A website redesign is much more than a visual facelift. With technology advancing at an unprecedented pace, companies must proactively respond to the changing ways customers find and consume content online. How often you redesign your website can have a significant impact on your ability to reach customers and stand out from competitors.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no rulebook on a website redesign, but the power of observation reveals that organizations with a strong online presence tend to change their website at least every three years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why three years? There are several reasons why proactive companies wait no longer than that to update or overhaul their web design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the timeline may vary to an extent in different industries, three years is approximately how long you can wait before it becomes necessary to adapt to changing technology, trends, and browsing habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any longer than that and the site will start to fall behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within a three-year period, it\u2019s practically inevitable that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any one of these changes is enough to justify at least a minor change to a company\u2019s website. Depending on the website\u2019s structure, or the time that has passed since the last redesign, it may be necessary to undertake a more significant overhaul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, we\u2019ll look at how these changes can have an impact on the bottom line. Redesigning a website is about more than updating its appearance, but the visual design does matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like music tastes, fashion trends and more, the web industry changes daily and so do its trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first impression customers have of a site is its colours, layout, graphics, photos, and other visual elements. If the site looks unappealing or outdated (especially compared to your competitors), customers are less likely to explore its contents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The look and feel of a website is akin to a storefront. If a store looks shabby on the outside, you probably aren\u2019t going to step inside, especially if there\u2019s a competitor down the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having an appealing, easy-to-use website show customers that a company is growing and on top of current trends. It’s important to incorporate new designs, upgrade efficiencies in code and practice new technologies that can improve the speed or overall user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may not succeed by look and feel alone, but it certainly helps. Ten years ago, only a small percentage of website traffic came from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Now, mobile browsing accounts for 56% of web traffic worldwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, Google plans to begin ranking websites based on mobile versions first, making it essential to have a responsive, mobile-friendly site<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shift to mobile browsing is just one example of how consumer trends can change drastically in a short time. Voice search<\/a> is another powerful force that is changing how people find goods and services online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It pays to be proactive in redesigning a site in response to these trends. While many businesses are rushing to bring their sites up to speed, those that implemented mobile-friendly sites years ago are reaping the benefits. A business\u2019s website should always be consistent with its current branding and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many customers who learn about products, services and promotions offline go online to find more details. If there\u2019s no trace of them on the business\u2019s website, it could cost the company what could have been a lucrative lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s even worse is if the website has an outdated logo or tagline, leading customers to wonder if they\u2019re even in the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if the business doesn\u2019t sell or offer services online, a well-designed website can reinforce and amplify its other marketing and branding initiatives. It should change and evolve with the overall marketing strategy. Search engine optimization should be on the agenda at your very first redesign strategy meeting. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because even an outdated or underperforming website has SEO value. Search engines have crawled its content, indexed its pages, and given the site authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last thing you want to do is hurt your current rankings through a poorly-planned redesign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well-intentioned web designers can inadvertently do damage through mistakes like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important to keep SEO in mind to preserve a site\u2019s SEO value during a redesign, and actively monitor keyword rankings, organic traffic, and backlinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As search engines evolve, so do SEO tactics. Google tweaks its algorithm 500-600 times each year<\/a>, so there is always something you can do to improve your site. Proactively optimizing for SEO during a website redesign is far more time- and cost-effective than continually fixing a poorly-designed site. Websites exist for a reason, whether it\u2019s to generate leads, sell products, raise brand awareness, or get customers through the door. If a site isn\u2019t contributing to a business objective or is doing so less effectively, it\u2019s time to examine how this could be improved through a website redesign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A site should reflect the company\u2019s current goals. When those goals change, so should the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Websites are no longer simply a data-driven, content-based items. They’re a storytelling device, and a crucial piece of your marketing funnel. This is why UX\/UI design have become the forefront for many agency websites, designed with a mind to the user journey. The web is constantly changing and evolving. It’s not only style and design sensibilities that shift – web standards are also moving forward, opening the door to new tools and technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One addition that has made an impact over the past few years is the use of CSS Variables<\/a> to create interactive elements, something we never had access to in previous renditions. We’ve also seen the rise of Progressive Web Applications, which could well be the future of any web project. We already have apps that auto automize our images, text, code and more, and as this trend moves forward, we will be capable of building websites increasingly faster, leaner ways.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Keeping Up with Web Design Trends<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Responding to Customer Browsing Habits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Aligning with Branding and Marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n5. Meeting Business Objectives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n6. Leveraging New Technologies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n