When it comes to updating your business website in a timely
manner, the one rule is this: There are no rules. That’s according to Christian
Riggs, president of Riggs Creative Group, a user-experience design and website
development firm in San Diego. Riggs says that deciding whether to update,
redesign or re-engineer your site should depend entirely on your business goals,
objectives and economic considerations, rather than on some superficial time
frame pulled out of thin air. We asked him to explain.
Q: Why would I redesign the look and feel of my website but not rebuild
it?
A: A variety of factors can make a redesign worth
considering, but here are several that almost always require an update. You’ve
got new branding and colour standards, and you need to make sure your new look
extends to your website. Your bounce rates are extremely high, meaning people
visit but few convert; a well-thought-out redesign can turn this around. Or
your business has grown, and plans call for new products and services; your
site’s design may need to reflect that change. Last, your customers complain
about your site, claiming that it looks out dated or doesn’t work well.
Q: What developments might require me to reengineer my website from
scratch?
A: The most important one is if your current site doesn’t
adapt to mobile device screens. Fixing this is an absolute must in today’s
mobile-driven world. Another would be if your site was originally built using
Flash: Apple’s iPads and iPhones don’t support Flash. That’s reason enough to
rebuild, but there’s another reason: Flash can slow your site down.
Anyone in your company should be able to learn and use your
content management system (CMS) to update your site. You shouldn’t have to hire
a programmer to make simple changes and fixes. Along those same lines of
keeping things simple: If your site takes forever to load, you need to
reengineer the backend. Nobody puts up with long waits anymore.
Q: Should I invite my customers to be part of the redesign process?
A: Yes! Customer opinion and feedback give you the kind of
insights that convert visitors into customers. Start by asking what they think
of your proposed design and if it appeals to them. Then ask about the problem
they’re looking to solve and if the information they need access to is easy to
find in the new design. After you relaunch the site, ask them again if they
like it. If they say no, address their concerns through incremental design
enhancements, which your new site should allow you to do without starting over.
In short, you want to follow the lead of sites like
Apple.com and Amazon.com, which rarely undergo complete facelifts. Instead,
their sites evolve over time using an iterative process that results in near
invisible refinements that have the bonus of maintaining the user experience
that customers know and like.
DWD Solutions
+27 73 996 4696
+27 73 996 4696
info@dwdsolutions.co.za
https://www.dwdsolutions.co.za
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