When Should You Re-Design Your Website?
Is your website overdue for a redesign? Have you updated your products and/or services? Or have you rebranded your business, and now want your website to match?
The questions above are common reasons why people decide to redesign their brand’s website. But businesses redesign their websites more often than you might think, and for a host of various reasons.
When is the right time for you to redesign your website, and what factors should you consider? Read our 3 key recommendations for deciding to redesign your website.
How often should I redesign my website?
Some companies seem to do a complete redesign every year, while others will introduce a new website every two to three years — or more. But how often should you redesign your brand’s website? It’s difficult to say an exact number because several factors are involved, such as the industry you’re in, the products and/or service you offer, and the target audience you want to reach.
Instead of reviewing your website so often, the best practice for maintaining a healthy site is to constantly re-evaluate it. These continuous evaluations might reveal opportunities for you to make minor changes to the site over time, rather than having to make significant changes in a large redesign once every few years.
Here are some key questions to ask yourself while evaluating the design of your website:
Is my content strong enough? Does it speak to the audience I want to attract?
Is the navigation clear for prospective and current customers? Are they able to find what they’re looking for?
Does my site cater to current trends within my industry? How does my site compare to what my competitors are doing?
Why do I need to consider a redesign?
Times change, industries change, and most importantly, technology changes. You want to use the best tools available to provide a seamless, user-friendly experience for your customers. It’s more important than ever to keep track of the latest technology updates and ensure that your website looks good from any device — especially mobile devices. Not only will your audience likely be on mobile, Google also ranks mobile-friendly websites higher up in their search results. Bottom line? If your website isn’t designed with mobile in mind, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities.
But a website design is often more than just applying a new look and feel to your site. A successful redesign can elevate your branding and site appearance, but it can also refresh the navigation and flow of content.
Remember, your website is your most important digital asset to your brand. Your site design should not only complement your company, it should function as your top spokesperson. Prospective customers who can easily navigate your website are more likely to get in touch with you, driving profitable business.
What are the search engine benefits?
Search engines thrive on finding new content. The goal of most search engines is to showcase the most current and most relevant sites for a specific search query. Looking to increase brand awareness? You want to appear in these top search results, and that means you need to consistently provide new, relevant content.
However, search engine optimization (SEO) is a double-edged sword when it comes to your website redesign. You need to factor in a number of steps when redesigning your website that will allow you to maintain your current rankings. For example, your URL is key to your SEO. If the redesign is drastic enough, then the unique page addresses could change. To keep your rank in the search results, you should do one of two things: Keep the same URL or make sure to put the proper redirects in place with the new URL.
Ultimately, the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality does not apply to websites. The internet is constantly evolving and in order to be a leader in your industry, you must embrace constant change and improvement.
Looking for an efficient and economical solution to redesign your website? Bamboo Reach helps entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking for fresh, updated websites that suit their business needs. Contact us for more information or fill out the form below!