How Often Should I Change My Website Completely?

In today’s fast paced world, trends in technology are changing all the time. If you get too comfortable, your website could end up being left behind, and not living up to your potential client’s high standards.

There is more to think about than just how your website looks like on the big screen. Today it is thought that around 7 out of 10 people in the UK have a smartphone. Many websites haven’t caught onto the trend of a phone/tablet friendly website and are potentially missing many customers, who will search for websites that are easy to see and use on their phones and tablets.

So what holds people back from re-designing their websites? Many factors are to blame but most popular reasons are; budget, not thinking it is important and just not getting round to it.

Your website is like your shop window to the world. Would you leave the same shop window display up forever and keep customers coming in? I don’t think you would.

Lots of opinions are flying around on how often you should re-design your website. The one I have heard most frequently is around every 2-3 years. Every 2 years should keep you up with changing technology and marketing strategies, but long enough for search engines to make a profile of your site and a cache of backlinks.

Why You Shouldn’t Change your site Too Frequently

Changing your site too frequently can be just as disastrous as not changing it at all. Your Google page status can take a long time to build, with a complete re-haul, unless working with a good web developer who will take the right measures with 301 re-directs, you are sure to lose some rank.

Another thing to think of with drastic makeovers is your audience. You may have built up a loyal following who like things just how it is, and won’t appreciate big changes. Make sure you keep your repeat visitors informed, and make sure any changes are made slowly and gradually. The last thing you want to do is leave your audience confused and irked by any sudden re-designs.

A website re-design doesn’t have to be at the expense of a totally new site and changing of the URLs. Clawing your way up the search engine results can take a long time so if you want to keep these, maybe think of just re-designing your heading, updating colour schemes, adding in social media links or adding in features that will improve your visitor’s experience.

Times to Think About Changing Your Site

1. Your website isn't a true reflection of your business.
2. You are not seeing the results you want and expected.
3. Your site isn’t compatible with mobile devices.
4. Your competitors have changed their sites.
5. Any third party tools used are now outdated.
6. You haven’t changed any functionality of the site for 2 years.

If you identify with any of the above, it doesn’t mean you have to rush and do a complete re-haul straight away. If it is getting to around the 2 year mark then start to budget and make a plan for the re-design, we'd be happy to help you put together a strategy that will best benefit your website and bring you up to date, while keeping your current followers happy.