Little by Little or All at Once?

[Karen]

I know I've got to update my web site. And, that the update will be extensive. So, do I make small changes over a period of many weeks or do I do one massive change overnight?

[David Wallace]

That depends on what you are doing really. If you are completely redesigning the site, then what i usually do is develop new template. I then make sure everything is exactly how I want it. then I begin to incorporate old content into new template and when all is done, launch new site.

If you are just making subtle changes or adding/enhancing content, then you could certainly push those live once you complete each task.

[Karen]

Complete redesign.

All at once is what seems to make the most sense to me. However, I read something about a redesign maybe affecting your SE rank?

[David Wallace]

One thing I have observed with Google at least is sometimes when a site is completely redesigned, it will experience a drop in the SERPs (search engine results pages) for a month or two before it rises once again. I almost think this is related to the fact that Google finds a bunch of new content so it is "pushed down" so to speak and evaluated before it is allowed to resume its normal place.

You must also consider that if you change files names or create new ones, it will take time for search engines to pick up on those changes.

The bottom line is yes, when you do a complete redesign, there is a very good chance it WILL have an effect on your rankings, sometimes for the good and sometimes not so good.

[GoodGuy2]

That's really interesting, David. I didn't know that. But I think you can get around it by ensuring that you have the same key words placed strategically in the new copy.

[EYStudios]

Whether you do it all at once or not, I'd tackle the most important aspects first.

One of the questions I ask clients is if they get a lot of repeat business. If the answer is "yes," I tell them to keep at least a bit of continuity between the old design and the new. Even if that's just a color scheme. You don't want the new design, however great it may be, to be too jarring. You want to create the feeling of, "This is the same business; they just have a cool new look."

In your case, I love the idea of your logo, but I would trim the amount of icons and clean up the presentation. That way it's different while still keeping some of the look and feel.

Whether or not you have repeat business is secondary to having the look match what you're selling. Some businesses make the mistake of having the pendulum swing way too far in the opposite direction when re-designing. I've seen an online toystore shift from being playful to overly corporate looking, and they lost a ton of sales. The playfulness that you have in your logo is very appropriate to what you sell. Just take that idea and sharpen it.

Good luck, Karen!

[EYStudios]

One more thing: Consistency is the key. Your logo is what first establishes your identity there. Everything should flow out of that same idea. I'd say polish up the logo and let that dictate the rest of the design.

[Easy Webster]

Either way is usually fine. However, It is sometimes easier to make small changes over a period of weeks.

Teresa

[Big Bill]

Originally Posted by Karen

I know I've got to update my web site. And, that the update will be extensive. So, do I make small changes over a period of many weeks or do I do one massive change overnight?

You make small changes on a (more or less) regular basis. That keeps the spiders coming back and your changes go live quickly. Keep your old file structure and file names where you can (assuming you have worthwhile PR and deep IBL's of course). Bear in mind that a 301 redirect can be very useful on these occasions.

BB