But nonetheless, I’d like to say to anyone who is thinking about an update for their own site – and this is in agreeance with points made by Craig and Heidi – you should ABSOLUTELY go for it IF everything you’ve learnt about websites since you mapped out yours, tells you that you didn’t map it out very well.

My last site was too picture-driven (totally my fault; I’m mad about aesthetics and let myself get carried away).
The really quality content was too difficult to find.
The thing my site focuses on the most (featuring readers) was not obvious at all.
And I don’t think I even knew what “conversion strategy” meant back then.

Of course, with this rebuild has come the temptation of dazzling widgets and bright colours… and admittedly I am changing the sites colour palette but, that too, is in line with the project focus to:

Simplify (navigation, colours, imagery, everything)
Improve usability
Increase interaction and conversions
Make content (and the contributors who bring it) the star of the show

There’ve been plenty of times I got amped up about some ‘cool new thing’ I saw on some ‘really cool’ site – and have been told by developers, advisors and financiers, “Yes, yes, yes, but just focus on what you’ve got right now and make the most of that.”

9 times outta 10 they were probably right. But YOU know your site. If research and experience is telling you it’s not quite hitting the mark, don’t spend another 6months trying to flog a dead horse.

PS: if you are considering a rebuild for improvement, Heidi’s link to ‘Planning Your Website Tutorial’ is a really great read.

Unless the site is really poorly organized or looks really 1995, in many cases a modification focusing on content and calls to action as you describe can be more useful than a full redesign. The trick is to focus on the goals and the needs of the target audience. I suspect many people focus on the graphic design elements because they’re more fun, but a new shiny site with big pictures, Flash and video won’t improve a thing unless those features are delivering the content end users seek.

When I work with clients I like to have them focus on their goals and target audience first then evaluate their content accordingly. I put together a series of blog entries as a Planning Your Web Site Tutorial that helps walk them through this. (It also includes a post about redesigns.) I find that when they go through this process they will often see how the content and it’s organization can better support their end goals. Thinking about the audience in particular seems to help. If they can imagine themselves in their visitor’s shoes they can get a new perspective on what works and what doesn’t.

Your post is a good reminder that Web design doesn’t end with visual design. If we also pay attention to SEO, user interfaces, navigation and of course content, we’ll go a lot farther than we might pondering color choice and various design fads.