If you operate a business and have a website, you’ve undoubtedly considered re-designing it. Some companies change their websites many times a year, thinking they haven’t discovered the proper look yet. Others go too long without refreshing their websites. So, how often should you revamp your website, and why should you do so?
As a general rule of thumb, companies should rebuild their websites every three years. Three years is a lifetime in the digital world. After three years, the website starts to lose functionality.
Re-designing your website is an opportunity to refresh the appearance of your business and provide your consumers with something visually appealing. However, it accomplishes much more than that. We’ll explain how frequently and why you should revamp your website below.
How Often Should You Re-Design Your Website?
A quick Google search will give you a range of opinions on how long a business should wait to re-design its website. To be clear, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution here.
As a rule, an average website has a shelf life of 1.5 to 3 years. This is the time during which the site is perceived as fresh, functioning, and convenient for users.
If your website is three years old, it is most likely obsolete. Unfortunately, in the digital world, three years is a lifetime. What was appealing and aesthetically beautiful back then is unlikely to be so today. Not to mention the functionality of the site, which will undoubtedly become outdated after three years of no updates.
There are, however, many reasons why you should think about renewing or completely rebuilding your website.
Why Does Your Website Need a New Design?
The primary motivator behind most website redesigns is the urge to solve a problem. For some businesses, this might mean a decrease in business or a decrease in visibility in search results. Others may have more dramatic reasons, such as a site hack due to outdated security. Whatever your issue is, a clever re-design may be able to help.
Discuss the obstacles you wish to overcome with the team creating your new site. If you want more exposure and traffic, you should include pages and material that can be optimized for SEO to strengthen your online presence. If you want to sell online, you’ll need sites that can assess a visitor’s wants and give them the best product or service answer as fast and easily as feasible.
Here are some specific reasons why you should consider re-designing your website.
Staying Optimized for Mobile Use
If your website is not mobile-friendly, it is time for an upgrade.
As of 2020, the number of unique mobile internet users was at 4.28 billion, showing that more than 90% of the worldwide internet population accesses the internet via a mobile device. So you want to be certain that you can reach your audience wherever they are – on their mobile phones!
Furthermore, Google is indexing mobile versions of sites first, so mobile optimization is crucial to guarantee your site receives the greatest Google rankings possible.
If you haven’t optimized your website for mobile use, you’re falling behind.
Keeps Website Maintenance to A Minimum
It is critical that you can maintain your website in-house for important, timely announcements and frequent content modifications. Unless your site has really complex features, you should manage the fundamental site updates on your own. Modern websites are constructed on simple Content Management System (CMS) software, making them simple to manage.
If your site isn’t performing correctly or can’t be updated with minimal effort, it’s time to invest in a new site.
Keeps Your Brand Up to Date
First impressions matter, and your website is frequently the first thing customers see. If your website’s design, messaging, offerings, and/or functioning feel old or obsolete, some adjustments should be made.
Investing in the appearance of your website is like upgrading your home before selling it or dressing up for an interview. Just as homebuyers don’t want to see drab walls and employers prefer candidates who appear well-dressed, the same is true for a client browsing a website.
Visitors are likely to leave your site if it appears and sounds like it came from the early days of the internet.
It Helps Your Site Get Found
The need for re-design isn’t just for cosmetic reasons. Something is wrong if your website traffic is non-existent. Perhaps the material is not optimized. Maybe you’re doing something that prevents you from ranking in Google searches.
There are plenty of beautiful websites that were created by excellent web designers who did not have a solid understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The site looks terrific, but no one ever sees it since it does not appear in Google’s search results for relevant terms.
Regardless of the reason, if your sole site visitor is you, something must change.
Bottom Line
If it’s been more than three years since your last re-design, there’s a good chance your website needs an update. However, if you’re still not sure whether that’s an investment you need to make, it might be a good idea to hire a specialist to do a quick analysis of your site.
