Is it Time to Redesign My Website?

If you’ve been looking at your website and wondering if it’s time for a design update, you are probably way behind on updating. You may be thinking, “I just launched this version of the site a few years ago!” But on the web, having a web design that’s a few years old is like wearing shoulder pads, leg warmers, and parachute pants in 2011.

Having a sleek and modern site gives you credibility. Your old Flash intro and animated images makes your business website look like the website I made in my parents’ basement in 1998 (which was totally awesome by the way).

Your website is often the first impression a client (or potential client) has with your company, and if your website looks outdated, people will quickly close the site and move on to one of your competitors.

So, is it time for a new website design?

Some quick questions to ask yourself to find out if you’re ready for a website redesign:

1. Is my content fresh and updated regularly?

Sometimes freshening up your content and changing the images and graphics on your web pages can go a long way. We all know that Google loves sites that are constantly growing with new content, so if your content is stale, you may have been dropping in search results, which costs you visits and potential income.

2. Does my site’s navigation make sense?

During the discovery phase on a few projects, we’ve had clients tell us that they can’t find specific items or have trouble navigating from section to section on their own sites, and that was a major factor in them coming to us for a redesign. If you can’t navigate your own site, how can you expect your customers to find what they’re looking for?

3. How does my site look on mobile phones and tablet devices?

Have you looked at your site on an iPhone/iPad or Android device? If you haven’t, you’re missing a growing trend in how people surf the web. As smart phones and tablets become more and more popular, this number will only go up. It is very important that your website is mobile friendly.

4. What do my competitors’ sites look like?

Keeping up with the Joneses can be an exhausting (and expensive) game to play, but it gives you a good idea of what you should (and shouldn’t) be doing. If your client just launced a slick new site with all the modern features, and your site design looks five years older, then you are light years behind them.

Depending on how you answered those questions, you may need to talk to a web design and marketing firm (Hi, there!) and get your new design started right away.

If you’re not in desperate need of a new design quite yet, you should make sure that you are doing smaller updates on a regular basis, like:

  1. Swapping out images you use on your site
  2. Rotating some new sliders in and phasing out older ones
  3. Making sure you are keeping page content up-to-date
  4. Creating new calls-to-action to generate more interest in your products and services
  5. Blogging at least once a week, if not more.

If you follow these guidelines, you can easily keep your site fresh and up-to-date.

Of course, if your name is Warren Buffett, and you have a ridiculous amount of money and credibility, your company’s website can get away with looking like this.

If you want to get REALLY serious (and we mean really serious) about redesigning your website, talk to the pros. Have some designs, ideas, concepts, or just want to talk shop? Hit us up!

This article originally appeared on LyntonWeb.