Jul 12 2010
In my 10 years as a web designer I've noticed that there are roughly 5 reasons a business owner decides to have their site redesigned:
- The information is out of date;
- The look and feel is out of date;
- The company has changed in some way;
- They have a new feature to add to the site;
- Their offering has changed somehow.
(Or they just feel like it but use the look/feel reason above.)
These reasons aren't terrible reasons to redesign, but they're not great either. At least not on their own. My experience has shown me that many business owners are so busy looking at the larger picture that as soon as something doesn't work right away, they're either off paying ridiculous amounts of money for another "solution" or they pay for updating (or redesigning) the thing that isn't working. While finding a new solution or redesigning the current one can work, it doesn't mean it will.
After speaking with business/website owners, what I often find is that the reasons such as those listed previously really indicate that a business' site is underperforming. Yes, it's important to keep your information up to date. Yes, a modern look/feel is important too. Sure, if your company has changed somehow, your website needs to reflect that. New feature? Of course it makes sense to make some changes to the site. And yes, adjusting your site for that new or modified product or service is a good idea. But none of these things automatically mean a full redesign.
Too many people think of the process of developing a website as a finite thing: It gets designed and then you're done. In reality, this is a recipe for major disappointment on the part of the business owner and often accusations of incompetence toward the web designer(s). Once your site has been launched it should continually be evaluated, tweaked and maintained on more than just a spell-checking or fact-checking level. Not doing so means that you're not using your site to its true marketing potential, which means you're missing out on what could be a lucrative asset to your business.
A complete redesign can be jarring to frequent visitors. Sometimes it can be a pleasant surprise, but depending on your business, it also means having visitors familiarize themselves with it again. This can cause the whole project and its goals to backfire, causing you to have to start from square one. Why? Because redesigning doesn't always mean the underlying issue of an underperforming site will get addressed, let alone solved. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater, if you will.
Redesigning an e-commerce website that is continously losing sales in the checkout process doesn't automatically mean sales will go up. Instead, doing a little testing and finding out why sales are being lost can be a lot more affordable than bulldozing and rebuilding. Think of it this way, when your car is making a funny sound or just isn't driving like it should, do you ask your mechanic to rebuild the engine without finding out what the issue is? Of course not. You find out the issue and then weigh your options. Your website (or any other marketing tool) really isn't that different.
None of this means that redesigns are pointless or unnecessary. On the contrary, sometimes the symptoms your site has may point to larger problems that really only make sense with a full redesign. And of course, there are times when a face lift is needed purely for branding reasons. But how do you know when it's appropriate to redesign and when it's appropriate to measure, test and tweak?
There are a lot of factors that go into making that decision, many of which start with your own comfort level and ROI of your website. But to make that decision on your own would be unwise. Don't just hire the cheapest web design studio or the one that gives you the answers you want to hear. Look for and work with the web design agency that is going to listen and ask questions that will help you identify the areas where your website could improve your bottom line. One that isn't going to suggest a redesign right away should you go to them with your site's performance issues, but actually provide you with recommendations.
The key here is to truly partner and collaborate with a web design company. That means you have to put in the effort too. But it is your business, so why wouldn't you?