Waiting until a redesign becomes urgent means feeling behind during the website redesign process. With a process that takes around 6-12 months, that’s a long time to wait when the need for the change is urgent. And it puts extra pressure on everyone while reducing your ability to engage in the process thoughtfully.
So here are the signs to monitor in order to make sure that you’re being proactive not reactive.
Signs your communications team notices
Updating the site requires workarounds or a developer
As already mentioned, if your team has developed a set of operating procedures that work around how your website was built or has come to function, that’s a sign that your website isn’t serving your needs. Perhaps these needs evolved with your organization or the website simply hasn’t kept up with technical advances. For example, you might have to copy and paste text into fields in a specific order, avoid certain page types because they break, or call a developer to make changes that should be routine. These are not expected website quirks.
Your website doesn’t reflect who you are anymore
Organizations evolve. Your priorities change, new programs get developed, language shifts. If your website still describes your organization the way it was three years ago, gives priority to work that’s no longer central to your strategic plan, uses language you (and your community) have moved away from, or is missing the work you’re most proud of now, your website is working against you. It’s no longer an effective tool in your communications toolbox nor is it adequately serving your mission.
You’re embarrassed to send people to your website
This is such simple and such telling sign. If there are times when you hesitate to share your website, that hesitation is meaningful. It’s telling you that you’re not proud of your website. Meanwhile, your website should be making a great first impression. It should be an easy-to-navigate wellspring of helpful information. So take note if you pause before sharing your website with a potential funder or program partner, or before you send a community member to look for information that maybe only you know how to find on your website.
Content is difficult to find
That said, if even your content managers are having a hard time finding content on your website, that’s a telltale sign that your website might be due for a redesign. It could be because information exists in different formats. For example as PDFs that never got turned into full fledged web pages. Or it could be because some content lives in a Google Drive or a campaign microsite. Or it could be that your website has been growing organically for over a decade with content being added to menus until they’ve become too overwhelming to truly understand. Content architecture problems tend to compound over time and take effort to manage.
Signs your audiences are telling you
People keep asking questions your website should answer
Speaking of content that only you know how to find, if your website visitors can’t find the content they’re looking for, your team is bound to spend more time fielding questions that are actually answered somewhere on your website. Just imagine how much better spent that time would be if it were put towards working on your mission! Your website should support your team and this is a sign that it isn’t doing its job.
Your website is hard to use on a phone
A significant amount of website traffic comes from mobile devices these days. And while responsive design has been around for a long time, your website’s mobile experience could be leaving a lot to be desired. Pay attention to visitors complaining about frustrations with your website while using their mobile devices.
Signs your leadership team notices
Your website doesn’t support your fundraising
A good website supports the work of your development team. It has a way of presenting a compelling impact story, makes it easy to make donations, and captures email addresses of visitors who are not quite ready to give yet. If your website doesn’t do these things then it’s affecting your organization’s revenue.
You website doesn’t reflect your organization’s credibility
An outdated website will make a poor impression not only on the communities you serve but also possible funders and partners. It’s a bit of a catch-22. The more your website needs to be redesigned the less credible your organization looks, the less likely you are to attract new donors. But that is exactly when you could really use more funding. It’s definitely best to catch things before an outdated website undermines your credibility.
A significant organizational milestone is coming up
Important anniversaries, major campaign launches, leadership transitions, any major changes increase visibility, and by the same token, scrutiny of your website. They also often require that you communicate something new about who you are. These are natural moments to align with an investment in your website.
Signs the site itself is showing
Your site is more than five years old
While a well-built and maintained website can remain effective for much longer, technology doesn’t stand still. It’s also possible for a poorly built website to need replacing within a year or two. So the five year mark is a reasonable time for an assessment. In that time, web standards, user expectations, accessibility requirements, and website platform viability might have all shifted significantly.
Security and maintenance are becoming a concern
If your website is running outdated software, security issues are bound to creep up. Of course, there are updates you can keep on top of as part of regular maintenance. But if the update process starts to become more cumbersome, code conflicts require frequent troubleshooting, or updates have to be skipped entirely because they break things, it’s time to consider rebuilding. This is even more true if you’ve experienced a security incident. Though it’s best not to wait until that happens. It’s a risk for your organization. And you have to be serious about your responsibility to the people whose data your site collects.
Your site is slow
We’ve mentioned page loading speed already, but it behooves us to point it out as its own indicator of need for a redesign. That’s because page load speed affects everything. From user experience, to search engine visibility, and accessibility for people with slower connections or older devices. If your site consistently takes more than three seconds to load, that’s worth addressing.
What to do with this list
Now, not every sign on this list requires a full redesign. Some issues can be patched up with targeted improvements. Things like user flows, slow page loading speed, outdated content, and information architecture. A good agency will help you make that distinction and be able to recommend a smaller scope project, when appropriate.
That said, if several of these signs are present at the same time, and have been for a while, a redesign is probably not the question of “if” but “when”.
To get the best results out of a redesign project, don’t wait until you feel overwhelmed by the urgency for a new website. You don’t want to rush through this process. From laying down the strategic foundation to making sure that key stakeholders are able to be involved. There are many decisions to be made deliberately not reactively.