So it’s been a while since you launched your website and you’re starting to get bored of it. Maybe your competitors just launched a new site and you feel that yours now pales in comparison. Could it be time for a redesign?
As a professional developer, I often feel pressured to redesign my website as often as possible to show off my design and development chops and to stay relevant.
If you’re a business owner, you might feel the same way about your brand. A lot of businesses redesign their websites every 2-3 years, but I don’t think they always know why. It’s worth stopping to think about why you want the redesign before you do the same.
When not to do a redesign
1. You’re bored of the old design
One of the worst reasons to redesign your site is getting bored with
2. Your competitor has a new website
Just because your competitor has redesigned does not mean that their new website will perform well. It’s also good to remember that you are not your competitor. If you always try to copy whatever your competitor is doing, you’re going to get stuck in the loop where you’re always following in their footsteps when you should be leading.
3. There’s something about the old design that I don’t like
This point resonates with me a lot because I fell into this trap very recently. I wasn’t feeling certain parts of my website anymore. I was dead set on a redesign. Several, actually. After I spent a couple of weeks redesigning my website I realised that my website didn’t need an entire redesign, so I updated my fonts and colours on the website and it started looking a lot better.
If you implement them well, small, meaningful changes can mean a lot more than an entire redesign.
When to do a redesign
1. Your website is not performing well
Okay, so again this may not require a complete redesign and you could improve this by making smaller changes, but it’s important to note that this is likely your website’s main function. Your website exists so that possible clients can get information about your business and to engage with you.
If your content is being displayed in a bland or old-fashioned way or perhaps the website is too confusing to navigate, you have a big problem. If this is the case, it’s time to get in contact with a digital marketing/web design agency to get your website back on track.
2. Your website is not responsive
According to statista.com, mobile internet traffic accounted for 48% of all internet traffic in 2018. If your website is not optimised for mobile devices, you’re losing out on many possible leads that could help grow your business.
3. It takes forever to load
As our connections to the internet grow ever faster, so does the expectations of your users. If a website doesn’t load within a couple of seconds, many users will leave before it even finishes. Not only that, but Google also penalises slow loading websites. This means you’ll struggle to rank against competitors on Google which is a very bad thing.
In closing
There are many more reasons why you should or shouldn’t redesign your website. Always use your intuition to determine whether or not it is necessary to do a redesign.
My only hope is that next time you get the urge to redesign your website, you remember this article and you give it a good amount of thought before spending too much time, money or both.
