According to Business 2 Community, the average lifespan for a website is 1.5 to 2.5 years. Because design trends change and technology advances, this is the average amount of time that a redesign will feel “fresh” and competitive. However, that timeframe is only a benchmark, so you will need to determine what works best for your unique organization.
The following factors can determine how often you should redesign your website:
How often your brand or goals change. When you’re itching for a new site, first ask yourself, “Does this website still represent who we are as a company?”
How much budget you allot to design and development. Ask yourself, “Can a site design wait, or do I have reasons to use the budget on our site now?”
How long your website stays functional and fast. Step into your customers’ shoes and see if you can navigate the site well and find everything you want to find without encountering errors or long page load times. Almost 50% of websites get between four and six page views per visit — all that browsing means that your site’s navigation and speed really do matter.
The performance of your website. Ask yourself, “Is this site converting a reasonable amount of traffic? Do people stay on the page for a reasonable amount of time, or do they bounce?”
Changes in the industry. For example, when Google announced that it would be changing to mobile-first indexing, it necessitated that websites be mobile-friendly, or they’d lose organic traffic from Google.
Your website is where visitors and customers go when they want to ask questions, read content, or purchase products or services, Social Boosting has a way to boost your content and get more viewers.
For that reason, it’s best to be extra prepared when committing to a website redesign.
Before you begin planning your website redesign, document your current performance metrics. This will give you a good idea of where your current website stands and what metrics you can improve upon through your redesign.
Analyze your existing website’s monthly performance in the following areas. The importance and relevance of each may vary depending on your website redesign goals, but it’s helpful to pull each metric before you dive into your redesign.
Number of visits, visitors, and unique visitors
Bounce rate
Time on site
Top-performing keywords in terms of rank, traffic, and lead generation
Number of inbound linking domains
Total new leads and form submissions
Total sales generated (in dollars)
Total pages indexed
Total pages that receive traffic