Is it time for a completely new website? Or do you want to refresh the existing website in terms of content or appearance? Answering that question is important, but not always straightforward. Here are 5 signs that indicate your organization is ready for a new website.
1. There are (major) changes in your organization
If significant changes are coming to your organization, a new website is usually unavoidable. This could involve the launch of new policy goals, a reorganization, a merger, or even the establishment of a new team, service, or department. Your current website may no longer align with your organization’s values, and significant adjustments are necessary to ensure the website is fully aligned. Starting from scratch with a completely new website is often the best approach. This way, you can combine old and new content for visitors and structure it logically on the new site.
In the case of VITAZ, a merger prompted the need for a new website. Read their story.
2. Your current website’s Content Management System is outdated
There might be a technical reason for needing a new website. For example, you may notice that your current website uses outdated software that is no longer supported, making it impossible to guarantee the safety of the data your visitors leave behind. It might take a long time to make simple changes. Or perhaps you find that your website is not mobile-friendly, is not GDPR compliant, or does not meet WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards. Keep in mind that it is mandatory for government websites to be technically and content-wise accessible for people with disabilities according to the WCAG standards.
This is not something to take lightly, as approximately 15% of your website visitors belong to this group.
If the technology behind your website is outdated or if your website lacks functionalities that align with new ambitions, it’s best to switch to more recent software.
3. Your navigation structure is not (or no longer) good
A good navigation structure allows your visitors to easily find what they are looking for. If your visitors cannot quickly find an answer, that’s a sign that the structure needs to be adjusted. There’s a high chance that visitors will abandon the site otherwise. Additionally, if your organization changes or if you gain new insights from your target audience—perhaps through a monitoring process—your navigation structure needs to evolve as well. Small changes to your menu structure are usually manageable, but if your website’s structure becomes truly confusing, a new website and navigation structure become inevitable.
The story of UZ Gent illustrates beautifully why they needed a new navigation structure and why the preparatory phase was so important.
4. Your current CMS is not user-friendly
A Content Management System (CMS) that is not user-friendly makes it difficult to make changes to your website. Even if multiple colleagues are responsible for managing and updating the website, it’s essential that the CMS is tailored to this. And we haven’t even mentioned the time savings you gain when updating your website is smooth and intuitive. This is another advantage of a CMS that is easy to use.
The user-friendly backend of the Paddle CMS allows you to easily adjust your website and ensures that you and your colleagues can work efficiently in the CMS after a short training session.
5. Your current website provides insufficient future opportunities
When thinking about a new website, it’s also the right time to plan for the long term. There may be functionalities that aren’t necessary initially but might be needed later. This includes features like an FAQ section, pop-ups, a bulletin board with listings, restricted content, and menu content types (for example, to clearly display the cafeteria menu).
When choosing your new CMS, consider that it should be able to grow with changing ambitions and needs.
Paddle CMS is a centralized content management system, which means it continues to evolve thanks to the Paddle Community, even after launch. New modules we develop are added to this Paddle Community and are therefore available for every website. Moreover, we can easily configure the modules or functionalities without expensive development costs.
Discover all our modules here.
Would you like to discuss a new website or intranet? Feel free to get in touch.