If you’ve gotten this far, chances are you’re asking yourself this question. Or you’ve already decided to redesign your site, but you came across this article and clicked to ease your conscience. Either way, I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll get right to the point:
Whatever the reason, before dropping the wrecking ball on your website, figure out what you want to build in its place.
Where am I? Where am I going?
I don’t know about you, but when I need to go somewhere for the first time and I don’t know the area, I usually go to Google Maps, enter the address of my starting point and destination, then choose the best route and the best mode of transportation to get there. It’s kind of the same for your website: If you know where you’re coming from and where you want to go, you’ll start to be able to envision some possible routes. Let’s look at an example:
You’re a retailer specialized in selling and repairing bikes. You own brick and mortar stores and workshops, and an online store, and you’ve realized that a good way to build customer loyalty is to provide a personalized experience (by offering adapted content, additional accessories, etc.). You have a very specific idea of what you want to do.
Congratulations, you have your destination address! (o/ yay!) Now, what’s your starting point, and how close are you to your goal?
- Do you collect enough customer data to know their cycling profiles, their expectations, and what the potential points of contact are, online and off?
- Are you equipped to send them the right messages at the right time, and on the right channels?
- What does your current web platform allow you to do?
- What resources are available to you? What are your processes – online, internally, and in-store?
If you determine that the whole structure of your site absolutely needs to be revisited to reach your objective, then a redesign is probably inevitable. But depending on your situation, optimizing what you have in place already might just be enough.
A few good reasons for a redesign (this list is not exhaustive)
| “I don’t have (or no longer have) control of my site” | You’ve decided to say farewell to the supplier who developed your site. Unfortunately they are the only ones who can access the code, and you can no longer make the tiniest update without them. It happens… Next time, plan to ask for a pre-nup that gives you ownership of the code. |
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It’s hard to make even small changes, implement testing or analytics tools, you rank poorly… When a site is poorly built, its functionality can be affected on several levels. |
| “Major internal changes require me to change my site” |
Certain internal initiatives will require you to make major changes like merging several sites into one, revisit back-office processes, or respond to new internal use cases. |
| “My site hasn’t changed since 2000” |
your site has a vintage look that calls to mind the gentle sounds of a dial-up connection, it’s probably too obsolete to allow you to meet the basic requirements of a website today. Say goodbye to the past, and look to the future! |
| “I want to satisfy mobile users (and Google)” |
Remember that for a year now, Google has been penalizing sites that aren’t optimized for mobile. So, if you know your users have the tendency or the need to visit your site with their little tactile companion (…no, not that one), now’s the moment to make the change! |
| “My current platform isn’t flexible enough to adapt to my optimization needs” |
Be pragmatic – if you find that updating or improving your site even a little is costing an excessive amount in terms of time, opportunity or manpower, you might be better off starting over on the right foot, with a platform that’s better adapted to your needs. |
In Conclusion
Even if Google tells you that public transportation is the fastest way to get from your old apartment to your new apartment, you probably don’t want to move by metro… For obvious reasons – you have to be able to transport furniture when you move!
The same holds true for your site. If you have the choice between starting over and optimizing what you have, base your decision on what’s most important to you, and what your constraints are. Ask yourself too, if you have the time and the means necessary to launch a major undertaking like this.
Finally, keep in mind that starting from scratch isn’t always the best solution, and can sometimes require a huge amount of work that will take you far beyond your initial objectives (and that doesn’t include managing eventual political issues and internal changes). In addition, there are surely things about your current site that work quite well, and changing everything in one shot may solve certain problems, but create new ones.
The choice is yours!
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