When and How Often Should You Redesign Your Website?
How Often Should a Website be Redesigned?
Have you ever asked yourself, “how often should I redesign my website?” A website’s design and performance matter a lot for business success. You should constantly evaluate your website and redesign it to keep it up-to-date.
On average, companies redesign their websites every three years. This fact is commonly repeated in web design circles, but it’s tough to find the source for this data.
Search Google, and you’ll find a variety of opinions on how long a company should wait before redesigning its website. “Anecdotal evidence confirms site redesign every two to three years,” says one site. “Most companies undergo a redesign every six months to 2 years,” says another. Yet another site references a survey that found that “a large percentage of marketers (68%) feel that companies and businesses should redesign a website every 1-3 years.”
So how can you tell it is time for a website redesign? How often should you redesign a corporate website?
The answer is easy: redesign your website when it sucks.
That’s right. If your website sucks, redesign it. It’s that simple.
Sadly, most businesses get a website designed by somebody, and then they forget about it. They only go back to it once in a while to do updates and maybe switch out the banner on the home page. So often see businesses go years without modifying their site because “most of the information is still current.”
Why Should You Redesign Your Website?
Let me start by saying this – if you think you should redesign your website, chances are it might be a good idea. But there is no good answer for the correct frequency of doing so. It depends on your business, your needs, and your growth. Some decide to do it more frequently than others. And it is okay. Find out below how to determine the right time for a website redesign.
Before you decide when you should know why you do it. As your business grows, you gather more knowledge about your customers’ needs, habits, and expectations of your product or service. And this is where your website comes in.
It should represent you, your product or service so that it suits your customers, is easy for them to use and understand, and provides answers to their questions. But as your business evolves, so do your customers’ needs.
The constant evolution of your business or product brand is precisely why you should redesign your website. Each time you face business changes, your website should mirror that so your customers are up-to-date with your company.
Signs You Need to Consider a Website Redesign
As previously stated, if you feel like you need it – you probably do. But there are some other signs that you might need to have your website redesigned. You can put them in three groups: signs regarding the look of your current web page, signs that have to do with your company’s growth and goals, and signs regarding the functionality of your existing website.
Let’s look into them. First, ask yourself each of these questions counting yeses and nos. The more time you answer yes, the more likely your site shows its age.
The General Rule
The rule of thumb is to redesign your website once every three years to cope with the constantly changing web design trends. Failure to update your website allows others to gain a competitive advantage over you in web design techniques.
For instance, features like parallax scrolling and advanced animation popped up in the past few years. These new techniques can bring life to your website, attracting more visitors.
Have Your Business Goals Changed?
Another factor that can prompt you to redesign your website is your business goals. If your business goals keep changing over time, you need to redesign your website to capture the changes. For example, you will have to update your website to reflect what you offer customers when changing your products or services.
Is Your Current Website Functional?
Does it function well on all technologies – different browsers and devices? If not, you should have it redesigned, as you’ve probably already guessed. Because redesigning your website is not only about the looks. It is also web development that matters. It’s what makes it easy to use and accessible.
You need to acknowledge the variety of devices used to view your website and that most people will do so via their phone (that’s why the mobile view is so essential). If you don’t, it may lead to your customers losing interest in your website. And that’s the opposite of what you want.
How Does Your Current Website Look?
Are you happy with the look of your current website? If not, having it redesigned is the right thing to do. But your opinion on the web page is not the only one that matters. What about your customers? Do they like using your website? Do they compliment it? Find it useful?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions – consider redesigning your website. The look of your website is an essential part of your customers’ experience. Make it a good one for them.
Could Your Web Presence Be Enhanced?
Your online presence matters a lot and contributes to your business success. Thankfully, redesigning your website and updating it with fresh content can improve your online presence.
However, if you don’t redesign your website, potential clients might assume you are no longer in business and seek similar services from competitors’ websites. Another advantage of redesigning your website is search engine optimization (SEO), a strategy to help boost your web presence and reduce bounce rates.
Is Your Website Less than Five Years Old?
To stay competitive and relevant, we suggest updating your website or redesigning your website every two to five years. Technology changes rapidly online, and if your website is more than five years old, you are most likely missing out on providing the most user-friendly experience to your potential clients and customers.
Design trends also change rapidly, so it is good to keep an eye on your competitors’ websites. If their site looks more fresh or modern in design, website visitors will typically interpret that to reflect the company overall.
Can You Update Your Website In-house?
You must have the ability to update your website in-house for important, timely announcements and regular content changes. For example, many businesses needed to add information about their COVID-19 working details for customers during the pandemic. Those who had a website that was easy to update likely saved time and money by making these updates in-house.
Does Your Website Function Well on Your Phone?
A fully responsive website will be easy to navigate on a phone with a mobile menu, have buttons that are easy to click on, and text that is easy to read without zooming. Pull up your website on your phone and try it for yourself.
Another great way to test your website on a smartphone is to ask a friend or family member that is not super tech-savvy to peruse and then watch them interact with your website. If they are confused about how to find your contact information or have a hard time clicking from page to page, then you need a website update or redesign to improve the mobile compatibility.
Does Your Website Properly Reflect Your Company’s Services?
Your company’s services are likely to evolve, and it is imperative that your website accurately represents your services. Most website visitors’ first interaction with your company is by looking at your and your competitors’ websites. Therefore, you mustn’t miss out on a potential new customer because they were unaware you offered the service or product they were looking for.
Are Your Staff Pages Up-to-date?
The area we see out-of-date the most are staff headshots and bio pages. We recommend reviewing your staff pages each year and taking new headshots every one to three years. Now, more than ever, people would like to connect with the company’s individuals when deciding if they want to do business with that company. Adding engaging headshots and short bios will increase the connection between potential and current clients and your team.
Are Your Photos Up-to-date?
It is essential to update your photos on your website every three years. Adding new images will refresh your website without doing a complete redesign.
Do You Rank Well on Google?
SEO is an ongoing battle between your website and Google. The more often you evaluate your rankings and competitors and update your website, the better the chances your website will appear in search results.
Google’s job is to provide the searcher with the most relevant results high on the page. For example, suppose you updated your website years ago, but a competitor’s website is updated often. In that case, Google will most likely rank the updated website higher than rarely updated websites.
Website Redesign Frequency According to Research
You’ve probably already noticed no “right” or “wrong” frequency of redesigning your website. It depends on all kinds of factors which were covered above. However, research on how frequently medium and larger companies in the marketing industry redesign their websites determined the average to be 2.66 years.
It means that each company does significant website redesigns every 2.66 years on average. So if you need a specific answer – here you have it. But keep in mind that this research focused on a particular industry. There are many factors to consider when it comes to your business’ website.
If you are a tech company, you may need to redesign your website every 12 – 18 months to appear relevant. On the other hand, if you are a law firm or accountant, you may only need a website redesign every five years. As I said, it all depends on your industry, business, and the expectations of your target audience.
How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Website
Redesigning their website is a significant undertaking for most companies and product brands. Any website redesign takes time and money. And for many business owners, a website redesign is not a priority.
Depending on the age and functionality of your website, you may be able to delay a complete website redesign. However, there are other ways to rejuvenate your website. Here are a few tricks to reversing the aging process:
- “Content Injections” Adding new writing, images or videos can make a site look young again. It’s a smart move because you can use these assets in the eventual website redesign down the road.
- “The Haircut” Trim the navigation by removing the links that people click on the least. You can find these links in the Navigation Summary for any page in the Behavior > Site Content > All Pages report in Google Analytics.
- “Nip and Tuck” Tighten up the design with a few style-sheet changes. Then, refining the type (snip snip) and tweaking the color palette (snip snip) can bring things up to date with your brand.
- “Face Lift” A homepage redesign will make the site seem fresh for new visitors. But it’s a temporary fix since significant changes can put the homepage out of alignment with the rest of the site.
- “Page Enhancements” Like the facelift, add a new template layout that utilizes modern design trends. This targeted procedure can focus on trouble spots where aging is worst. Use the template on your highest-traffic pages and top exit pages.
Is it Time to Update Your Website?
There you have it. With this knowledge, you should be able to determine when is the right time to upgrade your website. But remember – constantly look for signs that it’s the right time to do so, simply because your website can make or break a deal in today’s world.
When you, your business, or your visitors change, you need to consider a website redesign. It’s old as soon as it’s out of sync with your company and is not getting you those measurable results. Keep it as young and fresh as possible, but be ready to make the tough decision to redesign. And when you do, think ahead as far as possible.
Are You Ready to Give Your Website a New Look?
I hope you found this article helpful in determining if the time is right for a website update or redesign. Don’t hesitate to contact our team for more information on why a new website design is a great way to get up-to-date. We are here to help!
Our professional website designers can build you a website that appropriately reflects your organization now and moving forward. But first, look at our portfolio and read our case studies.
Then, if you believe we are a good fit for your business website redesign needs, let’s talk! We offer a full range of consulting and design solutions for businesses and product brands.
Let’s talk if you are unsure how a redesigned website will support your business objectives! Our team will listen to your concerns, evaluate your needs, and develop a list of things you need to do to improve and update your business website.
Is Your Website Up-to-date?
Have you redesigned your website? If so, has it improved your overall user experience and boosted conversions? If not, what prevents you from redesigning your website?
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Thank you! We appreciate your help ending bad business websites, one pixel at a time!
By Gregor Saita
Co-Founder / CXO
@gregorsaita
