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Is Website Redesign For You?

Almost every business has been through a website redesign in their lifetime.

Whether it’s for increasing leads, launching new products, going mobile or just to increase the site’s effectiveness, a redesign is a great way to recharge and breathe new life into your online presence.

This blog reviews the acceptable and unacceptable reasons for website redesign.

You want to build your awareness and increase visitors

The main reason your company website exists is to attract visitors and encourage them to buy your product or service. If your website is  poorly designed it could be having the exact opposite effect.

Visitors may assume if your website is crap then your product or service must be crap too. If you feel that the design of your pages is giving off a bad impression of your company, it may be a good time to consider redesigning your website.

OK, you are getting visitors but they are not buying

You may be in the position that your website looks good, but it is not converting visitors into leads or customers. If this is the case, consider testing different landing pages and calls to action (CTA) to see if they are enticing visitors. Perhaps your landing pages are too complicated or the language used in your CTA’s are unclear.

Is my website compatible with mobile browsing?

If your website was designed a while back, you may be losing potential prospects. As people now use newer web browsers and access content across different mobile devices, you need to be sure that your site is compatible across all of these platforms. If it is not, you should redesign your website to give users the ability to access it from anywhere.

You want to improve or change your perceived value

If you are trying to grow your company through your brand, a website redesign could be helpful to build stronger association. You should only redesign a website to improve branding as long as it is based around on increasing leads and sales. If you are satisfied with your number of leads, but are looking to start a new branding campaign, you are likely changing your website for one of the wrong reasons.

Why you should not get a website redesign

We want to adopt a new look and feel

Are you trying to adopt a new corporate look and feel? This is not a good reason to redesign your website. Keep in mind the that your company website is supposed to be designed for your customers, not your own needs. Focus on maintaining a website that makes it easy for potential customers to locate any information they may be looking for.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It’s been 12 months since our last website redesign

There is no rule that says you need to update your website within a certain time period. Time frames since the last redesign should not come into play when choosing to redesign your site. Web users become comfortable with your website over time and will not appreciate it if your website is constantly changing.

The boss likes change

The big boss is bored with your current website design. That’s a shame, but it is a very poor reason to completely redesign your website to make him/her happy. Performing a complete site redesign may be great for creating temporary excitement, but that feeling will be short lived and you will end up coming to the same conclusion is it producing visitors and customers.

Our main competitor has redesigned their website

It is actually a good to compare your website to your competitors’ websites, but just because they change something does not mean that you need to. It’s exactly like what your teacher used to say, if they decided to jump off a bridge would you do the same? Your goal is to lead, not to follow.

You can improve on your favourite aspects of your competitor’s website, but do not change yours just to stay on pace with their changes. If you’re constantly playing catch up you will ultimately fall behind. And who said your competitors are doing it right?

To conclude, redesigning your website can be very beneficial to your business, but only if it is done for the right reasons. If you are simply looking to improve the aesthetics of your webpage, you will be committing a lot of time and effort for a minimal return.

What may appear fresh and exciting in your eyes may appear unnecessary and confusing to your customers. Your redesign focus should be on improving the functionality and performance of your website to drive traffic and create leads for your business.