I can’t tell you how frequently clients come to me and say:

I just want a simple logo. Nothing fancy or complex, just simple.

The expectation is that a simple logo design will cost less than a complex one. Let me explain why this is not usually the case.

1. First of all, the mark of a well-designed logo is its simplicity. While this is not always true, it is true more often than not. If you look at the iconic logos of our time, they are universally simple. Think of FedEx, Nike or the Apple logos. The work of a professional designer is to distill the elements of a logo to it’s simplest form, yet still keep it unique and recognizable. Often, a less trained designer, and therefore less expensive designer, is unable to do this.
2. To design a strong brand identity, we need to start by doing a full exploration. The process for creating logos can take a long time. In our studio, we generally have more than one graphic designer doing sketch work to generate ideas. Both on paper and on the computer, multiple people are trying out different ideas to help us explore different ways of expressing the brand. From there, we review these internally and knock some out and further explore the strongest ideas. This is all before the client sees anything. Then, we usually present at least 3, and sometimes many more designs to the client. To get the best nugget, you do have to pan around in the dirt awhile!
3. Finally, the fact that a logo is simple does not mean that it was easy to get to that simplified form. If you look at our case study for the ClaimVantage logo, you’ll see that we explored many, many options before refining one direction. And after a first round design was chosen, we tried numerous variations before finalizing the logo.

Unfortunately, a simple logo is not any cheaper than a complex one. In fact, you will probably find that you pay more for the experience and breadth of ideas you’ll get from a graphic design studio who will create a very simple logo for you. Yet, you probably already understand why simple, iconic logos are so powerful—and worth the price!

I’ve done a number of presentations about social media and branding, and one question I usually get is how do you find time to keep up with social media. It can be a struggle to figure out how to have meaningful interactions on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter without it sucking up all your time.

Making time and space for social media

As a designer, I also see another potential “suck” of social media. The fact that small businesses need to throw a large number of social media icons and contact info into everything from their web site to their print ads or other marketing materials.

Yesterday, I was listening to the radio and heard an ad for a local garden shop. Out of the 30 seconds, a full one third of the time was getting out all their contact information. It started with their physical address and phone number, then went on to the URL of their web site, their Facebook page and finally their Twitter handle.

I see a similar crush in things like web site design.

Small business owners often feel that their web site design must incorporate a way for viewers to “like” their company’s Facebook page. In addition, they may also display other friends who’ve liked their page. Viewers may also have the opportunity to “like” pages within their web site. Finally, they may show a feed of recent Facebook activity. Beyond Facebook there are Twitter handles to share and Twitter feeds. And don’t forget LinkedIn, YouTube or Pinterest!

It can be a real challenge for the web designer to get all of these elements into the design and not look cluttered.

When is it too much Facebook?

I had been thinking about this topic and writing this post for a while, when I saw this headline on the Mashable web site. I took a screen shot because it really illustrates my point.

Can you get too much Facebook into one web design? Example from Mashable.com

Social media I love thee, let me count the ways

• Viewers can click “like” in the lower left corner. I’m guessing this is to “like” this particular article, which will have it show up as a status item in your own timeline on Facebook. You can see three more similar like buttons on each different article up there (ie Confirmed: SpaceX Dragon… and the others in the horizontal bar).
• On the lower right it shows that more than 800,000 people have liked Mashable on Facebook. This means they’ve clicked on Mashable’s Facebook page and hit like there. If you do that, you’ll see Mashable’s posts show up in your own timeline (how frequently depends on many factors).
• In the top right, you have the option of “signing in with Facebook”. If you are doing something on the site that requires logging in—posting a comment for example—you can use this feature to make the sign-in process quicker.
• Finally, near the middle top they are enticing readers to try their new “Social News App”. I haven’t tried this, but they put the Facebook logo there one more time for good measure.
• Beyond Facebook they also suggest you connect with them, or promote them via: Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, Pinterest and StumbleUpon.

Then, the irony of this screen shot is that the headline of the story suggests that nearly half of Americans think Facebook is a passing fad.

What about for your small business web site?

It’s important to realize that Mashable calls itself “The Social Media Guide”. It is highly engulfed in the prominent social media channels and they are central to Mashable’s mission.

A small business web site, on the other hand, probably wants to tone this down. As I described above, there are now many different ways to post, like and interact with Facebook and it’s probably best to start by limiting it to what your web site viewers are comfortable with.

I’m going to wager that many, many people think that by hitting any “like” button on a corporate site they’ve essentially “liked” that company’s Facebook page, even when that is not always true. They may be just liking one page of web site content and posting it to their own timeline.

At this point, I think it’s best to start with this traditional way of sending viewers to Facebook to “like” your company page. This, ideally, puts your ongoing Facebook posts into their timeline.

But this is a quickly evolving space. It seems like just as the masses get used to something in Facebook it all changes. And you may be forced to adjust your web site links. Also, think about the channels that mean the most to your audience. If they more heavily into LinkedIn or YouTube, than position those links most prominently.

Recently, we completed a branding upgrade for our client ClaimVantage. ClaimVantage is a software company that has developed a claims processing solution that runs on the cloud-based force.com platform. The company has offices in both Portland, Maine and Dublin, Ireland.

We’ve been working with ClaimVantage for more than a year and the branding process was part evolution, part revolution. When we first started working together we helped them with a “clean up” of their web site. But at that time they didn’t have the budget for a complete rebuilding of their brand identity. So the web design upgrade was modest. Then in early 2011 they scored a grant from Enterprise Ireland, giving them them the funding to help redesign their logo and web site completely.

Research

Like with all of our branding projects, we started with research into their competitors and target audience. Although our clients always know a lot about this, we prefer to do our own research to validate their findings and look at it from an outsider’s perspective.

The insurance claims processing field has a limited number of players and they were easy to identify. ClaimVantage is on the forefront of cloud-based software, and was ready to make a mark by grabbing this position. Many of the others companies who provide claims processing prefer a traditional sales approach where not much information is given on their web site and most information sharing is done on an individual basis between a sales rep and a potential client. By making ClaimVantage’s solution easy to understand directly on the web site, they could immediately put their product in front of decision makers.

Name and tagline

We felt that ClaimVantage’s name was quite good and recommended that they stick with it. However, not everyone understood what part of the insurance claims process they were in. So we worked with our partner Rob Coburn of Coburn Communications to develop a tagline that quickly summarized what they did, what benefit they offered:

Automated claims. Better decisions.

Logo process

We did a full exploration of logo concepts, but narrowed the process by keeping their corporate green and black color palette. Whenever you do a rebranding or branding refresh one must be careful to keep ties to the original brand identity. Since their dark green color was one element they carried along for five years and we felt it would be a good thread to keep their new brand identity connected to their old.

Our sketches focused on the following themes: cloud-based technology; small details of claim intake building into the larger view of claims processing; the Irish heritage of the company; multiple information sources converging; input of data and exporting of reports; systems and flow of information.

We showed 9 logo concepts at our first presentation. This is on the higher end of what we normally show, but experienced has shown us that most clients like to see both a range of ideas, but also a sense of the thinking that went into a logo design.

First round of logo designs for ClaimVantage. (click to enlarge)

The client was very happy with the range of ideas presented, but felt that number 6 was the strongest with number 8 their second choice. They liked that design number 6 seemed to tell a story: “ClaimVantage focuses on all the little details, so that when you put it together you get a very robust system.”

We worked to refine the logo, and to integrate it with the name and tagline. We ended up simplifying it greatly. Along the way, we actually tried fewer and fewer number of blocks to be as simple as possible, but still get the idea across.

Refining the logo designs (click to enlarge).

We started with 20 blocks, and tried simplifying to as few as 7 blocks. We also arranged the type more compactly or more horizontally. We tried different typefaces and arrangements for the taglines. Above is a sample of what we explored.

Final logo design

Final ClaimVantage logo design.

In the end, we ended up with 11 blocks. We also chose a horizontal version of the logo. Technically, their name is one word. And more importantly, within their software the space for a logo was not very tall, so the horizontal presentation made most sense.

Web site design

The most important place to tell ClaimVantage’s story and explain their unique benefits was on their web site. You can see what their web site looked like previously in this blog post. Our goal was to create a design that was much more clean and sophisticated looking.

Here are three design directions we showed.

Web design, option 1. (click to enlarge)

The first option continued to use illustration (like their earlier web site design), but with a different style. It reduced the the number of elements on the home page, and focused on just a few key messages.

Web design, option 2 (click to enlarge)

The second web design option had no specific photography or illustration and it built upon the boxes in the logo. A slider element in the bottom was a way to present additional information without overwhelming the viewer.

Web design, option 3. (click to enlarge)

The third design introduced photography as a brand element. The photographs were not of typical clients (ie business people), but more abstract and energetic.

Final web site design.

You can see the web site design in its final form live at ClaimVantage.com  The design is mostly option three, with further refinements to make the home page even more simple.

Content

Our roots here at Visible Logic are in graphic design. But to develop a complete and compelling identity, the writing must be an integrated part of the brand. A voice that speaks in an appropriate tone is important, and the message must focus on the right customer benefits. We worked with Coburn Communications to improve the content throughout their site.

Like many businesses, ClaimVantage had focused too much on what they offered and not how they solve their client’s problems. We focused on creating key messages that summarized the benefits of their software solution, to make them succinct and easy to digest. The details of the software still needed to remain on interior pages, but would be framed within the context of solving a business problem.

Additional customer touchpoints

When we work with our clients to develop their comprehensive brand identity, we want to look at every place they interact with prospects and clients. Are they showing a professional and unified brand image? Some of the other pieces we created for ClaimVantage included: business cards, electronic letterhead, tradebooth graphics, training materials and an e-newsletter design using our Mail On The Mark e-newsletter service.

E-newsletter design using our Mail On The Mark system

Design of trade booth graphics

The branding process

This is a typical process for how we work with our branding clients. Sometimes we are involved with new business launches and we are creating names, logos and web sites from scratch. Other times (like in this case) we are doing a rebranding project. That means that we must remain aware of current brand standards and build upon them in a way that improves what is working and adds to it.

As branding experts, we work with companies to develop unique brand identities. We begin the process by helping business owners to figure out how to differentiate their product or service, and separate themselves from their competitors. We then turn this into a name, logo, web site or printed material that positions them apart from their competition.

However, we’ve discovered there are some people who want to promote a distinct part of their brand identity so much that they end up losing search results.

Let me give you a made up example: Imagine there is a company that coaches business executives. Most people would call this “Executive Coaching”. However, to show that they are different, the Rainbow Consulting Group decides to call their coaching program The Rising Stars.

You can certainly imagine a creative branding campaign built around rainbows and stars. However, it is unlikely that anyone searching for executive coaching will put “rising stars” into Google. And anyone who puts “rainbow” in Google is probably not looking for executive coaching.

We see how creating distinct and different ways of naming and describing your business can be beneficial but also troublesome.

The benefits of differentiation in branding

The reason that we try and figure out how a client is different is so that we can promote that difference as a benefit to their prospective customers. It may be that they have a fresh approach which gives better results. We want to promote that different type of perspective so that our client stands out from a sea of similar competitors. Being distinct in your offerings and your identity is a way to be memorable.

Why being different can be hard for search engines to understand

You need to realize that most people will not search on a term that is unique only to your company. Unless you spend thousands or millions on advertising, or you have already had direct contact with a prospect, this will not be the case.

They will search using the terms they know and understand.

Therefore, you need to speak in this general language at some point. You need to balance your descriptions to show that you are unique, but still filling a need that is common.

In summary

Use key words, but still promote your unique benefits and brand identity.

Recently, I got an email from a long-time friend. He told me how he was thinking of starting his own business, but still trying to figure out if it would work. He couldn’t afford to invest in a professionally designed brand identity system now, so what advice did I have for him about working with low cost options for web sites, etc.

First of all, I have to say this is a bit like walking into the BMW dealership and asking them which Hyundai model they would recommend. I don’t study the free options out there for building web sites. I use and choose professional level tools. But, I am aware of these free and ultra-cheap options (and their pitfalls) from clients who have gone that route and then are ready to have a high quality web site.

Therefore, this post is not about specific recommendations for tools or services to use. It is a guide for the type of thinking that should guide your decision making.

When to invest in branding

It doesn’t make sense to invest in branding when your business idea is not fully formed. For example, in recent years many people have become accidental entrepreneurs after unsuccessfully looking for a job. In many of these cases, it doesn’t make sense to spend much money on designing a logo or web site because the business owner is actually hoping to close the business and get a job.

Only after you are committed to a new business idea, should you pay for a professionally designed logo or web site. You need to understand your market, your audience, your offering and your benefits before a skilled graphic designer can translate that into a strong visual identity. If you are still working out these details yourself, it does not make sense to hire a designer, yet.

I can’t afford branding yet

There are times when an entrepreneur is ready to take the plunge into business ownership, but they still don’t have the money to invest in branding. So what do I recommend?

There are some important things to keep in mind:

1. Portability
2. Simplicity
3. Systems
4. Ownership

1. Portability

Before you decide to start using anything as a central part of your brand identity make sure you have the complete right to use it, change it, and take it with you. If you use a template to develop your web site, make sure that you can take it with you when you outgrow the service. If you use a free graphic for a stand in for a logo, make sure you have the rights to be using and distributing it.

I had a business owner come to me who had built their web site using one of GoDaddy’s Web Site Tonight templates. They needed a more robust web presence and were looking to redesign their web site. However, they had built their entire brand identity around a template that GoDaddy had the copyright for. We couldn’t use any of the graphics that were part of her current web design.

So beware of using templates with a distinct design that you want to carry away from the initial service.

2. Simplicity

Instead of choosing templates that are graphic-heavy, choose simplicity. Choose a template where you can upload your own photography or graphics. Or choose something that is just basic and clean.

The same goes with logo and other brand identity elements. Rather than build a logo around a cheap piece of clipart that you will soon hate, just choose a font and typeset your name cleanly for your “logo”. By doing that you have not tied yourself to any brand image that looks cheap or unprofessional.

3. Systems

Think about building systems that will translate out of whatever free / cheap / low-cost system you start with. For example, choose one accent color and use it whenever possible: your logotype, the ink on your business cards, the pocket folders, etc. This can end up being a building block that a graphic designer can later work with.

4. Ownership

Make sure that everything you use to promote your business is yours. A critical element here is your domain name. Make sure you start building your web site on your own domain name. Don’t use .wordpress.com or blogger or anything else that doesn’t give you your own domain name. Any web traffic you get, you want to make sure it will stay with you, on your own domain.

Invest time and money into assets that can be transferred and built upon

I hate to hear about business owners who have spent a chunk of money on something that they outgrow quickly. For example, if you build your entire site using blogger or using a .wordpress.com domain and using template graphics that you can’t take with you then you have invested poorly. However, if you put your web site on your own domain and install WordPress and use the simplest of free templates, at least you can continue to use that database. You’ve already started to improve your SEO in a way that’s directly tied to your web site. You’ve made simple decisions that can be built upon later by a professional designer.

We’re living in a DIY world, and many small business owners and especially start-ups make the mistake of choosing a cheap template to define their brand identity. They start with one one cheap template to create their web site, another for their email marketing and finally another to make a logo and put it on a business card.

Now you have not only one, but maybe multiple, unrelated, completely generic and cheap looking pieces that define your organization’s essential identity.

Inc. Magazine had an interesting article called: Your Homemade Website Isn’t Cutting It Anymore which included this quote:

Here’s the thing about cheap, template-driven websites: They look like every other cheap website out there. And that cheapens your brand. It makes you look like you don’t take your marketing and messaging seriously.

I don’t think it takes a lot to realize this is not the way to build trust in the eyes of your clients and prospects. It’s especially difficult to convince a prospective customer that you are a high-quality provider when you present yourself as cheap and uncreative. Assuming you don’t want to be the low-price provider, you need to present yourself and your business as capable, experienced, different-yet-better.

Everyone seems to wonder: “How much traffic is my web site getting?” “Am I getting enough hits on my web site?” “How much traffic should I expect from my web site?”

What you really need to find out is: Am I getting the right traffic to help my business? Because more traffic does not always equate to more leads, more sales, more calls or however you define as success.

How does your web site fit into your business plan?

I’m frequently surprised when clients seem to have some random number in their head about the amount of traffic they expect from their web site. It makes more sense to think about what result you’d like to see. Would you like people to call you? Ask for an estimate? Buy a product? Subscribe to your newsletter?

Some web site’s are the business: for example, an online retailer. But many small businesses are not directly conducting business via their web site. Rather, their web site supports their marketing and sales efforts. If this is the case think about:

• Who do you want to visit your site?
• When this ideal person arrives, what do you want them to do?

Some web sites don’t need more traffic, just the right visitors

OK, nearly everyone can benefit from traffic because it can have SEO benefits. But, a local-focused business such as a gym, restaurant or school probably cannot derive many benefits from having a lot of visitors who are not close to where they are located.

We are currently in the process of helping a client launch a business like that here in Portland, Maine. They really want to make sure people in Portland, Maine can find their web site (and therefore their business). But it’s not going to be very helpful for them to have lots of traffic from viewers across the nation or across the world. These are not potential customers for them!

Direct your prospects to take action

Once you have your ideal customer at your web site, make it easy for them to the take the next step. This step may be an overt sales step such as: fill out this form, or sign up for a class. Or, it may be more about engaging them and building a trusted relationship with them.

Your goal probably should be to nurture your relationship, develop trust and prove your experience. In this case blogs, e-newsletters, case studies and testimonials are all helpful.

Microsoft Word is a cornerstone of the business world. It’s the most common word processing software in the US and a mainstay of every business computer.

However, Word is not a design or publishing program and there are many reasons and many occasions when you should not be sending Word files. Here are some of the issues that arise when sending out Word files to different users.

1. Font substitution. When you work in Microsoft Word, you are choosing from the fonts on your computer. But those fonts don’t get transferred with the file. So if the person who opens your document does not have the font installed, another font will be substituted. If you use a “corporate font” as part of your brand identity, this cannot be reliably carried over within a Word file.
2. Layout changes.Because fonts get substituted, line breaks and pages breaks can be affected. Different fonts run larger or smaller based on how narrow or wide they are (even at the same size), which can mess with alignment. Below is an example of a worksheet I was asked to fill out that was sent as a Word file. The header of the table separated from the body because of bad page breaks. But worse than that, it was very confusing to use the form because the numbers were supposed to aligned vertically, but were not. Because of poor formatting and font substitution the numbers no longer lined up, making the exercise very confusing.
   

   This screen shot shows both a bad page break and a bad alignment of text in Microsoft Word.

3. Graphics lose quality. This has been a dramatic realization for me lately. I can look at a gif file in Photoshop, and place it in a professional layout program like InDesign and it looks fine. But if I place the same file into Word, it looks terrible. Microsoft has its own import settings which tend to degrade graphics and can be very frustrating to work with.
4. The inability to work with eps files. You really cannot place an eps file within Word. Usually you just get a box with an X across it. Sometimes eps files print ok, but if you can’t view them correctly within Word it’s not really a workable solution. Eps files are the preferred way to place files like logos, because they are vector-based, but eps files are essentially unusable in Word.
5. Poor typesetting results. You can take the same font, and set it at the same size in Word as you do in InDesign and your typesetting will look worse in Microsoft Word. Professional layout programs, such as InDesign, use complex mathematical formulas to make the type look beautiful. InDesign is able to read all of the information included with a font, and can make subtle kerning, tracking, and ligature usage decisions. Word ignores many of these details. InDesign is especially good at making justified type look good by balancing word spacing, letter spacing and hyphenation across paragraphs of text. Word does not have that capability. It’s these small details which make text look so poor when typeset in Word.
6. Not everyone has Word. While Word is extremely common, there are more and more people without Microsoft products on their computers. Or, they may have an older version of Word that is unable to open your file, or can only open it with some sort of converter. Whenever you are sending a file and the reader does not have your exact version of Word they are either unable to open the file at all, or there will be the possibility of formatting issues as it gets converted.
7. The content is live and editable. This is not always a concern, and in fact there many times when this is a benefit of Word. Your reader can go in and edit, track changes, or copy your work. Other times you are allowing your work to be too easily copied, changed or otherwise compromised.

Microsoft Word has it’s place. But there are many instances when you should NOT be sending out Word files.

Alternatives to sending Word files

There are two main alternatives to sending out Word files.

• Convert the Word files to PDF. This will preserve the look of your fonts and the formatting that you’ve set up. You still have the master file in Word if there are changes, but your recipient receives a file that will exactly match the formatting you set up. Also, since Acrobat reader is free, there is no reason to expect someone not to be able to view a PDF.
• Use a professional design software (or have your graphic designer use it). You have to realize the limitations to Word. It is not a layout program. It is a word processing program. Even if you use a professional layout program, the file will likely be saved and distributed as a PDF document.

As we move through 2012 it’s interesting to look at some of the current trends in web design. Some of these are good, others are annoyingly bad. But as we know, these are called trends because they don’t last forever.

1. The rise (and fall?) of the new pop up window

There was time, in the early days of web browsing, when pop-up windows would jump out at you as you paged through a web site. This was very annoying because it blocked your view of the web site you wanted and left your desktop littered with small browser windows. Then the browsers allowed us to check a settings box and block pop-up windows.

Unfortunately, there is a new type of pop-up graphic that is not blocked with this setting. I’m sure you’ve seen these slick boxes that pop-up, yet are not full browser windows. Sometimes they are referred to as modal boxes. They often are asking you to join an email list.

I find these annoying and even appalling. However, research shows they are extremely effective so I think we’re going to see these rise in popularity before they plummet. However, I’m predicting NOW that we will look at back at these with disdain. They will be viewed along with other web viewing hindrances such as flash intros or home screens that you must “enter.”

2. Simple, focused home page design

I think we’ll continue to see small businesses reduce the amount of content on their home pages and focus on their key messages. We started seeing this trend flourish with some many Saas (cloud based software) products over the past couple of years. They offered their online services in a clear and compelling way with a simple navigation to get more info.

Now businesses are realizing that this trend can be very effective for their web sites as well. It can be tempting to have all sorts of content, many times in the name of SEO, filling your home page. Try to get one clear message out there using straightforward language and simple, compelling graphics. The result will probably be a much more effective brand message and better results.

3. Longer, scrolling home pages

Am I contradicting myself? No.

Because of the limited viewing space of browser windows, the first view of a home page can be very simple. Yet, the viewer can scroll down to see more. It seems like after years of people thinking they hated scrolling. They realize it’s really not that difficult!

4. One page, jquery-based, scrolling web sites

This is a continuation of #3 above. If an organization does not need a web site with many pages, than a one-page scrolling site can be very effective. Using some jquery to make the anchor links scroll gracefully, a one page site becomes clean, compelling and able to make a strong statement without having to force the viewer to click around unnecessarily.

I’m seeing this technique with the most simple web site designs, as well as some that are very graphically rich.

5. Much more interesting typography

For most of the history of web site design, web designers were stuck with the handful of web safe fonts found on most computers. But recently, typography on the web has been revolutionized by the @font-face tag and a rapidly growing list of available web fonts. Read this post if you want to learn more about typography for the web.

Of all the web trends that we’re seeing, this is the one we’re most excited about. The ability to choose and work with a large number of fonts is key to the way designers think. It brings the finesse of print to the web. We’ve been starting to add at least one of these new web-safe fonts to every web site design we complete.

What web design trends are you seeing?

Recently I was asked to give an estimate for redesigning a web site, and the client asked an interesting question:

What is the lifecycle of a web site these days? How long should a web site last before it needs to be redesigned?

There is no one right answer about how long your web site will serve you. But for budgeting purposes it is helpful for small business owners to be realistic about the costs of redesigning a web site and how long until they will need to repeat the process.

How long will your web site last?

No, web sites don’t have expiration dates. But after a certain time, they seem to be irrelevant. They are no longer a useful tool for the business, and are no longer supporting the original goals of the web site. Without a redesign, a web site can actual begin to detract from the organization behind it.

There are several factors that may determine whether or not it’s time to redesign or redevelop your web site

1. Has your business grown or changed direction? When we talk about small business web site design, the driving force behind the web presence is the business itself. So, if your business has grown and is offering new products or services, or if you have streamlined operations and are not offering services you used to, your web site should reflect this change.
2. Is the content, and the structure for the content still relevant? If you realize that your offerings have changed, you may be able to make the updates within the current structure and design of your web site. For example, your navigation may say “widgets” and even if you’ve changed from orange to blue widgets, it can be integrated into the web site. However, if you’ve introduced “doo-hickeys” and that cannot be added to the main navigation bar, you may be making it difficult for people to find your newest services.
3. Is your message to prospects still relevant? There are many factors that determine what message resonates with your clients. It may mean working with someone with marketing experience to rework a message. Or, changing market conditions have forced you to adjust your positioning. You want to make sure that the web site design reinforces the same message as your text. If not, it’s time to update your web design.
4. Are you behind or ahead of the technology curve? Web standards change fast. While you can try and anticipate trends, it’s impossible to predict the future. What was a best practice (or at least reasonable practice) a few years ago may no longer be worthwhile. An example is adding a Content Management Software (CMS) to your site. Five or ten years ago, this type of tool was beyond the budget of many small business owners, and it made better financial sense to just send updates to their web developer when necessary. Nowadays, there are many economical CMS platforms and honestly, I can’t imagine recommending a web site without this capability built in.
5. Was the site well designed when it was new? Like all elements of design (including things such as industrial design, fashion, etc.) there are some designs that are classic and can stand the test of time much better than others. In general, if you haven’t invested in professional web site design, the unpolished look of your site will probably start to look worse and worse as time goes on.
6. What are the expectations of your clients and prospects? This is one of the biggest factors in web site design right now. Everyone is getting more and more sophisticated about web site design. While it may have been acceptable at one time, to “just have a web site,” now it needs to be more than just a poorly designed web presence. Your prospects may be looking for a professional brand identity to determine if they trust you. They may want you to offer e-commerce directly integrated into your site. They may be looking for you to be a thought leader as demonstrated by a well-written blog. If you are not stepping up and keeping your site looking fresh, relevant, well-designed and highly-functional, your competitors will fill that gap.

These are six factors that may help you determine how long your web site design will last and whether it is time to start thinking about a redesign.

Do I need to redesign my web site?

What is the bottom line? I’m seeing a lot of requests for proposals from organizations who are redesigning their web site after about three or four years.

A site that is well designed and using some of the best practices for development will last on the longer end of that spectrum. A site that skimps on either design or technology will likely expire more quickly.

On a personal note, we are in the preliminary phase of redesigning our own web site. We did our last redesign in 2008.