When to get a website re-vamp!

A website is the online identity of a business owner. It not only helps to generate more sales and revenue for a business, but it also represents the goals and services of a business to the plethora of visitors out there. More often than not, people get complacent about the website once it is developed. They think they are done with it and need not do anything else for the website. However, that can prove to be a grave mistake. In today's highly competitive environment where there is a cut-throat competition to stay ahead of the rival websites, one needs to constantly improve and update the website to make it stay in the competition.
Website Re-design Services
You need to update every component of your website to make it the most significant and appealing one among the other in your niche domain. So how do you know when exactly does your web design needs to be re-designed? Let us first discuss the points which help you determine that your website badly needs a re-design.

1.Outdated Technology: If you are still stuck with obsolete technologies, it's high time that you make the changes. If your site uses frames, then it really needs a re-design. Frames have been out of date since the year 2000. Content needs to be updated on a regular basis. If your website has old and irrelevant content, you must get it updated. These days, flash is hardly used in designing websites. Use of tables is also outdated.

2.No changes in the Last Two Years: It is imperative to update the website frequently. If you do not do that, your website gets obsolete and does not fare well on search engine ranking. Its visibility becomes very poor. So, go for a website redesign if you haven't updated your website in the last year or so.

3.No CMS: CMS is the latest buzz which help to maintain and update the content of website easily. If you are still using the older methods, you must switch to CMS web development to avail more benefits.

4.Poor Search Engine Ranking: If your website has not been faring well on search engine results, it is high time that you get the problem solved by optimizing your website accordingly.

5.Under-Performance: This is a clear signal. You can't afford to ignore it. If you have been experience poor traffic and sales rate, you must go for website re-design without any delay. There are many good web development services available. Hire one good service and get the site re-designed.

Now let us discuss how exactly to plan for a re-design. It is not about handling the project to web designers without thinking anything. You need to plan and consider a few things before you hire a web design service.

First of all, you need to find out what all is not well with your site. Analyze and find out what components are not working well. Analyze your site from a visitor's point of view. Make note of the things you did not like.

After you have identified the parts which are not working well, you should make a note about what all is required to be changed in them.

Are there any pages which need to be removed, combined, or added? You may find some pages which have become obsolete. Remove them. If you think, adding some relevant images will improve the design, go for it.

Find out what exactly would appeal to the visitors. Find out where your traffic is coming from and where they are going after visiting your site. This will help you to find out what all needs to be improved.

Before you hire a web design company, make sure they have a good track record and provide quality and on time delivery.

Make sure you use 301 (permanent) redirects
If you're changing the URL structure of your site (either because you've switched over to a CMS or for SEO purposes), you'll need to use 301 redirects to tell visitors and search engines that your page has moved.

Some designers opt to simply put a link on the old page that directs to the new page. While this works fine for visitors, it doesn't work for search engines.

Don't risk being penalized in your search engine rankings for something that's relatively simple to set up. If your site is on an Apache server, you'll just need to set up the redirects in an .htaccess file. If you're on a Windows server it's a bit more complicated, but it's still possible and well worth the effort.

A Site Redesign Can Upset Returning Visitors

Visitors returning to your site may be upset by a redesign, especially if the structure of your site has changed.

If you have a subscription site or community site, it's sometimes helpful to announce a redesign prior to actually performing it. Letting existing members test-drive the new site before it launches can also make returning users more comfortable on the site and smooth things over.

Remember, it can be frustrating to someone who has used a site for months or years to suddenly have to learn how to use a new site. While hopefully your new site will be more user friendly in the long run, it can still be disconcerting for someone who has used to doing things a certain way to suddenly have to change their methods.

Work with a Designer Who Has Experience with Redesigns

While designing a new website and redesigning an existing site share a lot of things in common, there are also a lot of differences, especially when it comes to logistics.

A redesign is, in many cases, is more complicated than a new design. There are existing links to deal with, existing processes for things like logins, and a multitude of other technical specs that designers need to adhere to in a redesign.

If your site is complex and especially if you want to keep some aspects of the site while making extensive changes to others, you need someone who is experienced in dealing with this kind of project. It will be a much smoother process if they are.

By Ideal Webb Hosting, Design & Services is a Website Design Company in Calgary . Ideal Webb Hosting provides affordable web design and custom website development solutions, ecommerce website development, website redesign services and more.