Web Development Brisbane explains the difference between a website refresh and redesign.

This blog is the first of a four-part series exploring the most important aspects of Web Development. In part one, we tackle the decision of whether it is time to refresh or redesign your current website.

Is your website looking a little out of date, or it isn’t converting as effectively as it used to? If so, it might be time for an update. This then poses the question: “Does my website need a refresh or a complete redesign?” To answer this, it’s important to investigate what elements need revision. As the experts of web design in Brisbane, we’ve outlined how to assess which option your website needs.

What is a website refresh?

A refresh focuses on updating the visual elements of your site. This includes colours, menu layout, images and graphics, buttons, call to actions, or language. If your desired changes are surface-level and don’t affect how your website functions, it can generally be considered a refresh.

A refresh can be rolled out all at once or gradually over time. The benefit of rolling out changes gradually is that A/B testing and conversion rate optimisation testing can be completed to assess what works and what doesn’t.

What is a website redesign?

Compared to a refresh, a website redesign involves changing the visuals and structure on a large scale. This goes beyond just the user experience (UX) and entails changes to back-end website elements such as the CMS, overall theme, or transaction process. 88% of users will never return to a website after a poor user experience – so back-end updates should not be overlooked. This is a more involved process than a refresh but can be crucial if your site is converting poorly.

Depending on the extent of the changes, sometimes the most cost-effective option is to start fresh and redevelop a completely new website. If you think your website could benefit from a complete redesign, contact us: we’re the experts in web design in Brisbane.

Recognising the Need for Change

The first step when deciding whether you need a refresh or redesign is to recognise when a change should be made. This isn’t always obvious, so it’s important to continually monitor your performance.

Some aspects you can assess in this process include:

  • Competitors – Review your website from a visual perspective: is it looking dated compared to competitors? Also, are your pages ranking poorly for your target keywords?
  • Feedback – Whether it comes from customers or employees, feedback is valuable and gives insight into how you can improve your site. For example, feedback can indicate if your site is hard to navigate, looks clunky, isn’t user-friendly, or doesn’t look appealing. Furthermore, having more than one pair of eyes on your website content will make weak points easier to spot.
  • Conversion – High bounce rates, abandon rates and lower conversions may mean you need to review the customer journey on your site.
  • Difficulty – If it’s difficult to make changes or add content to the website, your Content Management System (CMS) may need an overhaul to be fully integrated and easy to use. For ease of use, we always recommend WordPress.

When in doubt, it’s often wise to let a professional assess and advise what your website needs to capture customers as effectively as – or better than – before. Contact Web Development Brisbane, your experts in web design in Brisbane, to get started on giving your website the changes it needs to deliver results.

That’s all we have for Part One of our four-part series covering the important aspects of Web Development. Read part two of the series to learn how to establish brand identity through your website.