Perhaps you already have a Web site. It was initially designed six months or a year ago, maybe earlier. You're thinking it may be time to redesign your Web site. Are you redesigning your site for the right reasons, and with the right designer? Think about some of the issues below before talking with us -- or another designer -- about a site redesign.

1) Does your site meet your current needs?

You should have a good idea in your mind about the purpose of the site, and how to measure how your site meets your goals. If your site is fulfilling your current needs, and you expect it to meet your expectations in the near future, there may be little need for anything more than superficial changes to a site.

However, if your site isn't meeting your needs, then it's time to consider more radical changes. If your site is designed to attract additional business, and it isn't, perhaps you need to change the content and design of your site to better market your business and its products. If you're planning to take your organization into a new direction, you should look at your site and decide what changes are needed to help promote and serve your organization as it changes.

2) What changes does your site need?

Once you've evaluated how your site meets your needs, consider what you need to do to change it. If you just want to change or update your look, a fairly superficial graphic and layout design may be all that's needed. If there are deeper problems, though, you may need more extensive changes in the content and architecture of the site: adding new features like access to relevant databases, e-commerce, and more.

While you may develop a good sense of what changes your site needs, be sure to discuss your site problems and solutions with your designers. They may be able to suggest alternatives that better and more economically meet your needs.

3) Who will do the redesign?

Who will do the redesign can be a sensitive issue. You may have a good relationship with your original designer, but you should consider how well they can redesign your site to better meet your needs. Check the contract you have with your original designer for any provisions about redesigns. Investigate other designers who could redesign your site, or work with your original designer on a specific aspect of the redesign, if all parties are amenable to it.

4) How will you evaluate the success or failure of a redesign?

Just as with the initial construction of a site, you should have some clear goals for the site, and ways to measure them. Those goals will depend on the purpose of the site -- increased traffic, more sales, etc. -- but they should be thought out in advance so you can judge if the redesign was a success. (See our article on site creation for more information about judging the success or failure of a Web site.)

Even if a site redesign meets or exceeds your expectations, keep an eye on how the redesigned site performs over time. Like it or not, at some point --- probably sooner that you realize, or want -- something will happen that will give you cause to consider another redesign, starting the cycle over again. Such is life in a dynamic medium like the Web!

While these aren't necessarily all the issues to consider in a redesign of a Web site, they are the critical ones. Answering these questions will help insure that any site redesign you select -- whether it's done by us or another designer -- will be the best redesign possible.

Copyright © 1998 Jeff Foust, klx.communications. All rights reserved.

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