Website design plays one of the most important roles in internet marketing. A well-organized layout lets visitors comfortably learn about products or services and make a decision. However, no matter how well a site was originally made, there comes a time when a once-good design becomes outdated and, to put it mildly, obsolete. That means it will need modernization. Often it's hard to tell when a design starts to reduce a site's effectiveness and requires urgent updates.
In this article we will review the main reasons to redesign a website.
Let's start with the question: what is a "redesign" of a website?
A website redesign is a comprehensive process that not only changes the site's appearance but also improves its structure, functionality, and content to increase usability — that is, ease of use.
Now we can move on to the main reasons to redesign a site.
Outdated design
Web development, like fashion, follows current trends. For example, in the early 2000s bright sites with many photos, collages, ornate design, and bulky icons were in fashion. Over the last five years, what once looked trendy has become outdated. Today it's no longer acceptable to use photos as background images, choose bright garish colors, tiny unreadable fonts, and so on.
Inconvenient website structure
Design is not only the look of a site but also its structure. Today a project must be maximally representative. It's important that when a user opens any page they can immediately find the information they need without searching through large amounts of text or a long menu.
Poor initial design
In some cases a redesign is needed even for new projects. This can be due to several reasons:
- The client insisted on implementing only their own vision, disregarding developer recommendations
- Due to a very low development budget, the work was incomplete and low quality
- A web studio or freelance developer was chosen who, because of unprofessionalism, created a resource that initially looked uncompetitive.
Not adapted for mobile devices
Today the share of mobile internet users has grown significantly and is already comparable to desktop and laptop users. Because of this, many sites are being updated to meet modern standards for ease of use. Only a small portion of sites can be adapted for mobile devices without a redesign. Often the site's appearance must be significantly reworked for modernization to be possible.
Low website conversion
One of the main reasons to modernize a resource is its low conversion. There can be many causes: the website looks dull compared to competitors, information is presented inconveniently or there's too little of it (as on a single landing page), the text is hard to read, and so on. The cause isn't always poor design quality. Sometimes the project's development ignored the company's specifics or the audience's age. For example, it's inappropriate to make a very serious site for an entertainment business or too colorful a site for legal services. Also, excessive animation can distract visitors. For example, a bright animation in the header that adds 1–2 seconds when navigating to each new page can be annoying. Remember functionality: the site's appearance should not interfere but should complement the product or service.
A few tips for quality website design
- The site's appearance doesn't have to fully match the client's personal tastes. You can't create a design that pleases everyone, but it should appeal to most potential customers.
- Copying competitors. It's logical to follow the most successful companies, but it's not always advisable. Often for large companies the site is a branding element rather than a real sales project.
- Wanting change, a new image. Large companies regularly update their image, but for smaller players this doesn't always attract more clients. Remember that site visitors don't open it as often as you do, so their perception may differ greatly from yours.
- Updates for the sake of updates. If the appearance satisfies everyone and conversion is high, don't completely redo a working mechanism. You can focus on overall project development, increasing functionality, etc.
Our specialists will help you get a new business tool that meets modern requirements. Its structure will be clear and simple for any visitor, which guarantees that your potential clients won't go to competitors just because they couldn't find the product, service, or information they needed on your site.
You can order a redesign service by filling out the request form on our site or by calling +7 (707) 500-222-5
