How To Redesign Your Website
There can be plenty of reasons to revamp your website.
It could be to catch up with the Web 2.0 buzz or just
to improvise on the accessibility and functionality
features of the site.
Nevertheless, redesigning is serious business. you
could either patch up the problems of the original
site and do a quick fix job or you can burn the entire
thing down and start from the scratch.
When and How to redesign
There can be many situations where redesigning the
website can be an ideal option and a wise one too.
The level of redesign that is required depends on
how 'well-designed' is the original site.
It is important to understand the motivating factor
behind the redesign process. This will tell you whether
to just re-image it or whether to revamp it completely.
There can be several reasons why a website should
best be redesigned such as:
Accessibility Features
Accessibility is a crucial feature in a website design.
Not only it dictates the traffic inflow onto your
site but it also influences conversion rates.
Catering to the disabled users has both moral and
business reasons. After all a percentage of population
consists of people with disabilities and if they are
not able to access the website, the whole chunk of
audience is instantly lost. But clients should not
be unduly forced to redesign their website to upgrade
the accessibility features, not by designers at least.
Rather, try to convince clients about the need for
accessibility and explain them the benefits of having
a standards-compliant website. Its not only an ethical
practice but also opens up great market opportunities
for the business.
Keeping up with fashion
In the internet cyberspace, trends come and fall
by the hour. And redesigning the website to keep up
with trends will have no end to the process.
Redesigning your website just to keep up with the
trend of the day is harmful, not only because of unnecessary
expenditures but also because they might not be able
to fulfill the needs of your clients and users. Adapting
to trends is healthy and good but compulsive obsession
with it is definitely bad. Keeping-up with any and
all of web designing fads is a fool's job but keeping
an eye on what other people are doing and being inspired
makes good sense. Plagiarism is bad, but inspiration
is good.
Value judgments
There is no one way to say whether a website design
is good or bad. Something that appeals to the client
can be contradicted by the designers and something
that the designers suggest may not go well with the
client.
However, clear and frequent communication with one
another is the key to resolve any such issues. And
the users and visitors are the sole judges of the
website. People often approach websites in ways that
no designer could ever think of. Staying on track
is perhaps the best way to avoid mistakes in the web
design projects and the best time to judge the decisions
is at the beginning and throughout the project. You
can set up certain objectives and show the clients
some sample projects. Discuss all the issues at the
meeting with them and come to a common standpoint.
Feedback at the later stages should help you evaluate
how correct your decisions were.
About the Author:
Maneet Puri is the Director of LeXolution IT Services,
a leading web
design firm in India that specializes in web designing
and development, website maintenance and internet
promotion. With 10 years of industry experience to
boast of Maneet advises his clients on hiring offshore
web designing services
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