Market research has shown that a website should be designed every 2 to 3 years. While undertaking a redesign of your website involves time and money, there are a few other things to consider. Knowing how much to redesign is just as important. As Paul Scrivens has said, “Don’t redesign just to do something new, redesign because you have a better answer to the question.” It might not be when to redesign your website but if.
A major consideration is your customer. In general, we don’t like change. Just think about how frustrated you get when something you use frequently like Facebook makes a change. Doesn’t it feel as if you’ve been betrayed? You were so familiar with it and now it’s different. Many of your current customers might experience the same thing if you change your website.
When to redesign your website
Of course, if there are usability issues that are affecting the user experience then a redesign may be the only way to address those problems. If traffic to your site has decreased, or you have changed your logo and/or branding, or you want to integrate new technologies it might be time for a redesign of your website.
Fine tune instead of redesign
If there are no user experience issues, fine tuning your current design may be a better approach. It will save you money and there’s little risk of turning off your audience. All websites do require updates and tweaks over time, small changes that keep the website modern and functional.
One important aspect of your website design is that it should be responsive, which means that it works across many devices.
A website redesign can also depend on your company’s needs and what changes are taking place in your industry. When to redesign your website may not be the most important question. Instead ask if you’re getting all that you want out of your site and if it’s working effectively. A redesign of your website may be the change your business needs to not only refresh its look but improve the connection with your customer.