal. Especially in today’s world.
Websites are accessed via mobile phones more than ever. In this age, we do most of our online shopping on our phones as our mobile devices are the most convenient.
Not only is this relevant for cell phones. iPads and tablets, which have varied screen dimensions, require the site to be adaptive too.
Rebranding
This is the change of the organisation’s corporate image.
This could be done by renaming or changing the logo and vision, resulting in the development of another identity to shift the consumer, competition, and stake holder’s perception of the company.
When To Redesign Your Website?
Dating back to when you launched your site, major developments may have occurred in your business.
This can be both from external and internal factors that drive the change in the organisation.
Internal Influences
These factors initiate a change in the organisation, within the organisational structure.
Have Your Goals Changed?
The goals of an organisation can shift, expand, or change, leaving the original goals non-existent. At that point the website that was defined by those old goals becomes obsolete.
The website will not represent the current status of the business.
Have You Added New Product Ranges?
As organisations grow, there may be a need to expand on the services offered and introduce new products.
Write-ups and imagery of the products need to be displayed and introduced to your clientele.
Have You Updated Your Brand?
Major brand updates come with an amended logo, a change in the vision statement, and possibly a change in the company name.
These all warrant a change in any brand marketing, with websites being the biggest tool.
What is visible is taken as law in the eyes of the customer. Having a mismatch on the site versus what is on the ground is a red flag to any customer.
Have You Changed Staff?
Staff changes may lead to various changes in services and products. This may even trigger a rebrand.
The website is a visual representation of the current state of the organisation. Keeping it as up-to-date as possible is paramount.
External Influences
These are factors that have been imposed on the company due to various changes in the business environment or the needs of the clients.
Customer Reaction
First impressions are very important, especially to first-time customers.
The website should be intuitive to the customer’s needs and hassle-free. Amassing conversions (visitors that become paying customers) means you have a great site.
If you have not seen your website in a while – pay it a visit. What are your first impressions?
These thoughts may be exactly what your potential clients are thinking too – are they good or bad?
Recommended Reading: Customer Google Reviews
Competitor Websites
Another measure is to look at your competitor’s websites.
- Do those look better than your site?
- What more do they offer on their site?
- Do they have features that make manoeuvring around their site better?
Find things that could possibly make your site equally compelling – if not better.
External influences work to better your services and keep you competitively ahead of your competitors.
Reasons For A Website Overhaul And Redesign
There are a couple of things that warrant an immediate redesign.
Looking at them subjectively, some have more weight and could alone instigate the redesign process.
Outdated And Unappealing Design
Keep up with design trends and competitor templates. This will ensure that you look as professional and reputable as your competitors.
Features And Elements Not Working
This is a big problem aesthetically. Having issues with some of your elements can leave your site looking unprofessional.
Examples are:
- images not loading
- sliders not fitting the page
- mismatched images
All features must work, and work efficiently.
Slow Page Load
Warranted this can be caused by a lot of things.
Outdated code, redundant data, and objects, the use of unoptimised images, etc.
Recommended Reading: What Is Image Optimisation?
No Social Media Presence
Your website should work in tandem with your social media profiles.
Ideally, all should be interlinked.
This makes it easy if a user has found relevant information and wants to share their experience. They can quickly post and tag your website on their social media
Same as on the social media profiles (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). A user should be able to find the link to visit your website.
This synchronicity could lead to more traffic visiting your site.
The Website Is Not Mobile Friendly
Any website that is not made to be adaptive to mobiles alienates a very large part of the population.
Due to convenience, many users have access to mobile devices, as well as desktop machines at home.
Major Traffic With Minor Conversion
This is normally caused by inconsistencies and navigation issues in your site.
Potential clients are not being able to manoeuvre around your site and find what they want.
No Traffic
The content on the site may be outdated. The keywords have not been edited to suit the buzz words needed for search engines to point to the site.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) research must be done regularly. Keep up with new requirements that are mandated by search engines.
Redesign Strategy
Plan for Longevity
Make sure that when the website is launched, everything is up to date.
Utilise the latest features, extensions, and plugins. This ensures that they will stay relevant for a longer time, elongating the shelf life of your website.
With a longer shelf life, another redesign will not be in the immediate future.
Make The Website Simple To Manage
Design a website that your team can manage with little or no need for external expertise.
This allows for a more up-to-date website with relevant information.
Your web designer will have to create a manual or instruct your staff.
Online Shop
An online shop can be managed by the staff.
Adding new products, stock control, and shipping slips can all be done in-house.
Some designs come with automated functions. which could have the staff doing less and only monitoring the stock levels.
Blog
The staff should be able to write content pieces that can be uploaded to the site with automatic or delayed posting.
Also, open a comment facility for the articles to allow readers to further inquire.
Chat Function
This powerful tool can be used to create relationships with your customers. This fosters a culture of communication and feedback.
This is very useful. You can get information from the customer quickly, especially if they are having a problem.
One can then work on bettering the situation and retaining the client.
Website Maintenance Never Stops
Maintenance will never stop.
So why is WordPress maintenance important for your website?
Product management, plugin updates, content management, all work to make your website better than before.
Keep a regular maintenance schedule. This ensures that a complete redesign will not happen as frequently.
So How Often Should I Redesign My Website?
The question of when and how often you should redesign your website depends on many influences.
All these should be assessed and looked at regularly, with regular updates and maintenance being a core procedure.
Keeping your website up to date will definitely increase the longevity of your website, but eventually a complete redesign will be inevitable.
Trends and styles change, and you must keep up to date to entice new viewers and keep your regular visitors coming back.
Generally, an overhaul is required every 3 years or so.
