Is your website ready for rebuilding ? A few years ago your web site was cutting edge, the best your Web designer could offer with the techology available . But now, the site is beginning to show its age . The Internet lives in dog years more than it does in human years, things change quickly, evolution and revolution go hand in hand .
So, what can you do with your aging site ? Just turf the old site and start fresh ? Perhaps, but you have other options . Redesigning your Website is the perfect opportunity to look over your entire process online . It is time to look at how your needs have evolved, how the Web has changed in culture and technology and how these forces affect your goals online . It is, perhaps, also necessary to look further into your business model and branding to make sure your marketing strategy is as effective as possible . Before you even bring the new Web design to the table, make sure you feel confident with your existing business model and marketing plan . Being secure in these key areas allows you to confidently consider the options for your Web site redesign . Consider everything from the domain to hosting, the script/database platform the site is built on, the functionality of the website (do you want to move into e-commerce, if you haven’t already?) the look of the web design and how relevant is your content to today’s visitors.
Here are the top ten advantages of Web redesign:
- Domain and hosting re-considerations – you can look at more relevant domains for your Web presence and redirect your old domain references using a 301 redirect to ensure all of your search engine results find their corresponding link on your new site.
- Review and Refresh the look and style – Have you changed your print media or corporate identity since the last time your site was updated? Does your current website have design elements that date it to a certain design style of a few years ago? Cleaner designs can avoid these design traps.
- How wide is your Web site design? – Site designs have expanded horizontally as screen resolutions have increased. Consider updating your 800px wide web design to 1024px.
- Update your content – You don’t have to totally rewrite content for your redesigned site. The content can evolve. Archive old news, but keep it on the site to help show new visitors you’ve been at it for a while. Review your search terms in your content and add new articles and pages where needed. Consider using RSS feed readers to help keep content on your site automatically fresh.
- Navigation and Menu improvement – A key aspect of redesign is a full review of the menu systems and supporting navigation.
- Review all Web imagery (Photos, illustrations, etc.) – Lose those old stock photos and replace them with custom photos of your own, or source new, higher quality (and less seen) stock photos.
- Update your website’s platform to a CMS. If you have a CMS already, make sure it gets updated to the latest version to ensure compatibility, security and functionality.
- Updated SEO techniques – if you don’t keep your search engine optimization up to date, you will lose out to competitors who do .
- Media checkin – What type of media do you have on your site? Adding video, PDF documents and interactive Flash animations can help improve site retention and viral marketing.
- Are you Linked in? – Social media brings people together, and people are the reason for the Web, so it makes sense to integrate tools like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Just be prepared to keep them updated and also that the tone for each channel is as business-like or as casual as needed to be accepted by your “friends”.
Your old Website has the potential to be more effective than a new website. When properly produced by your Calgary Web design team, or whereever your design team is located, your updated Website can carry the established momentum of your old site, even when that means switching over to a whole new domain, better hosting or new Web look.
A final reason for Web site redesign, whether you are in Calgary, Alberta or anywhere else in the world, is to spread the news to clients, friends and everyone else! A Web redesign will get people talking and re-ignite their interest in your company and services.
Looking for a creative solution for your Calgary graphic design and Calgary Web Design needs?
You can find it all at www.blinddrop.com.
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