Web design is a bit like house design; different trends evolve over time. If your business website was designed 10 or more years ago and you’ve never changed it, you might be wondering if you need to upgrade. Much depends on what your website was designed to do – and if it is still performing as you would like it to.

There have been many changes in website design over just the last few years. Some are excellent; others not so good. Once it was thought that if a website had all the bells and whistles that were available and popular at the time, it would be a success. Then it was found that adding all that stuff not only confused visitors, but made the page load slowly.

Both of these results ended up turning visitors away from the website. Visitors to a website are looking for something specific and the quicker they find it the happier they are. If they have to wade through the muddy waters of too much stuff that’s not really what they are after they’ll leave. And of course, a page that loads slowly is a turn-off right from the start.

While it seems that simple is best when it comes to websites, remember that your ancestors had a simple house. They thought it was great because there was nothing else to compare it with. But it may not have had running water or electricity. Similarly, you can be too simple when it comes to websites.

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