Keeping your Website Fresh

[Danmans]

Make an effort to keep your web site fresh, especially if you want to get repeat visitors. If a site remains stagnant, people will stop visiting it again and again, but if there is always something new, people will often drop by just to see what's changed.

You might want to think about doing a complete site redesign every few months, as it not only keeps it fresh, but it also gives you the opportunity to take advantage of newer technology as it comes out. This also helps to improve your site as time goes on, as you'll invariably learn better techniques through each iteration.

One other way of keeping things fresh is use dynamic content to your advantage. This can be in many forms, such as:
• javascript or CGI scripting to create content
• using cookies to track previous visits, and customize content
• randomizing elements of the site, such as main graphics, logos, etc.


If you have any other ideas, let me know.

[drhowarddrfine]

You might want to think about doing a complete site redesign every few monthsThat could take too much time and expense. A major redesign could leave your consumers confused and lost in unfamiliar territory. Rather, I suggest, is a gradual change; adding a color here, a box or button there.

[e-realmz]

In my opinion as a digital artist, a site redesign can be a really good thing. Im not talking about a complete makeover. I would rather change maybe the graphics, buttons, background image, ect..

It would be the same exact site with everything in the same exact place, it would only look different.
I have seen plenty of magazines do this with their covers. They would have 2 or 3 different cover designs in one month as collectors editions.

That would work better with a smaller site though. In a big website, it might drive people away. I have seen a few sites that have done this and really messed up the "feel" of the site. I guess you really have to have eye for design if you are going to attempt to do something like this.

[Rockhound]

I agree completely... although rarely do I have time to do such a task.

I was very happy in that I was able to do a redesign this summer, I am still working on several pages and content information but overall I have completed the change..

Now some of my clients want me to use the same technology on their sites so it is helping with some of my existing clients, hopefully it will help me land a few new jobs as well.

J

[Reli4nt]

Fresh content can and will make a huge difference but redesigns can trap you in hours or even weeks of work with little direct ROI (return on investment).

I recommend you stick with one design and add to your site modularly. Tack on a new "case study" each month or articles you've written that actually provide useful information for your particular clients.

[Richard Conyard]

Redesigns do take a lot of work, but you can bring the effort required down by sticking to standards based web design.

If you use CSS positioning (CSS-P), and styling then a new look can be overlayed very quickly in comparison. An example of what can be done with this can be found at CSS Zen Garden. As per the point about leaving users in unfamiliar territory then with a style switcher and cookies users could choose to revert back to the old style.

[bask]

Running a news section at the main page is a good option. Some sites have polls. Or raise an interesting question and then answer it. Or change one picture at the main page once a month. I think everything that relates to new information is good. Redesign could complicate the accessibility of the information for regular visitors.

[snowstar]

Right~
Assuming that you are a visitor, you would like to go to the fresh web site with new materials daily~

Additionally, I think the content is more important than its looking.
People would visit a bad-looking web site with useful information
rather than visit a nice-looking web site without useful materials~

[Reli4nt]

Right~
Assuming that you are a visitor, you would like to go to the fresh web site with new materials daily~

Additionally, I think the content is more important than its looking.
People would visit a bad-looking web site with useful information
rather than visit a nice-looking web site without useful materials~

Well good design is really about 75% usability and 25% aesthetics.

[chrisranjana]

A complete redesign may be too much but I agree that we need to keep our content afresh for repeat visitors and for greater search engine ranking.

[e-realmz]

People want interaction. It doesnt matter what kind of website you have or how "good" it may be. If there is interaction involved, people will always come back for more.