Yesterday we answered a question posed by one of our readers. She wanted to know the disadvantages or drawbacks of replacing her current jewelry website with a brand new one. We couldn't quite think of specific disadvantages so instead we wrote out 3 hurdles in the website redesign and programming process.
Today we'd like to give you 3 specific advantages to having your jewelry website redesigned and replaced. We could probably list 100 reasons, but we're simply going to pick the top 3 we feel are important today.
1.
With a new website comes a new design; at least we hope you will get a new design!
In the real world, we can each identify building architecture from different periods. Many of us can easily identify building and interior decorating styles from our own lifetime. Can you remember the late 1960's? How about the common use of wood paneling in the 60's and 70's? Would you consider building a new home today with inexpensive 60's/70's wood paneling interior walls? You might be nostalgic for years past, but friends and family would wonder why you spent money on that type of interior design.
Websites also have distinct time periods, but those "periods" span only 18 to 24 months before there are distinguishable design differences. Experts in website design will see the differences between these design periods whereas most novices will only see the similarities.
Website design periods can also be identified by the most popular web development program of the time. In 1995, the popular program was Microsoft FrontPage, and even Microsoft Publisher was popular for creating websites. A few years later, Macromedia Dreamweaver became popular at the same time the Geocities service was providing an early CMS.
Today's current popular design is closely following the built-in jewelry website templates from WordPress. You might not realize it, but many websites, even those not using WordPress, have design influences from WordPress.
If your website is more than 24 months old you should consider getting it redesigned and replaced. But don't just pick any website design; make sure you consider if the new layout will be usable. Also make sure the layout can expand to fit your needs as they grow.
Most importantly, before settling on a new design ask your friends, family, employees, and even your customers what they think of the new design. Consider their opinions carefully even if you completely disagree with them. Just because you long for the wood paneling of years ago doesn't mean you should suffer other people to it; the same holds true for website design.
2.
Having a faster system is one of those perks of a new website. Every web hosting company periodically purchases a set of new servers, but these new servers are usually only used for new website accounts, or redesigned websites.
Since these web servers are newer, they are usually much faster than any modern personal computer and faster than the previous generation of servers. A newly redesigned website typically has the benefit of new equipment, which means a much faster website.
Rarely does a hosting company transfer existing customers to the new equipment without a special request and an extra service charge. Transferring a 100% operational website to a new machine is a tricky task and can result in a few days where parts of your website don't work until the transfer is complete.
Here's an important tip: Some of you might be paying a separate company for your web hosting and another for your programming. If you are getting a new website you should also set up a new hosting account. Feel free to use the same hosting company if you'd like, but make sure it's a new account to insure you have the latest equipment.
That approach will also allow your new programming company to build the new site while the old site stays safe and continues to run.
3.
The last advantage of getting a new website is the ability to take advantage of the latest technology that consumers are asking for. As of today, September 8, 2011, we have to say the most important new technology is a mobile website.
Honestly, though, mobile websites are not new. People have been creating them since about 1997, but it's only within the past 2 years that enough consumers could afford the phones and cell phone data plans that allowed them to connect to the internet.
According to a recent survey ( found here: http://www.modapt.com/survey-result/ ) the frustrations when browsing a website on a mobile device include slow downloads, difficulty navigating the site, and hard to read/find information. These difficulties stem from users trying to read non-mobile websites.
The same report says that 31% of users need business information; 30% just need to locate your store; and 7% want to shop on your website.
So, if you are going to set up a new website you might as well pay that extra gold coin and get the mobile site. It can be an elaborate or simple mobile site; but the goal should be to provide only the needed information to the user that they will need at the exact time they need it.
As we said, there are many other advantages to getting your website redesigned and updating it to new technology. These are just 3.
We'd like to hear from you now. What was the best advantage you found of having your website redesigned last time you did it? Reply back to this email, post your comment directly on our website or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JewelerWebsiteAG. If you're short on words, feel free to send a Tweet mentioning @jwebag.
