eHealth Articles & White Papers 

Site Redesign: Sometimes You Need to Start from Scratch

Ben Dillon - Vice President and eHealth Evangelist 

We're talking about website redesign. In most cases, you can use an iterative approach to keeping your site fresh and new. And although I agree with this approach, there are times when it's best to go back to the drawing board and start fresh with your site. 

When is that, you ask? When...

• Your organization goes through a significant identity change - And, I'm not talking about when you get a new logo. If the core brand of the organization is changing, the scope of services you provide is expanding or contracting significantly, or the general thrust of your organization and how you talk about what you do changes, then it is time to start fresh.
• You're making big changes to your site's information architecture or navigation - It may seem like you're just moving little boxes from one place to another, but in most cases major navigation changes have a rippling impact that kills most of the value of trying to migrate the information you have. For example, if you are changing your navigation from a service line focus to a condition or symptom focus, the content you had will probably not fit into the new structure.
• You're implementing a new technical architecture or changing platforms - Sure, you could move everything over as-is. Yes, this would be less work than re-doing everything. However, the thing you need to understand is that a straight migration is still a lot of work to pull off. More precisely, it's a lot of work given that the experience of most end-users won't have changed much when it's all done. If you're going through all of that effort, why not take on a little more and gain some improvements in the process?
• There's just not much worth salvaging in the current site - Let's face it, even if you haven't been neglecting your site (or more likely you've adopted a site that's been neglected by others), it may be time to get a fresh start.
• You're setting a foundation for bigger things down the road - Your organization may not be ready to implement a patient portal yet, but even just preparing to take your website to this next level may require a new foundation. Sometimes making changes now will pave the way for big enhancements in the future.

Keeping it Valuable

It's important to remember that there is more than one way to redesign your website. Iterative changes and starting fresh both have their own unique pros and cons, and both work in different scenarios. Regardless of what path you take, the real key is ensuring your site reflects your brand, engages your visitors, and provides value to your organization. And in some cases, that requires more work than others.