COMMENTS
Hi Mike,
I found this to be Very Insightful.
It also hit a pet peeve with me.
I believe a company redesigning their web sites is as cruel as someone rearranging furniture in a Blind Person’s home.
I don't mean to be disrespectful to Blind People however it illustrates my point.
Just when I learn a web site and know where to find what it is that I need some one decides it's time to change it up.
I also have the same issue with Software designers that decide when Users need a New Interface. It is really arrogant on the developer’s side to deliver a New Look and Feel without giving any thought and consideration to the Productivity of the Users who have to learn the New Interface.
They also operate with what I call "Assumed Competency"- They assume because they know something that I know it as well. Many developers and solution providers also believe all of us users out there have all this free time on our hands to "Gain New Competencies" every time we turn around.
I'm not advocating that we "Freeze" everything however anyone developing Web Sites, Software or Apps needs to invest a significant amount of time in Building a Bridge from the Past to the Future with easy to use and adequate Learning Tools, Tutorials & Menu Guides to show us How, What and Where in the New World.
They also have to be cognizant of the fact that they can’t spend all their Development Budgets on the Code and Leave nothing in the Budget for educating their Customers.
Most of them just expect me to not only be inconvenienced by the new Web Site or Application but to be willing to pay for “Training” on how to use it!
Don’t leave us Stumbling around in the Darkness.
If you do have to “Rearrange” the furniture at least be there with a Candle and show us around so I don’t expand all my energy Cursing the Darkness and the Developer.
Thanks for the thoughts.
The longer your website is up and running properly, the better it is, especially in my field of psychic counseling and healing. Many people copy meaningful pages that inspire them. My biggest problem is maintaining everything in good working order. I also find that the longer your site is active and accessible, the more hits I receive every day. Many customers mark my site as a favorite and return daily for prayers, or other helpful material.
A new website design can have a very positive effect on conversions and SEO efforts. You're assuming the new site is being redesigned just to be new and shinny, while many websites are designed after much research, keyword analysis and usability testing. I believe a website should be constantly evolving. Everyday you should learn more about your site and your consumers and use what you learn to better your site, if that means changing design elements than so be it.
Loved the drawings! :-)
Seriously speaking, I agree that after a couple of weeks of releasing a website or a product and seeing no sales the first thing you start wanting to do is change the website to make it look nicer. In most cases, that's not the real problem. The real problem in most cases is that the world does not know about your website or product, or that your website or product sucks! :-)
I agree with Rich, I have redesigned my own site a couple of times because I do my own and when I started I had no knowledge so as my education evolves so does my website. My first version was very basic just to get online,my redo's are always attempts to make them more user friendly, more seo friendly and so it doesn't look like a generic template supplied by a host company. My current redo is because I am somewhat still technically challenged and I put Java where it didn't belong and corrupted my entire file and couldn't really save it so I had to do a complete do over anyway.I am always careful about having the same number of pages and info so old bookmarks and saved pages still work. Hopefully this will be my last do over so I can work on a few others. I really love Hubspot's content and info it is very relevant even if I am not a web master, designer or marketer.
I agree- too many marketers seek to persuade one that new is better. SEO improvements are best made by optimizing keywords and more especially content of your site, while keeping it familiar
Back in the good old days of traditional media, we had the same problem with advertising campaigns.The brand management people would get tired of a campaign or an ad way before most consumers had even seen the ad!
Hahahah, Its a very funny yet so informative post. I love this post. Thank you for posting this. I will definitely talk about
Websites Redesigns' Half-life on my blog. Keep posting great posts like this.
@Jack Napoli – I think your analogy is interesting – we do need to remember that the people we are trying to please do not know our website nearly as well as we do.
@Anne West – I agree completely! The Absolut vodka bottle ads are a great example of sticking with a campaign that works for the long haul. Too many companies get sick of their ads internally, then switch them, when their prospects have only seen the ads maybe once or twice and don’t even remember them yet.
@Amit – Updating you site and keeping the content fresh is different than a complete redesign, so I think we agree!
@Best CD Rates – Yes, I agree that people often ignore good SEO practices and cause problems during a redesign.
@Danusia – Interesting. Yes, I think the supermarket is a good analogy. You could come up with a totally new way to organize a supermarket (alphabetical or by color or by healthiness of food) but everyone would be super confused, and sales would drop a lot.
but hey! ... doesn't redesigning websites all the time keep us employed!?
:O)
great post. love the cartoon! thanks for sharing.
Great post. You did a great job of illustrating the point. I think one of things that gets most marketers is finding a balance between making changes for the purposes of enhancing SEO and making changes because we get tired of the pictures. Adding content is good- re arranging on a weekly basis is not. Thanks for the reminder.