subject: Redesign Your Web Site [print this page] It's a familiar storyIt's a familiar story. Your Web site was designed around the time when an upstart named Google was just getting their foot in the door of the Search Engine market. At the time, it was a great Web site. It might have even had some cool new features like some JavaScript rollovers or maybe even some Flash.
Unfortunately, times change. Those image rollovers that you used to think were innovative are now horribly outdated and your competition seems to have redesigned their Web site about every 6 months since yours went live several years ago. It's time to redesign.
It sounds like such a great project that it couldn't possibly go wrong, but trust methe best of intentions can sometimes lead to costly business mistakes. The entire redesign process would take several of these articles to properly explain, but I'd like to talk about my 4 basic rules to remember BEFORE you start the process of a Web site redesign:
1. Determine EXACTLY what you want from your new Web site and be realistic.
A Web site redesign project can be as big or small as you want it to be. Some times the written content might be fine and a freshening of the interface is all that's in order. Other times some Web applications might need to be developed to take online orders or allow members to log in.
No matter what you decide you need, remember that everything that you do needs to accomplish your businesses' overall goals of increasing sales and retaining current customers. Anything outside of this might not be necessary.
Also, don't be afraid to do things in phases. A lot of my Web design clients do things this way because it allows them to focus on immediate needs first. For instance, a client might have very poor Search Engine rankings because their old Web site was poorly developed and their tags are no good. But they also want user forums where their clients can discuss and ask questions. We might do 2 phases for a project like this. The first would get their Web site up to date with the latest Search Engine Optimization techniques, and once that is done and the Search Engines are re-indexing their pages, we will develop the other features that they want on their site, such as the member forums.
Choosing the right Web designer is obviously a huge part of your Web site redesign project. Even large corporations with a creative department will outsource this job to an outside firm a lot of the time. The right Web designer will display creativity, but will also be sensitive to the context in which their designs are going to be viewed.
For instance, for a high-priced law firm in Manhattan, a singing, dancing animated character, executed in Flash, would not be the right way to go. Make sure that the Web designer has made work that fits the client's personality and vision, and not the other way around.
