It’s Time for a Redesign. How Can You Tell?
A lot of clients come through our doors looking to update their company Web site. How do you know when it’s time for a redesign? Here are four tell-tale signs that it’s time to overhaul your site:
- The photographs are dated. Is the staff photo you took back in 1997 not representational of what you look like now? Has your company changed buildings? If so, it’s time to give your site a new look with current photos. Sometimes you can still use the old photography, but they often clash with the new design.
- The site is too narrow.Way back in 1995, designers had to build Web sites to fit small 640 by 480 computer screens. When 17 inch monitors hit the market, designers shifted gears and created sites to fit 800 x 600 screens. Now that most people use 20-23 inch monitors, designers are again able to bump up the size of site designs to fit 1024 by 768 screen resolution. So, if your site looks narrow and has a lot of background area on the sides, it’s time to expand the site to fit more content and larger pictures.
- Your site doesn’t appear in search engines. Every once in a while, you get the urge to see where your site ranks on the major search engines. When you enter relevant search terms, you may find out that your site isn’t in the top ten results as you had hoped. Why is that? Chances are your site hasn’t been optimized for search engines. A professional graphic redesign can often help boost search engine rankings.
- It doesn’t match up with your print materials. Six months ago, your company revamped its brand, complete with a new logo, new color scheme and new print materials. But the last time you checked, your envelopes were blue and your existing site was green with the old logo. If this scenario sounds like your company, it’s time to redesign your site so it matches your print work.
