It's no secret that web site redesigns are profitable for design companies—but did you know that a redesign can also be profitable for your company?

Here are our Top 8 Reasons to Redesign your Web site:

1. Stay Ahead of Your Competition

The Internet makes it easy for consumers to find information about your company and the products and services you provide at the click of a button. The down-side is that this is true for your competitors as well.

It is essential that your website makes a positive impact on each visitor and that you stay one step ahead. Online consumers can be impatient and usually make up their mind about a site in less than 3 seconds. Your web site needs to out-do your competition or you’ll face losing valuable customers. Spend some time looking at your competition; analyzing competitor’s sites is one of the most important parts of the redesign process. How does your web site compare to theirs? If their site is 'better' than yours it’s definitely time for a redesign. If your site is of a similar standard you may think it unnecessary to redesign, but it’s much better to be leading the pack than following.

2. The Design No Longer Reflects Your Company or the Aspirations of Your Consumers

When consumers visit your web site, they view it as a reflection of your company. If your site looks professional and is full of relevant content they will see you as professional and helpful. Likewise, if your web site looks amateurish and out-of-date they'll make the same assumptions about you. This is why it’s so important for your site to reflect your company's
identity and ideals.

That said, your site shouldn’t just reflect how you wish to be seen; it's important that it also reflects the ideals of your consumers. People like doing business with people they can relate to and who make them feel good about themselves.

Sending a strong clear message about who you are and what you stand for makes clients want to do business with you. If your site is sending the wrong messages, it’s time to get a redesign.

3. Attract More Visitors

There are over 20 Billion web pages online. But just because something is there doesn’t mean people can find it or use it. If people have never heard of your site, don’t know what’s there and don’t know how to get there how can you reasonably expect them to visit?

A site redesign can help you attract more visitors in a number of ways. Optimizing your site so search engines can better find and list you is much more effective if it is done prior to the design of the site; it is also much more effective than trying to increase your findability once the site has been built. Your site also needs to offer visitors useful information on a regular basis that helps them achieve their goals. You can get and sustain regular contact with your clients by integrating a newsletter or blog into your site—be aware that not every site is suited to these types of interactivity. Discuss your options with your design team to find the right solution for your consumers.

If your visitors’ goals and your company's objectives are not the focus of your web site, it's time to redesign.

4. Achieve That Illusive Goal, Whatever It May Be

So many web sites still get built without any objectives or strategy in mind. These sites will get visually “designed”, existing content will be “dropped in” and then 6 months later it'll be dead in the water.

If this sounds familiar then it’s time you think about a redesign.

While it’s relatively easy to build a basic static web site, it’s a much more involved proposition to build a web site that actually performs.

First ask yourself: what exactly are you trying to achieve and how will you know how when you’ve achieved it? That determines your objective. Next up ask yourself who are your users, what do you want them to do and what do they want to do? This will allow you to outline your strategy. In web design you never work forward; you always work from the objective backwards. If you know what you want to achieve, the "how" falls into place.

5. Make Your Site Easier to Use and Make Sure Clients Find What They Want

We’ve all experienced getting lost in a web site. You’ve found a web site through a search engine or by following a link and you’re after something specific, but try as you might you just can’t find what you’re looking for. It’s as if the site were designed specifically to make you lost and you come away feeling angry and frustrated. You'll never go to that site again.

Contrary to current practice, a web site should be easy to use and easy to navigate. If you can’t find what you're looking for within 2 clicks on a web site the site is not doing its job.

Site designers and site owners often fail to see these problems because they are too close to the site. They know what does what and what links will get them to certain pages, but the average person using your web site hasn't been there before. If they can't find what they're looking for within 8 seconds, you've just lost a customer.

A site redesign enables you to listen to your users, find out what helps them (and what frustrates them) and build a site that is easier and more effective for them to use.

6. Make The Content More Relevant, Communicate with Your Clients More Effectively

Having relevant content is one of the most important things about having a web presence.

Relevant content does not mean just repurposing old brochures, leaflets and advertisements. It means providing content that is interesting and useful to your site users while supporting your company's core goals.

Content needs to be written specifically for the web. Why? Because people don’t read a web site like they read printed material. Most people scan overweb pages trying to determine if the page is going to be of any use. Not coincidentally that's exactly what search engines do. They scan your pagefor keywords and phrases that are relevant to your company, services, and products. If they don't find any relevant content you won't get listed. Only once your visitors have decided your content looks useful will they start to read the page and even then many people just skim read.

This is why web copy has to be short, punchy and to the point. The main concepts need to stand out and not get hidden halfway down the page.

People tend to use the web to get factual information, not a marketing blurb. Nobody wants to feel like they are being marketed to (even when they are!), they want to feel that their needs are being understood and met.

Does your site force visitors to wade through pages of marketing fluff? Asite redesign would give you the opportunity to re-address how you communicate with your clients and to write copy that is simple, on target and more effective.

7. A Great Marketing and Public Relations Opportunity

People need to be reminded. If you aren't in front of your consumers or your clients they probably won't choose you. Everyone knows McDonalds™, and yet McDonalds™ still advertises to the tune of billions of dollars every year. Their sales support that advertising. Because they are top-of-mind they are always given the opportunity to be chosen as a destination.

Having a site redesign is a great opportunity to contact your existing customers, potential customers and the press. It gives you an excuse to let them know what you're doing, what's new and that you’re keeping things up-to-date.

Simply put, a site redesign can be a great marketing and PR tool for your business

8. Make Your Site Accessible Before it Becomes Mandatory

A year ago accessible design wasn't an issue. Now more than ever it is crucial that your web site comply with accessibility guidelines.

There are two types of accessible web design:

• Basic - meeting Section 508 guidelines.
• Advanced - exceeding Section 508 guidelines by incorporating recommendations from the W3C's WAI Priorities I-III.

A good designer doesn't know what Section 508 is. A great designer happily complies with and accommodates Section 508. But a brilliant and well educated designer will not only meet but exceed Section 508 guidelines and go that extra mile to ensure full compliance by embracing W3C guidelines as well.

Basically, all of this means your site will be available to more users, therefore you have the potential to reach 100% of the population instead of the meager 10-25% you were before. More visitors equals more consumers.

If you're ready to redesign...

Or even if you have questions about this article and whether or not your site should be redesigned please contact us and we'll be happy to discuss this with you — (314) 225-5881.