When is it time to redesign your Website?

Since trends, styles and technologies are ever changing; the key of online marketing is to keep your Web Site fresh and updated. So, how do you know when it’s time to redesign your Website?

Firstly, answer these questions: does your Web Site reflect what your company stands? Have you updated your Website lately? Does your Web site transmit what you want to communicate today? If the answer is no, then you should start working immediately!

But that’s not all. If your answer is yes, you still have to take a look at your Web site and compare it to those of your competitors; does it look outdated, colorless, and not attractive? Pages load very slowly? Does its simplicity make it too simple and therefore lacking tools? Isn’t it user-friendly? Does it have incomplete information? Organic traffic from search engines is low? Now, if you would answer the above questions with a yes, then it is time to redesign your Web site.

Due to the constant technological advances, a Web Site that is not regularly updated will suffer several negative consequences. Competitors will take advantage of it and will attract more prospects than you. Hey! What are you waiting to stay ahead of the game!

More important reasons to redesign could be:

• If your Web site was built over five years ago, probably technology and web standards have been modified. Today, you need to use CSS/XHTML to manage your Web site. This will help you optimize on Search Engines, improve easy access to your site and ease up updating in the future.

• A Web site completely built in Flash is perfectly beautiful and looks very professional, but it will give little or no content to search engines to scan, and therefore will pull you downwards in the rankings.

• If you have gone through re-branding or a change of look with your print materials, you will obviously need to do a complete make-over. Leaving it with the old looks will probably confuse your customers.

• If your business is growing rapidly, then it might be time for you to look into e-commerce for some of your products and services, maybe a Content Management System or even including a blog.

• If the leads and sales you have are not from your Web site you might want to take a good look all possible improvements you can do to make it profitable, you should make sure you have proper content on your Web site and contact forms so people can get in touch with you easily.

Tips for the redesigning process

1) Make it easier on your customers. Clients may get used to find your products and identify each section is a specific way. It’s hard to suddenly change their online routine. For that reason, you must be careful in order to avoid confusion. Your new Website “face-lifting” has to be functional and easy to use. Your goal is to maintain and attract new visitors, right? So, remember it is not likely that low-loading pages will keep visitors coming back for more. In addition, include contact forms, shopping carts, banners and newsletters that also help you stay in touch with them. Including online paying systems the likes of major Credit Cards or PayPal can also help you ease your transactions without additional work to be done.

All these things will result in additional income from your Web site, and this will prove how important it is to plan a Website redesign to keep it up-to-date.

2) Keep a provisional Web site for the redesigning period. There is nothing worse than wanting to visit a Web site that is under maintenance or construction. Clients can get really annoyed if they are not able to enter because you decided to stop working for a while. They want things to be fast and effective. They key is to still be effective and avoid been seen as lazy and unprofessional.

3) Redesigning is also a great marketing and PR opportunity. It’s a good time to contact your current customers and prospects and the press too. You can communicate that you are making some changes and in this way become more popular. Additionally, consider doing an event with them, where you show your new image. Then, you add pictures on your Web site as well as comments made by your guests. In this sense, your transformation will not only be virtual, but also real!

4) Become 2.0 and use attractive tools such as videos, colors and images. Become modern and fresh! Add multimedia tools which are fashionable today. But, do not overload your Web site. Try to find equilibrium in order to achieve the precise combination of music, texts, images and videos. If you excessively recharged it, then you will saturate your audience. The actual trend is modern, but functional. Use the proper amount of text, videos, music and images.

5) Hire a creative design team. Carefully choose the designers who are going to help you. Here, communications are crucial! Pencil on the items you want for your new website, and ask your web designer about these changes. Get together with the team and come up with ideas; let them know your vision, goal, and objectives. You should inform them the image you are willing to reflect. Moreover, trust on their creative advice and get involved!

In conclusion, redesigning is a must in order to be on truck in the online marketing field. It should be a priority! Your Web Site is like your “face” to the world. Don’t forget your make up then! The right time is as soon as you see that your Web Site is failing in communicating who you are and what you do today. The right time is now!

If you need assistance, we are ready to help you. We have the required experience to redesign your Web site and bring your vision to life. Our philosophy of ‘design first’ is still proving success when applied to business. Just call us today at 1-800-932-2580.

Still want to read more on redesigning your Web site? Check out these articles!

Redesign Your Website To Become Web 2.0: Quick Tips

Website Facelifting – 5 Reasons Why You Should Do It?

Planning To Redesign Your Website? Check these Simple Tips

How Not to Redesign Your Website (A Marketing Lesson From NYTimes.com)

SEO Checklist For Your Website Redesign

How to Redesign Your Website to Play to Your Audience