When I was studying finance and accounting a few years ago in University, I remember my professor talking about improvements in the workspace for better results and better productivity. I think it is the same idea with websites.

You have a website and it is nice and professional, but 3 years have passed since you launched it. And 3 years ago there was no social media websites and there were totally different styles of websites. Is it a good idea to redesign the website from scratch, or modify the existing design?

I believe that if the website is a bit old but it is still looking nice and professional, it should not be designed from scratch. Of course the website should be reviewed first. You should look at your stats, what your visitors are clicking on the most or if you decide to begin blogging, does the design suit the purpose …

If you have a website that is generating visitors and is making you money, you should be very careful in your changes. Maybe your readers will love the new changes, but there is also the other side of the coin. Maybe the visitors will be confused and they will not know where to go or how to navigate, or the colors are not good for the eye. You can make it or you can break it. So be careful.

You should consider redesigning your site when the nature of the products or services is changing, or you add or remove new products.

Example

Jumbo Designs 1 Year Ago

Jumbo Designs After 1 Year

Lets see some benefits of each option:

1) Revamping

• Is cheaper to revamp
• Is faster to make the changes
• The interface is still familiar to the visitors

2) Redesign

• Is like a new start, people will be excited to explore it.
• You can change technologies, for example using jQuery instead of flash.
• It might be easier to redesign if you are considering a more social media friendly or interactive website.

What do you think?