Do you need to redesign your website? Check this before you rebuild it

Your website being a few years old doesn't mean you need a new one.

Neither does being tired of looking at it.

I'd consider a redesign when the structure, the messaging or the technical foundation are holding the business back, and fixing things piece by piece starts to make less sense than rethinking the whole thing.

1. Your business no longer fits your website

This is a fairly clear reason.

You've changed your services, your type of customer, your positioning, your prices or the way you work, but the website still describes the company you were three years ago.

Sometimes updating some copy and pages is enough.

The problem comes when the changes run so deep that explaining the business properly means patching a structure that no longer fits.

That's when rethinking it makes sense.

2. People can't find what they need

The information may well be there and the website still doesn't work.

Services buried away.

The same information repeated in different places.

Pages added over time without any clear structure.

Customers constantly asking you things that, in theory, are already explained.

Or the whole site is trying to rank from a single services page, even though you offer five different services.

In cases like these, the problem isn't necessarily the visual design. Often it's the structure.

Before rebuilding everything, it's worth working out what each type of visitor is looking for and which page should answer them. We go into that in how to plan a website's structure from real searches and needs.

3. Changing anything has become too hard

Every website builds up decisions over time.

The problem is when every change starts having knock-on effects.

For example:

• editing one page breaks another;
• the mobile version needs constant fixes;
• there are dependencies or plugins nobody wants to touch anymore;
• adding a new section means rebuilding half the site;
• nobody is quite sure what can be updated without causing another problem.

A specific bug gets fixed.

A whole foundation that gets in the way of any change can justify a migration or a redesign.

The question is simple: is it worth carrying on patching this foundation, or building one that fits what you need now?

4. The right people are arriving, but the website isn't doing much for them

This is where you need to be careful.

A site that gets visits but few enquiries doesn't automatically need a redesign.

First I'd check:

• whether conversions are being measured properly;
• whether the traffic has real intent;
• whether the form and contact options actually work;
• whether the offer itself is competitive;
• and which landing pages that traffic arrives on.

If all of that is reasonably fine and people still don't understand what you do, can't find the information they need or have no reason to trust you, then the website may well be part of the problem.

And that problem may be the messaging, the structure or the design.

What I don't think is a good reason

"I'm tired of looking at it."

You see your website all the time. Most of your customers don't.

"I've seen another one I like better."

A website can be great for another company and completely wrong for yours.

"I need to add a section."

That should be a simple improvement. If adding a section means rebuilding everything, the problem is the foundation, not the section.

Before you redesign, try to make the problem smaller

You don't always have to start again.

The fix might be to:

• rewrite the homepage;
• separate your services more clearly;
• create the pages that are missing;
• fix the mobile version;
• improve the form;
• reorganise the navigation;
• or migrate to new technology while keeping much of the design.

I'd try to find the smallest change that solves the actual problem first.

If doing that means changing the structure, content, design and technology all at once, then you're probably looking at a redesign.

And if you do rebuild it, don't lose what already works

Before launching the new site, check which current URLs get traffic or have external links pointing to them.

If a page is staying, try to keep its URL.

If it's going away or moving, decide what replaces it and set up a 301 redirect where it makes sense. If there's no new page that covers the same thing, it's better not to redirect it somewhere unrelated, like the homepage, just for the sake of it.

A redesign shouldn't mean starting from scratch on Google. Doing it carefully doesn't guarantee you'll keep every ranking, but it greatly reduces the risk of losing what you'd already built up.

If you're not sure whether you need a new website

Before deciding, I'd look at four things:

1. Does the website still reflect what you sell today?
2. Can people easily find what they need?
3. Can you maintain it and grow it without fighting it?
4. Does the data suggest the website itself is holding back results?

If only one of these fails, you can probably fix it.

If nearly all of them do, rebuilding it probably starts to make sense.

A website audit is useful for exactly that: telling one situation from the other.

And when the whole website really does need rethinking, this is how we approach a Brand Website.