If your company has been thinking about a website redesign and wondering when the best time is to do it, the short answer is now. Once you realize that your website needs an overhaul, it’s better to get started right away.
Do I Really Need A Redesign?
Your website often provides the first impression of your company to new visitors online. If your website has a poor design or is outdated, you may turn away visitors that you’ll never get back. Now, is that really a risk you want to take?
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In addition to providing a first impression, your website also is a place to build trust with your audience. The content on your website is one way to build trust, but also having a design that shows that your business is credible will make people more likely to do business with you.
These are just some of the signs that it might be time to revamp your site:
- It’s outdated. When was the last time it was updated?
- Difficult to navigate. People do not have patience for a site that is difficult to use or makes it hard to find the information they want.
- Cluttered, unorganized design.
- Not optimized for mobile. This is huge in terms of SEO and the credibility of your site.
- The site is slow or doesn’t load. 39% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load, according to Adobe.
- Your content, messaging, or branding needs to be updated or changed.
A website redesign is not a simple project, but it is an investment that can make an incredible difference for your business. Depending on the current state of your website and what needs to be done, a redesign can take anywhere from 4-6 months, to a year, or even longer. This is why it makes sense to get started as soon as you can, because it will take awhile before the new site is up and running.
Because a website redesign is such a big project, budget is usually a concern. If budget is the main thing holding back your redesign, remember how crucial your website is for reaching your customers. Can you afford not to do it?
One option is to divide up the project into sections that make it more manageable both from a budget and implementation standpoint. Setting goals and prioritizing the updates over 2 to 3 month periods may work better for your company.
You may also need to consider if there is a certain time of year that is more busy for your business that may impact your schedule. This could either be in terms of when you need to have the new website ready by, or when would be a time to avoid because you’ll be too focused on other things.
What To Consider In Your Redesign
Well, first and foremost, the design is clearly a fundamental piece. 76% of people say the most important characteristic of a website is ease of use, reports Kissmetrics. Consider things like links and navigation on each page, the style of images and graphics, the amount of whitespace, and the use of popups or chat boxes.
You’ll want to think about your main goals for your new site and what needs to be improved from your old one, including making sure you have all of the pages that you need. For example, 44% of website visitors will leave a company's website if there's no contact information or phone number, according to KoMarketing, so make sure you have this information.
After you’ve completed your website redesign and have your shiny new website, be sure to continue to make minor updates as time goes on. Think of it like keeping up with routine maintenance on your car. You want to make sure that everything is working properly and save yourself the big repairs down the road.