Does Your Website Need a Refresh or a Redesign?

As the first blog since my website redesign, I thought I’d share some tips on how to decide if your website needs a redesign — or a refresh!

First, let’s figure out the difference between a website refresh and a website redesign.

• Refresh: Focuses on content while the structure or website builder stays the same.
• Redesign: A major overhaul of structure, content, and possibly your web builder.

Why would you need a REFRESH?

Content is Outdated

Since a website refresh primarily is focusing on an update of the content, the primary reason you may need to consider a refresh is if your content is out of date. Look at your website, review each page, and check to confirm your information is up to date and links are still working.

Things to pay attention to are things like events, services, prices, etc. Set a good impression with new and returning customers. If they notice information is out of date, they will abandon your website — aka they will not convert and use your business. Make your Calls to Action (CTAs) clear and easy to follow.

Readability / Visual Appeal

A refresh may help with visual elements as well. Is your website cluttered? Have you been adding content but not removing old content? A refresh is a good time to go through and remove old information, clean up your website. This will help with website readability and load times. Also, while you are at it, updating your content is a great opportunity to analyze you Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!

Updating is a chore

Do you have access and the ability to update your website? Do you have someone on staff who can routinely update your site?

If you don’t have access, now is the time to get a professional to help you! I also recommend getting training and access to you can make at least text updates.*

Giving your website a refresh is a great opportunity to setup up standard operating procedures (SOPs) for regular updates. This is an opportunity to train someone to update the website and add it to their regular responsibilities.

Setting up SOPs can also help your website look more uniform. If one person is doing the updating, it is more likely the website will be updated consistently and in the same format.

Now you may be saying, “yes, it sounds like I need a refresh!” but wait… you may need to take the next step and do a redesign.

Why would you need a redesign?

Let’s look at this from two different angles: the user and you.

Let’s start with the user.

Your website needs to reflect your brand and leave a lasting impression on a visitor. Is your website visually appealing? Does your website offer features your visitors want to see? Maybe your content is out of date, but so is your technology. Website technology and trends are constantly changing.

You don’t need to follow all the trends and constantly redesign your website, but you need to provide the experience your visitors are looking for with your site. What value visitors will find with your website?

If visitors are coming to make a reservation at your campground, integrate your reservation system with your site. If your visitors are coming to make a purchase or sign up for a class, make it easy with an online checkout process that is quick. For those accessing your website on a mobile device, you need to make sure your website is responsive, and features are accessible on a smaller screen. Making a process clear and easy can help convert visitors and reduce inquiries to your business.

When building a website, it is also important to consider everyone that may be visiting. You need a great user experience (UX) and you need to make your website accessible. The ways that websites are designed and set up can create unnecessary barriers that make it difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to use websites. There are many free resources to learn about the regulations a website needs to follow such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  

This also takes us into other more legal territory. Disclaimers and privacy policies are important to help protect both you and the user. These items are important items for your website, but laws are constantly changing. You may have heard of things like GDPR and notice websites ask to accept cookies. To learn more about what your website needs to stay compliant, check out this article from Elementor.

Now let’s talk about you — the website owner.

Is your website builder easy to use and update? Does it offer the latest technology with updates or plugins? If not, a redesign is an opportunity to research a platform that will work best for your needs. There are so many great tools to use now, many of which you don’t need to know any code! If you want a great breakdown of options, check out this article by wpbeginner.

As mentioned, you want to have features to make users have a memorable experience, but you also should be utilizing features to help make your life easier.

Provide your customer with as much information as visitor so they can make decision and minimize reaching out you for assistance. What features will make the most sense for your business? Some ideas:

• Let your visitors to place orders, on the spot, so you can bring in money.
• Have them fill out all the necessary information to sign up and pay for your services.
• Get online reservations/meetings scheduled. This can help you avoid double booking if doing manually or back and forth of seeing when someone is available.

In Conclusion…

Some website experts recommend major website updates or designs every 2-3 years. Of course, this all depends on a variety of things — primarily your ability to maintain the website with content and technology.  You’ll want to pay attention to things like what are your competitors doing and if there are technological advancement you need to be utilizing.   

Bottom line don’t change your website if you don’t need to, as it is a cost and time commitment. Give your website a refresh if your content needs some updating or invest in a redesign if it can take your business to the next level.

If you are looking for help with your website, let’s chat!

*Note on this, a website is a business asset. You should own the hosting and domain. If someone outside of your organization owns these elements, you don’t have control of anything. If they disappear or don’t respond to update requests, your website will be stale and not bringing in leads as it should.