Like everything else, web design does age and will periodically need a revamp to ensure your website stays current and attractive to your target audience. Redesigning your website goes well beyond updating your content . Considering design issues which may involve branding, navigation, and colour schemes, among others, are all essential in ensuring that your site remains as effective as possible.

This can be a costly  and time-consuming project, so before embarking on a major revamp, it’s best to test the waters and ensure it’s the right time. Begin by considering who the website is aimed at, is it your clients, suppliers, current and potential employees, or all of the above?

Once you’ve highlighted your target audience, start garnering opinion. Obviously, this won’t be possible in every circumstance, but where you feel able to ask for feedback from people, especially external parties such as clients, you should do so. The more specific your respondents can be the easier you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what it is that requires updating. This will help you target your resources, ensuring maximum impact for minimum input.

After you’ve done your research, you’ll be in a stronger position to determine what form of update your website requires, whether it is a simple update to content, or if there are more serious issues, such as a difficulty with navigation, or whether company developments have left your branding out of date.

It’s at this stage that you might like to consider approaching companies like NS Design for a free, no-obligation quote on making your website reflect your modern-day business.

In these fast-moving times, one thing you can rely on is that sooner or later, you will need to redesign your website. Although, this isn’t necessarily a case of in with the old, out with the new. If your site is bringing you business, then it is clearly doing something right. In which case, you may only need to update certain elements of the site to achieve the effect you desire.

If it’s the visuals of your site that are looking a little tired, then you may wish to consider a redesign or rebranding. This focuses purely on the look of your site and brand, and while it may mean moving a menu bar from a vertical to a horizontal axis, it leaves the structure and content of your site pretty much intact.

Alternatively, if your client feedback is that the site is difficult to navigate, then a restructure may be called for to create a more user-friendly interface. This is a purely technical way to update your site and does not necessarily require visual or literary creativity.

Just occasionally, the problem lies with the site content, and if this is the case then you need to fully reassess your site’s aims moving forward to create a functional website that will be, to some extent, future-proofed.

Of course, a website redesign could contain an element of any of these factors and the more you change, the more noticeable it will be. Just ensure that every change has a purpose and you can’t go too far wrong.

Websites are a competitive industry and the temptation to throw as many bells and whistles into your design as possible can be high. When well placed and used in moderation, flashy graphics and video insets can add both colour and interest to your site; however, over-using them can distract users from the key messages of your site and create a slower-loading, less accessible page.

The same mantra applies across all aspects of your design, from colour schemes to text. Content is the absolute king of your webpage and needs to be kept as simple as possible, remaining jargon-free and concise to ensure your visitors read what you want them to.

With colours, pick a two or three colour scheme and stick to it. Over-egging the palette of your website can result in a messy and unreadable design which makes visitors want to click off quickly. Excessive colour schemes can confuse and disorientate viewers, making navigation of the site harder and ultimately costing you sales.

Navigation is one of the most vital areas in which to stay simple. The norm for navigation bars is either at the top or the left of the site, with pages easily identified through their home titles. Don’t be afraid to use ‘standard text’ for these links. People searching websites are used to looking for FAQs, so you’re more likely to get a hit than if you headed it ‘Things people often ask us’ or even ‘Popular Questions’. It can also help to repeat your navigation bar at the bottom to save people scrolling up and down.

Even though technology is improving all the time, simplicity is still the number one aim for all websites. So don’t be afraid to rein in your design a little.