As I explained in my blog post “How Often Should You Redo Your Web Site?“, there really is a shelf-life on websites – just like clothing styles, web designs can start to look dated after a number of years, but there are lots of other reasons to start fresh. Maybe your business has changed, maybe you have added so much content to your web site that its current organization is no longer working, maybe web technology had advanced to let you do new things that were not feasible before, and so on.
I build new web sites to replace old ones all the time, but one of the great perks of having been in business as long as I have (almost 9 years!) is that occasionally I get to makeover sites I originally built! Sometimes when I look at sites I created years ago, I get a little itch thinking of all of the neat things I could do to make that site better today; things that would not have even been on the radar 5 years ago. So when a client comes back to me, ready to start again, I get to scratch that itch!
Over the past few months, I have had the chance to makeover 5 websites, all from long-time clients – businesses whose original websites I created over 5 years ago. Take a look!
Diva Hosiery
Diva Hosiery sells pantyhose specifically and specially designed for cheerleaders and dancers. When I first built their site back in 2007, they only had one product (in assorted sizes and colors) and only needed a small site with a simple shopping cart. However, their product line has expanded, they needed better options for their shopping cart, and were ready for a new, more sophisticated look. I also built the site in WordPress to allow them more freedom to update their content as needed. See the Before and After below!
After
Before
B and B Muffler and Automotive
B and B has been in business since 1974, and I created a website for them back in late 2007. In the years since, we had added, and added, and added – so many pages that their vertical navigation went on forever, and we had links stuck in everywhere. Finally – it was time to step back, rethink, and reorganize. They wanted to keep the colors and overall feel of the original design, but they had a new logo, and I expanded the design to make better use of horizontal space. We switched to a horizontal menu with sub-menus, and added lots of bells and whistles that weren’t possible before. I even replaced all of their Flash videos with YouTube embeds so they would be viewable on all devices. See the Before and After below!
After
Before
Oliver Blu Designs
I have actually created this site 3 (or 4??) times! When one is selling stylish things, it can be a good idea to make sure that you keep things fresh, and Christine at Oliver Blu Designs does just that by shaking things up with a new design every few years. See the Before and After below!
Before
After
Gianna Viola
Gianna Viola is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and I originally created a site for her in 2008. It was a unique design then, and the new site is unique as well, just brighter, cleaner, and more open. See the Before and After below!
Before
After
Thai Fresh
I created a site for Thai Fresh in 2008, but oh how they have grown since then! Owner Jam Samichat has grown her tiny cafe into a restaurant, coffeehouse, bakery, and live music venue. So in recreating the site, things needed to be reorganized a bit to make it all cohesive. We also wanted to feature larger photos and have it all be easy for her to update herself. See the Before and After below!
Before
After
