Don’t go changing on me

When you spend all day creating websites and designs, it’s very easy to get caught up in the moment. You find yourself looking at your own site and thinking “You know, I could easily make that better…”. Of course, that’s not a problem. Improving your website isn’t something to steer clear of, it’s something to be encouraged.  Websites can always be improved on in little ways. Even the smallest positive change is still a positive change, after all. The thing to steer clear of is when your site looks different every time someone comes back. A few cosmetic changes can help keep a site fresh; completely redesigning it every week when you’ve had a new flash of inspiration is not so good though.

When we first started out, we went 3 different, distinct design changes. The space between these changes was fairly big, so the difference in design wasn’t too much an obstacle for the people who were regular visitors to our site. If the design changes had been a bit closer… that would have caused problems. We’ve had experiences with companies who have switched their site around so often that customers wonder if they’ve come to the right site. The design changes so frequently that they start to lose their regular website crowd. People as a whole don’t like to see things in flux; your website changing every other week makes it look like your company is changing every other week, and that kind of upheaval is never good for business. Even if there is no upheaval, the constant shifting makes it look that way.

Next time you’ve come up with a stunning design that you think could work brilliantly for your site, just bear in mind… how long have you had the current design? If the answer is a couple of months, you’re probably safe. If it’s a couple of weeks? Best to wait before you change it all over again.