How Often Should You Redesign Your Website?

If you're asking this question, chances are, it's already time to redesign your website. It's common for companies to let their site go for quite some time after it has "expired" from both an aesthetic and functional point of view. It can seem expensive and daunting to update your site. We get it. But the longer you wait, the more you risk sounding irrelevant, looking dated, or becoming undiscoverable in search. That's a fast track to fewer sales, and nobody wants that.

A good rule of thumb is to redesign your website every two years.

Technologies, algorithms, and UX design trends will certainly change more frequently than that, but around the two-year mark is when it becomes worth your time and effort to hit the reset button and invest in a fresh online experience for customers. In fact, that's why our Modular Orange product gives clients the opportunity to redesign their site every two years. It's a built-in service that comes with renewing your plan.

Are there exceptions to the rule?  

Of course. Exceptions to the two-year rule include relatively new websites, but that have technical glitches, are hard to navigate, or keep running slow. In those cases, your site should be fixed ASAP – even if that requires a full redesign. Research shows that 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. That may sound harsh, but it further amplifies the need to make sure your website is always fast, secure, and designed really well.

As a quick note about design, research also shows that first impressions of a website are 94% design related. That's something to keep in mind when redesigning your site. It truly pays to have professional help make it look clean, current, and on-brand.

What about updating content?

You definitely don't want to wait two years to update any of the content on your site. Your site should feel more like a live sales call than a static rack brochure. You want it to be timely, engaging, and informative for your customers.

With this in mind, you should update something on your site at least once a month. Updates can include a blog post, web page, product listing, free download, video, or podcast. Content comes in many forms. And if your site is on a platform like Modular Orange, it's incredibly easy to keep things updated.

Not only will customers appreciate fresh information, but search engines will also show their love. Posting new content is like inviting web crawlers to an open house. You give them a reason to stop by, check out the place, and determine if you have something worth ranking. New content won't guarantee a higher ranking, but the more times a search engine visits your site, the more opportunities you have to rank for various keywords. Also, more content = more keywords. That's killer for your SEO.

How to tell if your site needs to be refreshed right away? Take this quiz.

1. Has it been longer than 24 months since you've launched or redesigned your site?

2. Does it take longer than 1 second to load each page?

3. Are your bounce rates high and conversions low?

4. Has someone ever complained about your website?

5. Do you have more than 7 items in your navigation menu?

6. Does your site look better on desktop than it does on mobile?

7. Does your URL still have "http" instead of "https" for security?

8. Are you currently running your site on WordPress or another DIY builder?

9. Have you recently changed your logo, colors, or tagline?

10. Do you have several new products or services that aren't on your website yet?

If you answered "yes" to two or more of these items, it's high time to redesign. Give us a call, and we can hook you up with one of the most affordable and easiest website products on the market. Or if you need something more custom, we can absolutely do that, too!