TalonX started out in Calgary as a company designing kick-ass websites and from there grew into the even more kick-ass creative agency that it is. Web design is still the foundation of our work, so naturally people call us up to talk about website related problems and to ask us web design related questions. One of the most frequently asked questions is: “how long will our website last?” or something to the extent of “Our website is XX number of years old, should it get a redesign?”
As a general rule there isn’t a set number of years where your web design just suddenly fails, there is no doomsday clock ticking down in the background that makes your current website suddenly become irrelevant when it hits zero. Well, if your website was designed in 1999 it is safe to say you need a new one… but that is a bigger problem for a different blog post.
The need for a redesign varies case by case, business by business and industry by industry.
Results
When you first launched your website you were selling your product like crazy, your leads were abundant and you couldn’t keep up with the demand you site was generating. If that simply leveled out to a manageable pace than it is normal, but if your sales/leads/demand has dried out that is a good indicator that your website is no longer fulfilling its purpose. If you tried putting a video of a dancing monkey on the landing page and it still hasn’t generated interest, it is time to seek out professional help for a website redesign. (Editor’s note, dancing monkey gifs most likely won’t help, please don’t try that in the work place.)
Lame
It doesn’t happen often in the design world, but sometimes you can get swept up in the web development process, launch a website and it just flops. The website just doesn’t work and is kind of sh*tty. Maybe your visitors have a hard time finding the most basic things on the site or worse yet they have to click too many times to purchase your service or product. If your session rate is low and your bounce rate is crazy high, you may have a problem that needs to be addressed by a redesign – and you probably want to use a different web design firm this go around.
Rebrand
This is probably obvious, but just in case it isn’t, if your business has rebranded you should redesign your website. If it’s only your logo that has had some minor tweaks, you probably don’t need a redesign. What we’re talking about here is a full rebrand. If you have a new logo, new colour palette, new mission/vision and especially a change to the purpose of your company your website needs to reflect the change.
Not Mobile
If your website isn’t responsive or is not made for different devices, especially a mobile device, it is time for a change. It’s official, people now spend more time browsing the internet on their phones than they do on their desktop computers. If your website is not optimized for use on a phone it is most likely that people are going to immediately click away from your page to your competitor who does have a mobile optimized page. If you are literally the only game in town for your product/service it doesn’t matter too much, but seeing as that is unlikely, it is time to upgrade your web presence.
Trashy techno
Last but not least, if your e-commerce site is based around what was new and flashy technology 6-7 years ago, it is no longer new and flashy, it may as well be a floppy disk. It is time to upgrade and make yourself relevant again. Technology is one of the few reasons that a website will need serious upgrading every few years, especially now when new gadgets are constantly morphing and being developed.
To make this long story short, if you are questioning whether or not your website is out of date or in need of a redesign it is best to ask an expert. Luckily for you, the kind folks over at talonX have a bar in the office and a minor coffee addiction. Call us up or shoot us an email and we can set up a time to talk about whether or not your site does in fact need an upgrade. Because we believe so much in transparency, if we don’t think you need work done we will even tell you just that.