You may be familiar with the phrase, “Diamonds are forever”, well the same cannot be said regarding websites.
In the 1990s if you simply had a website you were ahead of the game, but back then there were not many websites, to begin with. Today though, with millions of websites flooding the internet, simply having a website is not enough. Website’s need improving.
Just like most things in life, websites need to be maintained, well-designed, easy to navigate and they need to be “engageable” to meet the standards of your clients and your business. This needs to be done frequently because website technologies are evolving at a fast pace. According to some sources, many people judge the credibility of a company, based on the design of its website.
Consider the following reasons why a website facelift (refresh your website) is better than a complete redesign of a new one.
Facelift for SEO Purposes
Search engine algorithms change quite often and have changed immensely since the ’90s of course. If your organic search engine rankings look like they may be decreasing, then you need to consider updating or face-lifting your website.
On the other hand, your rankings can look great. A website replacement, if not done very carefully, could cause harm in existing rankings. This is actually the reason that many of our clients require our SEO services here in Cyprus. A new website can cause the complete loss of their rankings whether high or low. That’s because it’s not “easy” to transfer optimization techniques on a new website. It’s like doing everything all over again.
Whereas a facelift would not interfere with your SEO. Actually, with an SEO advisor involved in the process, a facelift is the perfect opportunity to enhance your on-page optimization.
Re-Designs are Time Consuming
The time involved to re-design a website is roughly around 2 months from beginning to end without any ‘hick-ups’. Some websites though may take longer depending on the complexity and scope of the actual project.
Some websites may require landing pages, home pages and other pages that lead to your services, contact or blog pages. Each website is different and has its own characteristics meaning that every re-design depends on the expectation of your product and services.
You may have to use a template-based website or e-commerce website that involves much customization, and both choices have their set time. In most cases, the time to re-design a new website is not measurable as issues arise and new changes need to be implemented – by the website developer and designer – after receiving new feedback from the website owner.
Facelifts, on the other hand, are time-effective and the improvements that need to be implemented can be adjusted accordingly using various CMS platforms like WordPress which we at Web Theoria have a preference in using. Also, facelifts do not require strict deadlines as do new re-designs.
Another great benefit is that you can work on multiple refreshers involving sections of a website and schedule them over a specific period of time. This way your website looks “alive”. You are constantly working on improving the user experience and making your website more competitive, with higher conversions.
A Facelift could be the most cost effective solution
Sometimes, it just comes down to budget. If your budget is not enough for a re-design and if the criteria allows you to actually proceed with a facelift, then continue with that route.
Obviously, if your website was developed without a CMS or is completely flash, meaning it has aged quite a lot, then you surely need a new website. If you plan to start an e-business, then again you may require a new website. That will also depend on which platform your website was developed on.
Re-Designs are sometimes Unnecessary
If the criteria is met, it is unnecessary to re-design a website due to technological advances that help maintain an already existing website for many years.
Newly designed websites are typically created using CMS platforms like WordPress and these allow fixes and changes at any given time. You also have the option to add different plugins to your CMS that will allow other features to be implemented to your site like speeding up your site or making it more responsive.
Some other elements that can be improved by a small facelift on your website are:
- On-page SEO can improve your rankings.
- Website Speed
- Easy development of landing pages and other pages on the website
- Improvement of content
- Fixing or adjustments on URLs
Frequent Facelifts are better than a long-expected re-design
It’s wiser to do frequent facelifts rather than wait for the website to get outdated by technology. Making frequent improvements and facelifts also helps your image as a company, helps your team understand the issues that need solving and is “less expensive” as the budget is spread around over a longer period of time. In most cases, you have an increased return on investment, as you are solving the issues before your competition.
Criteria to benefiting from a facelift
There are some criteria that must be met, in order to actually benefit from a facelift:
- The current website must be in good standing. This basically means, that your website is not “old”, completely outdated and not worth “fixing”. Your web agency can give you an analysis and guidance on the matter.
- The platform must be good. There no reason face lifting a website that uses a platform which is currently unsupported. That is why most websites develop on WordPress because this has that extra benefit.
- The plugins used to support the website are still supported. If you have developed your website with unsupported plugins, then you may as well proceed in developing a new website. That will require analysis by your web expert.
Conclusion
Always speak and ask for advice from your web agency. Sometimes by explaining your current and future goals can make a difference in selecting between facelift or re-design of a new website.
The right choice is always the cheapest, with the highest profitability.
Published on September 12, 2019