How often should the sites be redesigned

[gyaloggalopp]

As there are many members here who have been working in this industry for more than a decade, I think this is the best place to ask for advice in this matter.

Our sites (poker and casino) have been designed in 2010-2011 and now the design is obviously outdated and would need serious face-lifts. However, as I see our competitors, mainly in poker, they all have even older designs and doing fine in the business. One has to do so much thing in the sites to have good SEO and quality content is the most important IMO, but how much do weight in the design for the user-friendliness?

How often do you change the design of your site?


*edit: there's an "?" missing at the end of the topic, as I meant this as a question

[wonderpunter]

If it's not broke dont fix it... If you find traffic is dropping or conversions are less than previous it could be time for a change.. saying that its always good to have your site mobi friendly anyhow

[sweetbet]

wonderpunter makes an excellent point. If it's not broke, don't fix it. I redesigned many of my own sites this year, primarily to make them mobile friendly, and to also add more functionality to them.

[MrBinaryAff]

Have redesigned our poker website twice it is not worth it. We spent quite a lot of money just to make our website "better looking", and only slightly improved the conversion.

Instead of redesigning we change backgrounds (clickable one) around 4 times a year - this works quite well for us.

[gyaloggalopp]

Thank you guys for all the thoughts. Well, conversion is good and I understand your logic that we should not fix what is not broken. I wouldn't change the design of our poker site but I thought casino sights should always improve their looks. But I tend to believe to more experienced users, so thanks again!

[JackTenSuited]

Change your design to increase conversions and SEO, don't do it because you think it looks outdated or needs a new design. That's a trap I've fallen in to in the past and it's a waste of time and money.

[neilb]

Look at getting some proper UX results, check out Optimizely for A/B testing. I do this for a living and there is always something you can maximize on.

Small to medium sized iterations (copy/design/layout) will give you decent test results.


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[RyanWeb]

I try not to redesign if I can help it, as it does not only take a great deal of time, but I have had my rankings take a hit due to restructuring a site. That said, I did just redesign to make my site fully responsive / mobile friendly, and have seen some positive effects. So it really depends on your reason for the redesign. As others have said, don't just do it because its been a few years or looks a little dated.. I know some of the older dogs here have sites that look like they where built in the 90s and they do very well.

[baldidiot]

If the sites ranking and converting well we don't tend to touch the design unless we have to (eg: making mobile friendly).

[neilb]

Also, a **** looking site turns people away. Unless you're the only supplier.


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[gyaloggalopp]

Look at getting some proper UX results, check out Optimizely for A/B testing. I do this for a living and there is always something you can maximize on.

Small to medium sized iterations (copy/design/layout) will give you decent test results.

Thanks neilb, we were to implement A/B testing the next few months, but it has to come quicker than that!

**** looking - I think that for some new customers our design looks like old and crap, but as always, returning customers need the usual environment, because they got used to it.

[neilb]

Lol, minor iterations are the way to go to, much less risk


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[gyaloggalopp]

Agreee, plus less programming work, which is always nice.

[wettFORM.AT]

We are currently working on a new design (responsive). The site is now online for three years and I think that this is a good time to make a new design.

[AlexCyberClub]

I am a firm believer that if it's not broke it doesn't need fixing. However, the site will now need to be responsive for mobile devices for SEO. In my experience sometimes the older classic looking sites bring in the older/experienced gamblers who often spend big.

[neilb]

If you're getting good revenue from an old site, my immediate question would be "could I double or even triple this", the only way to do that is to try.

If you leave it to long you will definitely pay for it in the end.

Create the ultimate site design and slowly iterate towards it, you will see if it doesn't work or not through that process.


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[neilb]

Test your designs using http://useabilityhub.com, do wire frames first.


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