How To Recognize That it's Time for a Website Redesign

Most businesses have had at least a few iterations of their website by now. A website refresh every three to five years is fairly commonplace, but how do you know when the time is right?

With modern web design techniques, you can create a design that on the surface is smooth and visually pleasing. But, there are other factors to consider that run more than skin deep. Here are a few of the most important aspects of your website to review when considering a website redesign.

Shifting Goals

Remember that your website design should always reflect your active business goals and current market positioning. Over time as businesses evolve, so do their main objectives. These objectives should be the main consideration when designing or redesigning a website.

Have you added a new product line or service? Are you developing a new vertical? Has there been a shift in lead generation techniques? Did you discover an additional persona you wish to target? Questions like these may lead you down the redesign path.

Small business changes may only require content updates while rebranding or other larger shifts in market positioning might benefit from a more complete redesign. Take a good look at your current goals and make sure your website is helping move them forward.

Underperformance

Your website should be a key component of your marketing and sales engine. If you’re not getting much benefit from your current site it could be time to think about a redesign.

Does your site have enough opportunities for visitors to convert? Do the design and content represent your organization well and portray product and service offerings attractively? Do visitors feel your site has a professional design and appear trustworthy?

While the goal is to have a high performing site that brings you business, also be realistic about your industry and customers. Judge performance based on sound benchmarks. Some businesses will continue to close most sales offline even in the digital age. Just make sure your website isn’t hurting those offline efforts.

Bad Foundation

Websites are like houses. Even if you’ve got a beautiful paint job you won’t want to live there if the roof leaks and there’s water in the basement. A website built on a shaky foundation may look passable but will cause headaches and extra expenses.

Is it difficult to add new content and features? Do you need to hire expensive programmers to make even simple changes? Do mobile visitors get a bad experience? Is the site slow and prone to showing errors or crashing? In the modern age, there is no excuse for issues like these.

There are so many great website CMS (content management system) platforms to choose from you should have no problem finding a solid website foundation that meets your needs. Open source choices like Wordpress and Drupal are great for tech-savvy teams or your marketing agency to build the site on.

Also, marketing automation platforms like Hubspot offer the ability to create your website, blog, landing pages, and email marketing content in one place. Systems like Hubspot also offer features like chat, popups and document management in one unified CMS. Find the best website builder here.

Industry Evolution

Sometimes a market will pivot dramatically, and you need to reevaluate your website just to stay competitive. If new website features are sweeping your industry it’s time to reevaluate your site.

It may be that high-resolution product photos are now the norm, or competitors are adding chat and other interactive features. Whatever the evolutionary changes are, make sure your site is still up to snuff. Periodically take a close look at what competitors are doing with their websites.

Keep a close eye on search rankings as well to see how new changes impact the organic search landscape. If you do a good job of staying on top of your own analytics, and really listening to what web visitors really want, you may even be ahead of curve and have competitors playing catch up with your website.

Creating a compelling and effective website is a sure fire way to take your business to the next level.  Digital marketing is essential to success in this age of the internet, so use these tools to their highest potential by polishing your website and showcasing the best of your brand online.  

For an in-depth course on how to effectively redesign your website, join us for our crash course!