When should you redesign or refresh your website?

The look of your website is an essential factor to keep visitors exploring what you have to offer.

After some time, it may need some changes to improve the site’s performance. If you are unsure whether you should redesign or revamp your website, we have a list that can serve as your reference before making that decision.

When is the best time to redesign or refresh your website?

You know your website needs to have a fresh look when you notice any or all of the following:

1. The design looks old and outdated. It can’t keep up with the current time, the new taste of your target market and with your competitors.
2. When checking your website’s performance, you realise that there’s an increase in the bounce rate or the number of people who leave your site quickly.
3. You receive feedback that your customers are experiencing difficulty in finding what they need from your site.
4. Your content is not relevant, informative or optimised.
5. You don’t have a good SEO score.
6. Your website isn’t successful in converting leads, sales or purchases.

If you’ve been experiencing half or a majority of the mentioned items above, now is the time for you to update your website.

Before a website redesign, you first need to know how you want your “new” website to look. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before you start redesigning your website:

Does your website need a redesign or a refresh?

Refresh and redesign are two terms that have different meanings. The refresh means that your website will have little tweaks, but it will not affect the functionality of your website. It’s like a simple update on the design or an upgrade to the look and feel. A redesign on the other hand, is bringing an overhaul change to your site. It means you change the structure, design, and even content of your site.

What changes should you make?

Based on your goal, identify which changes you’d like to apply. What are the things you like about your current site? Which are the areas you can improve on? What are the things you’d like to add?

Review your competition and check what effective tools or methods they apply or use in their sites. Take note of these and see if they also work for your business. Additionally, you can study your target audience further and improve your website based on their desires and needs.

What are the other things you can do to improve your site’s performance?

Redesigning or refreshing your website should not only focus on the visual aspect. The changes should also improve the overall performance of your website. Other strategies to consider might be:

• Have a content marketing plan. To get new and recurring site visitors, you need to produce relevant and targeted content. Explore using different mediums too, like adding links to social media or adding videos to your site.
• Add a newsletter to your email marketing plan. Get your customer’s email address and reach out to them directly through monthly or quarterly newsletters.
• Optimise your content through SEO. Get more impact on your existing and new content through SEO.

Above all, make sure all these changes will be beneficial to your business and are aligned with your business goals.

Conclusion

Redesigning or refreshing a website will require the same effort and dedication as if you’re starting a website from scratch. For the change to be visible and effective, you have to know the specifics you want to achieve and should work with professional web designers to help you reach your goal.

We are a web design agency with offices in Milton Keynes and Hertfordshire. If you’re considering redesigning your website, contact us today or give us a call on 0800 690 6250!