7 Factors That Affect Website Development’s Longevity

A web development and design company, as well as a creative agency, and a software company, walk into the office of a client. The client asks “How often should we redesign our website?” The agency says “every two years.” The software vendor states “every five years” The web designer responds…

This isn’t just a joke. I attended this meeting. It was a group of eight from 4 different companies present in that room. My response for the moment was 4 years. My usual response has been between 2 and 5 years, based on the market. But that’s a huge range. In the meantime, we’ve conducted some study to find out the answer to that inquiry…

What is the typical duration of a site’s life?

We gathered the top 200 websites for marketing as per Alexa as well as then looked at them on the Wayback Machine. We examined the design and development of each website over a long period and established the period between major redesigns of websites for each website.

The lifespan of a website is 2 years and 7 months. In reality, it was 2.66 years, which is 2 years, six months and 27 calendar days. However, it’s close enough.

About this data set The first thing we noticed was that we were incredibly pleased to see our website included on the list. You’re looking at among the 200 top sites for marketing in the present! Be aware that these websites are typically medium-sized to larger companies that provide products and services that are focused on marketing.

Surprised? We were. I had hoped for the timeline to be somewhere in the three to four-year timeframe. But ask any professional regarding the life span of websites and I’m sure they’ll all answer the same answer: “It depends.” But what exactly does the duration of a website depend upon? Let’s take a look at the main reasons that a website has long and happy, or ages quickly.

  • Is my conversion rate declining? Visitors’ expectations keep increasing, so unless your website keeps improving, conversion rates tend to decline. A redesign can reverse the ageing process through a new, conversion-optimized design that exceeds visitors’ expectations.

The 10 Website Life Expectancy Factors

These are the primary factors that determine how quickly your website develops. Certain are connected to the evolution of your company. Others relate to changes in the web and to the expectations of visitors.

You can ask yourself these questions, counting both Yes and No. If you have more than one time answered yes you are more likely to find that your website is showing signs of old age.

  • Does the primary message of my company change?
  • Has my content strategy changed? (I’m doing more writing events, promotions, etc.)
  • Is my field evolving? Are my employees discussing things in a different way in the present?
  • Are I working in a design or technology-related field? Things are changing quickly for these companies.
  • Does your site keep up with current trends in design? Modern websites are typically simplified into one-column layouts. They display less information with each scroll, but with large images that usually take up the entire screen. The trend is towards greater videos and more prominent calls to take action.
  • Does my website look fantastic on tablets and phones? If your last revamp was six months ago, then your site’s visitors may be using different devices in the present.
  • Is your website difficult to maintain? CMS systems that manage content have been improved. We should expect more easy updates. Nowadays, it must be speedy, inexpensive and simple to make the majority of modifications to the content of our websites.
  • Are my rankings or the traffic to my site decreased? If you’re not actively marketing your site, rankings tend to decrease as time passes. Redesigns could reverse the trend of falling search traffic with an updated sitemap that is focused on keyphrases, by introducing new pages that target the latest keywords.
  • Have my competitors recently changed their designs? This is the main question Which competitors are doing? Let’s have a glance…

Age is relative …to your competition

Do this:

Imagine you’re a prospective buyer or prospect. Look up your products or services. Seriously, stop this blog and look around! What did you notice?

  • Who’s in the top spot?
  • Are their websites newer than yours?

Potential customers will see the results and websites a lot of times throughout the day. While you’re reading this article, right at this moment you are watching those search results and the websites. New and old in this setting. All of it is relative.

   How can you extend the life of your site?

There are methods to take months or even years off the appearance of your site. Here are a few tips to reverse the ageing process:

  • Content Injections – By adding new images, writing or videos can help make a site appear younger. This is a wise choice because these resources can be utilized for future redesigns in the future.
  • The Haircut – Reduce the navigation by eliminating those links that users visit the least. These links are available in the navigation Summary of any page on the report Behavior > Site Content > All Pages of Google Analytics.
  • Nip and Tuck – Tighten up the design by making the addition of a few style sheets. Modifying the font (snip the snip) and adjusting the colour scheme (snip snip) will bring the design currently in line with your brand.
  • Face Lift – A revamped homepage can make the website appear fresh for visitors who are new to the site. However, it’s only a temporary fix as big changes could make the homepage out of sync with other areas of the website.
  • Page Enhancements – Similar to the facelift Add a new template layout that makes use of current design fashions. This specific approach can concentrate on areas in which ageing is the most severe. Utilize the template for your most page of traffic and your top exit pages.

A word of caution: If you’re planning an overhaul within the next year, don’t spend heavily on your existing site. The impact of any changes is dependent on the expense. Check out our guide for prioritizing Website Development or Changes for more information.

Bottom line

If you, your company or your customers alter, your website becomes older. It’s old when it’s not aligned with your company and not delivering measurable outcomes. Keep it as fresh and as fresh as you can and be ready to take the difficult decision to revamp it. When you do consider the future to the maximum extent you can. Reach out to AVIANET to answer all your questions regarding Web Development.

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