Last week we released part 1 of this series of redesign articles where we talked about how you can take visual stock of your site to help determine if it needs a redesign. This week we’re releasing part 2, which takes a closer look at your site and your business, starting with history and delving into some analytics.
You want to look at your company or organization’s business before you take a look at your site, because this can really affect whether you need a redesign or not and what the requirements of that redesign might need to be.
Here are some things to look at on a closer level:
Have you changed your business model since your last website redesign?
A lot of people have changed their business model a bit lately, and are now beginning to think about whether they are going to keep that model going forward. How about you?
Have you pivoted to more online sales recently? Do you plan to stick with this avenue of revenue going forward? Will you be ending various sales or promotions as businesses are allowed more in-person shopping? Maybe you have one type of product that you’re focusing on as opposed to what used to be your #1 money maker in the past… Maybe you are no longer selling as many cogs and are now selling more sprockets and need to redirect your web traffic to make it easier for your customers to make those purchases. These are all good things to consider when deciding what to do with your website plans.
You can answer some basic business questions like:
- Are you reaching enough visitors?
- Are the visitors you are reaching the right ones?
- Does your website reflect the focus of your business?
- Are recent changes in your industry reflected on your website?
- Is your business growing?
- Are you (or will you soon be) focusing more on online sales more than brick and mortar and does your website support that?
If you answer no to any of the above, then you may want to think about a website redesign. These fundamental business questions are some good things to have answered before you decide where you want to go with your website redesign, as they could make a big difference on what kind of information and features would be best to have on your new site.
Have there been any iterative updates to your site since it was last redesigned?
Have you been making updates to your site on a regular basis? Not just content updates, but design and functionality updates. If you haven’t been trickling these updates into your site, you’ll definitely want to think about a full redesign, or at least a review of your site.
There are two ways that you can approach advancing your website, and there are benefits to doing them either way:
Periodic, sweeping website redesign
This is where you create your website, and other than updating content, the design and functionality remain the same for a significant period of time.
Pros: You don’t have to worry about your website functionality for a significant period of time. This is nice for business owners who are busy running their business. Also, your repeat users experience consistency… they get used to your site a certain way, and feel more comfortable using it.
Cons: A complete site redesign every few years can mean dropping a big chunk of change every few years. If you’ve planned and saved for that, it’s probably not a big deal, but if you didn’t, it might be a surprise expense you hadn’t thought ahead about. This is how a lot of people let their sites get very outdated to the point of breaking — they keep putting off the expense. Also, a sudden complete redesign can be a shock to your frequent users… all of the sudden everything is completely different.
If you choose to go this route, which is pretty common for small and medium business websites, we recommend that you begin looking into a site redesign no longer than three years after your last one, and plan ahead for the cost. A lot can change in three years, especially when it comes to web technology and what your users expect.
Iterative website redesign
This is an approach to website redesign where instead of occasionally making drastic changes to your site, you make small changes on a regular basis. This is really common among the big players, like Facebook. You’ve probably noticed how you may log in one day and there is a certain design or set of features, then you log in the next and maybe there is a new feature, or the design has changed slightly.
Pros: Making small changes over the course of time, you invest smaller chunks of money more frequently and avoid having to drop a big chunk of money all at once. Making changes gradually can also help your users ease into new functionality and design changes instead of just throwing it at them all at once. Also, if a design or functionality change does not go over well, it can more easily be reverted without affecting the rest of the site.
Cons: Iterative changes means that you have to be constantly thinking about your site and what you want out of it. This, in itself, is not a con, but that investment of time and energy can be a drain for smaller companies. Your website also should have a foundation that lends itself well to iterative updates. Some sites are just not set up to be constantly tweaked without a lot of effort and potential problems.
Which type of update approach is the best?
You’ll hear a lot of people argue that one approach is better than another, but it really does depend upon your preference and your site. For some sites and organizations (especially larger ones), iterative is a great idea because they have lots of repeat users and a good amount of time and energy to throw at their site. For others, especially smaller organizations and sites, a periodic redesign may be the best approach. Just be aware of which approach your site has been leaning toward, and if you have not made many (or perhaps any) design or functionality updates in the last three years, it’s probably time for a redesign.
Is it hard to find the most important content on your site?
What is the first thing that a visitor sees, before scrolling, when they come to your home page? If it doesn’t include an organized menu, who you are, what you do and what to do now, then you may want to think about a website redesign.
Understandably, your site will likely offer more than just one thing, and if your site offers a lot of things, that content should be presented in a way that makes it easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for.
Here are some specific things to look at to help determine if your visitors can easily find what they’re looking for:
Does your site have a main menu, available before scrolling, that is laid out in a sensible way? You may want to have someone unfamiliar with your site look at it and let you know what they think, because sometimes it may make sense to you, but not to your visitors.
Does your home page link to specific content on your site that your visitors are most likely to be looking for?
Does your site offer a search feature and is it easy to find? Having a search readily available for visitors helps them locate items on your site that they are looking for, and is especially important if you have a lot of content. Another thing you may want to take a look at is if the search feature works well… does it show too little or too much content? Does it consistently place the most relevant content at the top of searches?
Is your website difficult to edit?
One of the biggest reasons that a website gets out of date or becomes neglected is because it is hard to edit. Even expensive websites on reputable content management systems (CMSs) can be frustratingly difficult to edit. In this day, there are many options out there for website platforms that are easy to edit. Your next redesign should include one of these modern CMSs! These days, ease of use for editors does not have to be an expensive solution.
Do statistics show that your visitor base is flagging?
If you have statistics running on your website, take a look at the numbers.
Look at the number of users you’ve had over the last 12 or 24 months. View the results by day, week and month. Do you see any pattern that shows a reduction in number of users over that time period?
Similarly, take a look at your inbound referrals from search engines and third party sites over the same time period. Do you see a pattern that shows reduction in the number of referrals?
If you can answer yes to either of those questions, it may be time for some deeper analysis and potentially a redesign.
Still not sure if you need a website redesign? Get a second set of eyes!
Sometimes it can be hard to know if it’s time for a redesign. Just because you think your site is just fine, that doesn’t mean that your visitors agree.
If you didn’t see the first article in this redesign series, check it out! That may also help you determine whether or not your website needs a redesign. And if you’re still having trouble deciding whether or not your site really does need a redesign, just reach out to us for a consultation — the first one is free!
