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As we come to the end of 2011, now can be quite a good time to think about what you’d like the New Year to bring. This is especially important if you’ve got a business, as a brand new year can often mark a turning point and provide a new focus for your company. It can also be a good time to think about the issue of website design – or more specifically, website redesign.

No matter how great your current web design is, if you have had it for quite a long time then you might well be able to benefit from a site reboot to reflect the changes your company has gone through recently. You don’t necessarily have to have a complete site makeover, although this is an option, but an upgrade and assessment of where things stand can make a big difference. To give you a helping hand, read on for six things to consider when contemplating website redesign - all courtesy of Ampheon Web Design London.

The current site – where it stands

It helps to have an idea of where your website currently stands, as this can give you a better idea of where you want to go. For instance, look at issues such as how much traffic you get to your current site, how well you do in the search engine rankings and whether the content on the site still matches your purpose as a business. Do you have an ecommerce website? If so, how well has this been performing in terms of sales?

The current site – what needs improving

Once you know where things stand, you can start to think about what needs improving. This is something it can be a good idea to chat to your web designer about to make sure you’re on the same page and to pick up any technical issues you may have missed. However, even without any technical know-how, you’re more than likely to be able to highlight the issues you’d like to address through your new web design. This could be something as simple as adding a couple of new pages or updating your graphics.

Your business – how it’s changed

It’s also worth reviewing your business before altering your website design. For instance, have you started running any projects or services that perhaps aren’t on your website yet? Have you changed your focus to a different target market? Have you expanded your outlook? These are all things you might like to take account of in your website design, so jotting down a few thoughts will definitely help the process.

Your new site – what you want to achieve

Now we’re getting to the fun bit: what you’re actually looking for in your revamped web design. Think about what you’d like to achieve through your website in the coming New Year. This could be goals such as getting to the top of the search rankings for a particular key term, or getting more traffic through to the site or making more sales through your ecommerce site. It could also be goals related to the look of your site, such as the colour scheme or how the content is laid out.

Your new site – content

Before you get your web designer onto the task of updating your site design, it helps if you have a think about what you’d like to do in terms of content. It can really boost the look of the site if we know beforehand how much content there is likely to be and how you’d like to set it out. So, just as you probably did when the site was designed in the first place, sit down and go through all the content you need to have on the site, making sure it’s all relevant and there for a particular purpose.

Your new site – SEO and marketing

Finally, as well as issues relating to content and design, you also need to consider the issues of SEO and marketing. After all, if you’re going to the effort of upgrading your website design for the New Year, you want people to be able to find it. If you’ve already got an SEO strategy, you might like to review it to make sure it still reflects the purpose and goals of your business. This is something else you could talk to your web designer about to make sure you’re heading in the right direction.

Overall, there’s no hard and fast rule to tell you what to do with your site when it comes to redesigning it. However, businesses do change over time and the New Year provides a perfect opportunity to start thinking about how you might like to reflect this in other areas of your operations – including your website. A website redesign could well be what you need to get your company off to a great start in 2012.

By Chelsey Evans

Follow @AmpheonLtd