As technology changes so does the way your audience interacts with your website. Letting too much time pass before making the decision to redesign your site, can hurt your organization’s ability to meet its goals. If you’re a social enterprise that could mean a decrease in business and if you’re a nonprofit that could mean a decrease in donations.

The decision to redesign your website is big and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s unnecessary to redesign your website annually but if you can’t remember the last time your website went through the redesign process, here are some questions to ask:

• Is your website mobile friendly? More and more people are using smartphones and tablets to access the Internet. If your website isn’t formatted to properly adapt to smaller screens then you might need to redesign your site. A mobile-friendly site means that anyone can access your website wherever they are on whatever device they use.

• Is your website slow? Newer devices and greater broadband availability means people have become accustomed to speed when they’re online. If your website is taking too long to load, you can expect potential web visitors to give up and move onto another site. A look at your website’s analytics will likely confirm just how often and quickly visitors are abandoning your site.

Newer devices and greater broadband availability means people have become accustomed to speed

• Is your website difficult to find? If you Google your organization’s name and your organization isn’t coming in first in search rankings then you should be concerned. This could mean that your website isn’t optimized for search engines. Optimizing your website for search could mean reconfiguring your navigation and linking structure to make navigating your website easier. A website optimized for search means search engines and, subsequently, the public will be more likely to find you at the top of their search results.

You should no longer be relying on your website developer or IT department to make changes

• Is your website difficult to update? You should no longer be relying on your website developer or IT department to make changes both great and small to your website. You should also not be letting a lot of time pass before making updates on your site. Nowadays, most organizations are using content management systems (CMS) for their website so more team members can collaborate to keep their website updated and current.

• Is your website serving your goals? In addition to telling the world who you are, your website should serve your organization’s goal. If you’re a social enterprise, it may be to find investors or promote your business for good solution. If you’re a nonprofit, you likely use your website to raise money and/or recruit volunteers. If your audience isn’t following through on your call-to-action, then there might be a design issue that needs addressing.

If you answered “yes” to two or more of the previous questions, then it’s time to redesign your website.

 

If you answered “yes” to two or more of the previous questions, then it’s time to redesign your website.

To guide you along on the website redesign process, make sure to check out our latest ebook on things to consider when redesigning your website.