The new site goes live. It looks miles better and everybody says so.
Six months later the enquiries are exactly where they were, and nobody in the room wants to be the first to say it.
What the brief usually was
It looks dated. It does not reflect where we are now. Have a look at this other firm, theirs is lovely.
All reasonable. None of it says what is going wrong, so nobody can fix what is going wrong. The job becomes making it look better, and that is what gets delivered.
Why it feels like it should work
A tired site really can put people off. Smartening it up feels bound to help.
But people rarely leave because the corners were square. They leave because they could not tell what you do, who you do it for, what it costs or what to do next.
A redesign moves all of that onto nicer pages. The gaps come with it.
The bit that gets skipped
Almost nobody works out why the old site was not doing the job. It is the least fun part and the hardest to sell, so it drops off the list.
Then the same faults are rebuilt carefully, in a nicer typeface, and everyone waits for something to change.
One question first
Before anyone draws anything, answer this. What is the new site going to do that the old one does not?
If the honest answer is look better, you may still want it. Just do not expect the phone to ring more, and do not spend as though you do.
Most sites do not need one
This is an awkward thing to say for anyone who builds websites, and it is still true. Most of the sites we are asked to look at do not need replacing.
They need three or four pages saying something clearer, in a better order, with the awkward questions answered. That is a smaller job and it is usually the one that moves the numbers.
Work out what is wrong first. Then decide whether it needs a new site or a better one.
