Has Your Site Been Left in the Dust?
 by: Todd Levi

It’s important to keep your site fresh. What have you done for it lately? Design, fashions, search engines and almost every element of the internet changes (along with everything in this world). The same-ol-same-ol just doesn’t cut it in this world.

Axiom: While we may love our current self, isn’t there always something we can improve on. For most of us (your kidding yourself if you say no) the answer is YES! Such is the case with our web site and online presence. Face it; even buildings need a redesign at some point. While leaving the same web design up for many years may be ok if business is good, even the best web presences can stand a makeover. I’m not suggesting that you start from the ground up, but since we all use templates (don’t we) sometimes redesign isn’t that much of a hassle. You may think WAIT; I paid big money for my design and SEO (search engine optimization) services, why would I change them. If it has been any long amount of time you can still keep the elements that work and modify the rest without an enormous headache. Not only will this give your current site a fresh look for old visitors, it make just kick start your creative process and give you new enthusiasm for new online conquests. All of those thoughts in the back of your head that you have had while looking over your current site for the past few years can now finally come to the forefront. Everybody likes a fresh look from time to time and can use one (hey, even bellbottoms went out of style)!

Keep What Works:

If some aspect of your website is a current hotspot or is very well received by the online community by all means don’t interrupt its success. Just make minor aesthetic modifications to the pages. However, find the trouble spots and fix them! By looking at the time spent on your well hit pages through proper SEM one can find out where your visitors spend the most time. When a page on your web design only receives brief time intervals, maybe it’s time to jazz it up. Current web statistics should play a role in redesign and modification to your web presence.

The Front Page:

Ah yes, the first page to your website. Your current front page (typically the page brought up when typing in the base URL for your web site) may be nice now, but this is your chance to be more eye-catching and still retain the same content and vision that currently works. When it comes to the web design look and feel, this is your major anchor. I’m not suggesting a redesign of your logo, navigation and overall content. You want to make sure you keep the site familiar, but addition is key. Add that flash design that will be create a more professional look (but don’t overdue it here), create an easier flow to the front end of your web design, and change the wording while saying the same thing!

Content Changes:

Make sure when you redesign the wording on your site that the key elements are met. You want to have your keywords displayed often and in various fashions (bolded, headlined, towards the top and linked) but feel free to mix it up a bit. Instead of your current blue on white text (as an example), reverse it! Make it white on blue and there will definitely be a change without going overboard. Try out a new font that is still web accessible but may look more professional than the standard Arial you have used for so many years. Also consider adding more content to what you already have. If you have had 10 industry specific articles for the past six months, make it 15 and bring attention to the new updates for your users.

Search Engines:

Search Engines tend to spider sites more often when sites change more often. This rule can help you get the attention of that googlebot spider to keep coming to your site.

Most importantly, have fun with it! That’s right; make it a place you want to check out as well. It’s amazing what can be done to spruce things up when one puts a little time and creativity into it.

About The Author

Todd Levi has been designing and REDESIGNING websites for over five years with much success. View his new web design at http://www.LeviSolutions.com.