Websites are the most cost-effective way to promote and conduct business.  But how do you know when the time is right to redesign your website? 

Here are some points you should consider before embarking on a website redesign.

How do you rank against your competition?

Your website is the first impression someone has of your business, and your  visitors will be conducting some online comparisons.  Does your website look dated next to your competitor?  Has a competitor recently redesigned their website to stand above you in both search engines and viauality?  Staying one step ahead of your competition is always a good idea.

Is your website still valid?

If your website is more than a few years old, there is a good chance it was designed and developed with non-standard code.  Websites with standards compliant code are easier to maintain, rank higher in search engines, have increased accessibility and ensure design uniformity. Check the W3C Validator!!!!

Is your websitescalable?

Today number of legacy technologies have been set aside in website development.  The risk to you, the website owner, is that you will be unable to find people to develop your website.  If your website is running on one of these older technologies now is the time to update.

Is your website more than simple information?

Early websites were strictly informational. Today a website has much more functionality. Contact forms, mailing lists, forums, blogs, reviews, calendars, rss feeds, audio and video - all of these (and many more items) are becoming commonplace on websites.  Having such features will both keep your website current and give visitors more reasons to return.

What is your website for?

Besides technology and visual concerns looking at obvious items such as website goals is important.  The days of having a website to merely have a website are gone.  Today websites focus on return on investment and serve as a tool for converting visitors into customers and clients.

Visitor feedback?

Every day your visitors tell you is useful on your website and what is redundant.  Website stats and analytics give you this information.  Look at your stats and analytics and see if you are meeting your visitors needs.  This information is invaluable when considering a redesign. 

To Summarise

Websites and the technologies behind them change rapidly. 

New technologies improve how your website is built (both from a visual and technical standpoint) and make it easier to manage.  By considering the points above you will be able to determine if the time has come to redesign your current website and make it work harder for you.