5 reasons to redesign your website

Nothing lasts forever. Well . . . maybe some things do, but websites sure don't. Even the most well-designed sites need upkeep, and considering the constant growth and change taking place in the technology sector, sites rarely stay relevant for more than three years. When it comes to websites, redesigns are a fact of life.

So is it time for you to update your website? Not-for-profit organizations are notoriously bad at keeping up to snuff in this arena. We've all seen the outdated sites many well-meaning not-for-profits use, month after month and year after year, despite the fact that such sites are unappealing and make it difficult for users to give their time, donations and interest.

Don't be a victim of digital decay! Consider your website, read this blog post and think about if it might be time to rebuild. Here are five great reasons to consider it.

5 great reasons to redesign your not-for-profit website

1. Your current site isn't mobile friendly

Face it: mobile is where it's at. We've written about this before and it's time to get your head around it. The number of people who access the web via mobile devices is growing rapidly (more rapidly than anyone expected). More people — millions and millions of them — are using smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices every single day. Personal computers will soon be eclipsed by the mobile phenomenon. Your website MUST cater to a mobile community in order to stay relevant and usable.

2. You can't edit your current site simply and in-house

Static websites are massively out of date. Such sites rank lower in search engine results, and simply speaking, they're just not compelling. Updates are what keep users coming back and updates are what fire the imagination of donors. So if your site is static, it's simply not doing its job. And if it's a hassle to make updates, you're probably wasting time and money. A good, contemporary website will allow you to make updates and changes easily, in-house, with little-to-no technical expertise. This is what today's not-for-profits need to stay ahead.

3. Your site was optimized for browsers that no longer exist, or are no longer being used

Still using old versions of Internet Explorer (IE) to surf the web? Your site may look okay to you on IE 6 (or even 7), but it likely looks AWFUL to plenty of other visitors. If your current site was designed 3-5 years ago, it's probably not working properly on a lot of the current browsing platforms. Fonts are likely messed up, layouts shifted, etc. Websites that are not compatible with current browsers look all wrong and may even be inaccessible to a large variety of potential donors. Period.

4. Your site features old FLASH

Everyone in the know hates Flash. For people outside of the web design field, this is hard to understand. Flash used to be fun! Animations were adorable (at least, once upon a time). But the world has changed and anyone worth their weight will tell you: Flash has become a big, fat pain. Yes, current Flash sites, if optimized properly, are okay, but Flash sites from even a few years ago are "invisible" to search engines, and not compatible with Mac products such as the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone. This makes your site hard to find and less "Google-able." Besides, Flash is just annoying.  Think about those pulsing, screeching animations that fire up when you visit a website at work. The animations also take longer to load. No good.

5. Your organization has grown and/or changed since your site was created

The design of your current website may be outdated for one very simple reason: it was designed a few years ago and your organization is different today than it was then. We all grow and change. It's a natural thing. And your website may need freshening for any number of reasons related to the simple fact of that progression. Take a good look at what you've got and ask yourself: does this site still represent us? Are the colours right? Are the ideas? Is this site who we are? If not, it's time to redesign.

_{Header image by by Dmitri Popov, SXC. Body image by Ambrozjo, SXC.}