When a website is aging and have been online for several years, it may be time to consider a change to the web design and see whether it is still working good for both the owner/webmaster/business and the users it is targeting in that specific moment. It is likely that a brand new design is needed in order to update the website to give it a younger look and improve overall experience to the old design and to meet new requirements the owner/business may have.
One of the listed approach can be good for one website and may not be good for another. Different individuals and website types can have different approach that can be done easier for them using less time and less available resources. There are three major ways that one can tackle in updating a website design.
One Big Approach
This approach involves a change from an old web design to a brand new website all in one go.
The advantage about taking this approach is that it will keep a website looking consistent – at one moment, a website is in its old self and later, it will have a brand new web design applied. This approach is also highly beneficial in keeping analytics clean – changing the entire design over at once will allow the design team to measure and test the new website more efficiently.
A significant disadvantage of this approach is that it can take a long time to implement, and need time until the entire new website is complete before going live. A risk of disheartening regular visitors who will have to learn how to navigate in the new design.
Small and Many Approaches
This approach involves implementing aspects of a new web design over a period of time, generally section by section.
This makes the implementation of the new web design a much easier task to tackle. If the website is large or content, being able to change over each section gradually will make the process run much smoother and allow time to adjust the code where needed. This also allows a gently ease to the regular website visitors into the new design.
One of the disadvantage aspects of this web design approach, however, is that it can be a highly complex process. Extensive testing and maintenance will be required to ensure that the website remains functional and user friendly whilst the updates are being implemented.
Evolution Approach
This approach involves a complete avoidance of a new web design and focuses on simply improving the current website.
The advantage about this approach is that it saves time in coming up with a new design and with the measuring and testing that comes with it. As an entire website redesign will take up a lot of valuable time, just by adjusting and tweaking the elements of the existing design will give the design team more time to work on other important projects.
The main disadvantage associated with this approach, however, is that there is only so much things to do before having to start all over again. Having the same or similar design for a long period of time really does not display much in the way of progress for a business it is representing, and it can begin to appear even more outdated.
If a website is growing dangerously close to becoming outdated, the owner and/or webmaster should be looking towards one of the above approaches to drastically improve its web design. Whichever approach is used, however, will depend on the manpower and resources available, and how you feel the users of the website would best embrace the new design.
Conclusion
A new design should be consider when having a website that have been online long enough. A new design can give a better appearance and a descent, fresh and younger look. It can also give a better experience to users and benefit the changes the owner/company may have. It can also be used to enhance and adding tools that may increase conversions and improve sales.
A new design may not be well received by regular visitor and give a negative effect on marketing results. But a web redesign have more advantages in overall to most people and search engines if it is implemented correctly than the disadvantages it may have.