You’ve probably seen them: websites with new features like videos playing in the background, content that is animated as you scroll down the page and the appearance of hamburger menus on desktop sites. If you have yet to experience a site like this I encourage you to visit our home page real quick to get the idea. It’s okay, I’ll wait.
Okay, so did you see how neat that is? Maybe you’re thinking, “It would be really cool if my website was like that!” Yes, it would be cool; and yes, your website can be like that. Trends such as these have risen to the top in the past year, making them accessible to anyone who’s looking to make their website more engaging.
How often should I do a website redesign?
In the past, businesses have made little to no changes to their web design in between large revamps. Often, these redesigns were occurring about every five years. However, web trends are changing faster and faster which means that time is no longer controlling how often you should give your website a makeover. Current trends and your competitors awareness of them are a much better frame of reference.
We recommend at a minimum that businesses redesign their websites every 3-4 years. Every three years will allow your site to still look updated and professional and indicate to your clients and prospects that you care about their interactions with your website. Three years may not seem like that long, but there are major changes that can happen in the world of web design over a three-year period of time. These changes are so large that they can stick out like a sore thumb. Take our prior design, for instance.
At its inception in 2012, it was a cool design, and was current to web design trends. Today, it looks pretty stale! While this site did the job for us the first few years, as we were approaching 2015 we knew it was time for an upgrade, not just because it had been three years, but because so many trends had changed. Video become an instrumental element, text and images began to animate onto the page through parallax scrolling technology and full-width designs had become the new normal. We began developing a new web design to incorporate all of these features (and then some) and launched it in January 2015.
How do I know it’s time?
We knew it was time for an upgrade because we saw changes in the websites that we were looking at for inspiration and blogs we read on a regular basis were commenting about the new trends coming our way for 2015. We also knew that to stay ahead of our competition we needed a website that made a strong impact on our prospects to show our expertise.
You might not have bloggers and competitors pushing you towards a redesign, but you can still ask yourself a few questions about your website to help you decide if it’s time.
- Has it been more than four years since you last redesigned your website?
- Does your website lack updated elements such as a hero video or moving elements when you scroll down the page?
- Do you lose interest in the design of your website after looking at it for 20 seconds?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then it is probably time to think about a redesign.
But why should I do a redesign?
With more and more business transactions beginning online your website design could mean the difference between gaining or losing a customer. Think about your own web browsing habits. What sites do you typically find yourself interacting with longer — sites with an eye-catching, up-to-date design, or ones that look like our old site above?
More likely than not, the eye-catching design is going to be a very persuasive factor in if you choose to do business with a company. Did you know that a person judges a website based on its design in less than a twentieth of a second? Whether you realize it or not, you have subliminally made judgments about how much trust you have in this company and have made the decision if you are going to do business with them in an instant. Does this mean you’ve missed out on a good deal? Maybe, but you’ll never know.
The scary thing is, this might be happening to you if your website is in need of a redesign. You might be offering the deal of a lifetime, but because it is being presented in an outdated website, it doesn’t matter. A redesigned website will not only influence the viewer to stay on your website longer, but they will be more likely to discover what you have to offer. All of this simply because they like the look of your website and have developed an instant subconscious trust of your business.
Is it time for a website redesign?
If you’ve answered the questions above, but still aren’t sure, give us a call. We can help you decide if you should consider a redesign or simply make other small design changes that can freshen up your website in the new year. Sometimes, that third-party set of eyes is all you need to help confirm your decision.
