A fresh looking website that appeals to users can actually increase your enquiries and sales
. This can be a new design or just some updated features on your current one.
Web design trends change every year if not more regularly and they must be kept up with for your website to always appear fresh. I am not saying that you should change the design of your website every year but you should look at updating the look and feel on a gradual basis.
If your website has been around for a while and receives good levels of traffic you should treat an upgrade on design carefully. Dont just redesign the whole website with new menus in different places as your regular users will be put off, also try and keep to the same theme and appeal of your current one.
A gradual design change is the best idea, adding new areas to the website a couple of times a year. For instance you can easily change the header with a new image and text, this will give a new look to your website without changing the navigation and usability which your regulars crave.
Your business may have a website that has been around for a long time which has never been updated; this may be a case for a design overhaul. A website that hasnt been updated for years can look very dated and unappealing to users especially if your competitors have changed theirs. A complete new design can give you that cutting edge which can lead to more converted sales and enquiries.
Take a good look at what your competitors are doing with their websites, what type of design are they using? What do you like and dislike about the design? This will give you a good insight into what type of redesign or updates you are after.
Whenever considering a new design or an update make sure you visit several web design agencies as each one will have a new idea on what you should be going for and how it will benefit you. If you choose to use a different web design company to the one who originally built the website you will need the FTP details so that the current folders can be backed up and new ones added. This information will have been provided when either you or the web designer set up the website.