Why Would You Redesign A Website in 2017? Set Serious Business Goals for It Few days to go and we are in 2017, so just take a walk back into the memory lane and recollect websites five years ago.

Design is something that gets boring after a while, no matter what. This is the reason, why many products get a makeover or a redesign after a sometime. From automobiles to mobile phones, everything requires a redesign in order to remain appealing. The same is the case with websites.

Few days to go and we are in 2017, so just take a walk back into the memory lane and recollect websites five years ago.

You will find that almost all of them have gone through some major redesign.

Being a part of web design industry, I get to solve several issues that pave the way for redesign. In last few years, most appropriately last year, we have seen so much around web based businesses from machine learning to mobile app indexing and keeping with the ever-changing tastes of users, search engines and growing standards of technology has now turned up as the biggest challenge for entrepreneurs today; more difficult for those who have launched startups in last two years.

As a website owner one of the biggest predicaments that comes to the mind is when to go for a website redesign. I had a word with 8 different people and got 8 different answers. People have their own perspective and there is no clarity on this issue. However, for a website owner the only solution for high bounce rate, or low conversion is to go for a redesign.

When you should rebuild your website; it is as simple as it gets (regardless of all assumptions). You should go for a redesign when the time is right. But how does one know when the time is right? Is there a metric to look at? Yes there is.

Factors Crucial to Consider a Website Redesign

A good rule of thumb is that when your website no longer meets the objectives set by you, the technology you are using has become redundant or you have something new to offer, it is the right time to go for a redesign. Each aspect of your website is dependent entirely on your business goals, objective and economic considerations, rather than some superficial period pulled out of thin air.

• You have a new branding or want to incorporate new color standards.
• Your bounce rates are extremely high meaning visitors are coming but not converting
• Your business growth has outpaced you and you want to add new product and services
• Your website looks outdated due to new technologies coming to the forefront.
• Your customers have started to complain that your website look plain boring.

Should you go for small tweaks or a complete overhaul

For some the suitable time for website redesign is 2 years, while for others it can be 3 years or even 6 months. The fact of the matter is that most people look at website as a onetime expense, and once you are done building it, it is good for a while. However, the reality is that website design is a continuous process and it includes several elements which need to be updated on a regular basis.

The best strategy for a website is to go for small tweaks on a regular basis and after some time call in the big guns for a complete overhaul.

Is it advisable to do a beta test before finalizing a design?

The biggest issue with redesign is that you cannot foresee its effect on your targeted consumers. There have been many cases where website redesign has got a lot of backlash. Let us look at a similar example.

Nike had one of the most popular fitness app in the form of Nike running. However, the company thought of giving it a makeover and redesigning it. They even went a step ahead and rebranded it as Nike Run Club. However, when the application launched it faced a lot of criticism from the audience, as the regular users were not able to understand the new navigation of the application. It was all too confusing.

This is where website owners ought to do a beta test before releasing a new design. By doing so, they can have an overview about the reaction of the audience to the new design and act accordingly.

A website design is never complete and is an ongoing process. There are several tweaks that you can make to a website based on the user feedback. World's most visited website is a clear example of this. Google has gone through several big and small tweaks over the years but have kept its original design intact. However, a redesign has also become an important part of website development life cycle. You just cannot build a website and forget about it. With technology evolving at a rapid pace, you must keep your website updated.

Although there is no set period, you can take into account all the metrics discussed above to take an informed decision.