You know how you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover? Well, it turns out most people can – and do – judge a business by its website. Thus, we’re often told to update the content on our website regularly. But what about the site layout and its visual design? How often does that need an overhaul?

What does your website do?

Digital marketers like to say that your business’ website is its digital storefront – an online representation of everything your business is. As CXers, we agree with that as far as it goes. But this viewpoint is really only half of the equation. The other half is this:

Your website is where your customers go to get something from your business. This could be information, support, a quote, or some other type of assistance.

In a human-centric view, your website should serve your customers. In meeting their need for information, service, interactions, etc., you can also meet your own goals. In this view, it’s easier to determine when it’s time to overhaul the design of your website (and possibly its structure, as well).

When is it time to redesign your website?

From a business perspective, the time to redesign your website is:

• If its design or layout is so outdated that it reflects poorly on your company.

• When you’ve introduced new offerings.

• When you're rebranding.

• If you need to add functionality to your site or update its technology.

Again, all of these are true. But we’d suggest zooming out and considering:

Is the site working for your customers? If it’s hard for prospective and current customers to use your website, there’s a problem. If this is the case, visitors won’t spend much time on your site. Customers won’t be able to find the information they need. Shopping carts and contact forms are abandoned before completion. 

An examination of key website statistics will prove helpful here, as is having an ongoing focused dialog with your customers. You can also learn a lot from complaints lodged via social media and the CS team.

Is the site working for you? Your website’s branding, design, and language may not align with who you really are as a company. Actively looking for these gaps and brainstorming improvements is eye-opening; it often helps to have a consultant analyze your website and explain their findings. This is the process we’re following in our own website redesign. It requires more time and budget, but it’s also a must if you want your website to be firmly user-centric.

Or maybe it’s hard for your employees to navigate parts of the site in the course of their work. Mapping workflows and processes will help you identify what’s causing the friction here.

Be prepared to work

Let’s not confuse a website update with a website redesign. An update can be done quickly and should be done at least once a year. A redesign is a much more intensive process; in our case, it required a team of UX researchers and designers, a visual designer, and a content strategist as well as our own UX and CX expertise. But when you put in the work and take care to keep user needs at the center of all your decisions, you’ll get a website that works for your customers and your business.