A website can make or break your company. If your company is a website, the stakes are even higher.
Recently we published some minor changes to our site. When I say minor, I don’t mean the workload. Changing even a few pages on a site takes hours upon hours of brainstorming, designing, coding,testing, finger-crossing, and implementing. Though the process is often time consuming, if you do the redesign well, the investment will be worth it.
For our ‘minor’ redesign, we added some clearer messaging/imagery on the homepage, gave you more information on the company, and made the pathway to your community’s data a little easier to follow. I’ll let you discover the rest.
If you are curious about website redesign, here is a quick list of some things to consider:
1) Figure out why you want to redesign
If you can pin down the reason why you need to make changes, you’ll know exactly where to focus your efforts
2) Determine what you need to accomplish
Does your whole site need to be changed or can you accomplish your goals by changing only a portion of your site? Figure out what works well on your site and what doesn’t, then make the call.
3) Consider your user
How is your site being used? The way you think users navigate your site may be far from reality. Talk to your users and include their feedback in the decision process!
4) Consider Cost
Going along with point #2, sometimes a partial redesign can do the job, all while saving you a bundle of money on development. Obviously cost must be weighed when considering the scope of the project.
5) Let the world know, but make sure you’re ready…
A new site design can generate some buzz. This is exciting and terrifying atthe same time. If your site works, you’re most likely golden. If you skimp on the testing and push the site live before it is ready, you are doing much more damage than good.
My list is by no means exhaustive, so if you’re looking for more information on redesigning websites, I’ve listed a few relevant articles (not endorsements) below:
http://www.rickwhittington.com/blog/website-redesign-tips/
http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/an-exploration-of-website-redesigns-tips-and-examples/
http://www.adminesolutions.com/blog/website-redesign-tips-four-do-s-and-don-ts/
