Redesign: update or make from scratch?

Website redesign can be a big project. In most cases, a complete website redesign means to fundamentally change an existing design, while the time to complete the work will be no less than the time to develop a design from scratch. Another option is to change only some elements, which will take much less time than developing a design from scratch.
Which option will suit you and what are the principles of choice?


1. How old is the existing design?
The “age” of an existing design can be one of the factors that will help you determine which way to redesign you choose. Most sites tend to make major changes once or twice a year in order to keep up with changing trends in design and present interesting solutions to visitors. On the other hand, if the design was developed relatively recently, then you only want to update some elements. But such changes can not only be expensive, but also, subsequently, damage the site, if the redesign does not appeal to visitors.

2. Is the design of high quality?
The quality of the existing design certainly influences what changes we need to make. Site redesign should always be one step higher than the existing design. Even if the design is high level, you should not just do something new at the same level, but make qualitative changes that will improve the perception of the site. Otherwise, what is the meaning of redesign?
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3. What is the status of the site code?
If you plan to avoid global changes in the design and make a small update - this will not save you from nightmares, if the layout of the site is done extremely poorly. In this case, it is better to postpone the idea of ​​redesign and, above all, take care of the cleanliness and readability of the code. An example of such a case can serve as a layout made using tables, because even minimal changes to the design will require reworking most of the code. CSS is more flexible to changes in structure.

4. How will this affect the promotion of your business?
Ideally, the website is the hallmark of your business and certainly has an impact on the company's business reputation in the eyes of your potential and loyal customers. Does your existing design have a positive impact on the business reputation? Will the promotion of a full redesign of the site contribute to the promotion or will any changes have a negative effect? The ultimate goal of the site is not to show how beautiful it is, but rather to interest the user and allow him to learn as much as possible about the activities and success of your business. Sometimes even the best design is not able to make this goal real.

5. What other factors, such as business reputation, have changed since the last redesign?
Business is constantly evolving. A business may have major changes in services and products; logo, slogan, colors, etc. change - Is all this reflected in the existing design? When a business changes direction, a website should also correspond to these changes, and without complete redesign, this is often not enough.

6. What do users say about the design of your site?
Do you have positive feedback about the site from your visitors? Have you received suggestions for improving any items? Always consider the opinions of site visitors, since any of them can be your potential customer.

7. In what other areas could you improve the design of the site without making any global changes?
Is it possible to make the site better without making global changes to the structure? For example, to make graphics more attractive, to improve the quality of images, to change the logo, colors, change the font and icons, etc. Will these changes be effective and will help improve the perception of the site, or is it not a matter of design? ;)

8. What is the budget for redesign?
Naturally, you need to determine in advance what amount you are willing to spend on redesign. A complete redesign is usually quite expensive, but the result will be more effective in most cases than small changes. Decide on the amount that you are willing to invest in the project, so as not to waste time on inventing ideas that you can not realize (from outside the amount), and thus, do not miss those opportunities that are really available.

9. What content or pages should be added to the site?
If you need to add a fairly large amount of new information to the site, then, most likely, you cannot do without complete reconstruction. But this is not always the case: if the new information you need fits into your existing design, then you only need to think about how to communicate innovations to your visitors.

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