Site redesign will sometimes give you more than just a new look. You can also take the opportunity to change functionality while introducing new elements to your site which might help you drive more traffic and get more exposure. One of the most frequently asked questions will likely be "When do we need a new site redesign?". Some will measure this by time and have a new (or partially new) site change based on a certain time period (e.g. around three years). Some will base the decision on content and will give the site a new look when they have an updated or improved section to add. If your website doesn't have a lot of new content to update and it has been running on the same design for a certain period of time then how can you tell that it might be the right time to consider a site design overhaul?
Here are some of the signs you might want to consider:
1) Time Sensitive Content Sometimes one might overlook something so simple. For example, the year on copyright footer might be outdated (e.g. does it still say 2012?). Problems like these can be easily corrected by some simple editing; however this also serves as a simple sign of how often your site is updated outside of just the page content. Even if the site design has no major problems, after a certain amount of time the website will need a design overhaul. Over time, general site design trends will change. As a result, certain design patterns that might have been popular five years ago, might not be so popular nowadays. You should constantly update to avoid your site appearing outdated.
2) New Hardware/Devices Websites are not limited to just PC or laptops any more. Now you can view a website through cell phones, tablets, game consoles or even with TVs that are sitting in our living rooms. If your website doesn't work well with any of these devices then you might want to consider updating it.
3) Hardware Limitation It is a well-known fact that IOS devices do not support Adobe Flash; however flash components are very common among websites from about 10 years ago. If your website is built using mainly Adobe Flash (e.g. menu or key component) then it will not work for these IOS device users. It is best practice to have your website viewable by all devices. As a result if your website has a component that relies on certain technologies that are not supported by some devices then you might want to consider redesigning your site or at least add exceptions to handle these situations.
4) Performance Is there a certain part of your site that is running very slowly or is taking a long time to load? Sometimes the problem can be caused by a network or hardware issue but other times it can be a design issue due to the increase in content size. Site redesign might help you address this issue and reduce the problem caused by these bottlenecks or bloated code.
5) Hard to Update Content Is updating different content on the site requiring different procedures? Are these procedures complicated? Can all the content be updated with the same content management system (CMS)? If updating site content becomes difficult and complicated it might reduce the frequency of the site being updated.
6) Legacy Content Does your site contain a lot of older content that is no longer in service? If that is the case you might want to redesign the obsolete parts or have them removed. If some third party site has a link to your obsolete content then you might be providing outdated information to the site visitors. In that case you will need to update your site often to avoid these problems. I hope these points help the next time you're wondering about your current website and whether or not it's time to begin the redesign process!
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