How Much Should I Spend on a Website Redesign?
Don’t spend a bunch of money on a redesign. Yes, you read correctly. We redesign websites all the time and we just told you NOT to spend A BUNCH of money on a redesign. (Before we go any further, you can find out what we charge for web design right here.)
I didn’t just make that up myself. I’ve been reading Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs and Chapter 2 describes something we see over and over and over again in this industry. This is the abridged version . . .
You redesign your website and love it for about 2 months. After 9 months you realize you don’t like the colors and menus anymore and that your competitor has a new look that you want. After a year, you can’t stand the look of your site and want to throw up if you have to look at it again.
So you start the process all over again.
“We don’t even look at our site.”
I hear it from prospects all the time. “We don’t even look at our site anymore.” I was on the phone just this week with a potential client who said those exact words. We were looking at her site and discussing some changes. “Hmm. I didn’t realize that was on there. We haven’t looked at our own site in a long time.”
The problem is not the design or the designers. The problem is your website is dead.
From Inbound Marketing: “Your visitors are not particularly interested in your site’s colors or the type of menus used. Your visitors are looking for something interesting they can read and learn about.”
Your Website is Dead
The problem with your website is that it is not a living, breathing thing. If you want to like your website again and want it to do what it should do–attract customers–you need to resuscitate it with fresh content.
This summer, we launched a redesign for Bays Mountain Park – the largest city-owned park in Tennessee. This was a large project and it turned out fantastic. One of the reasons I’m so excited to show people their site is that they have the right perspective.
Ken Childress, the park manager, told their staff over and over again when we were discussing the project “The main thing is keeping it up-to-date.” And they have. They’ve dealt with a lot of construction issues on their entrance road and they have kept their visitors well informed on the occasional closures with pictures and lots of posts. They post a lot about their upcoming events. The planetarium guys are always putting new content up about their shows. That’s the way to do it.
You need to start blogging. Start writing. Start interviewing your clients when a project is completed. Give your customers tips on how to use your product. Answer questions your receptionist gets twice a week with a video blog post. Post pictures or video of your product in use. Share the success story of a company who sells complimentary services to your own.
The point is create compelling content that people will find interesting and beneficial. And don’t forget to make it fun.
Make It Fun
It’s time to have fun again. The blog post previous to this one gave away an Amazon Gift Credit. We gave away 2 key lime pies with our latest email newsletter. Make your site and communication exciting and throw in some perks for your visitors.
The real “How Much” question you should be asking is not “How Much Should I Spend on a Website Redesign?” The question you should be asking is “How Much Effort Should I Put Into Keeping My Site Up-To-Date?”
The answer is . . . A BUNCH.
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