At Hammock, we're currently re-thinking the design, content -- even the role -- of our company's primary website.
That's not unusual. We've been rethinking it constantly since we first launched it in 1995.
I used to think a website -- the design and structure part -- should last for a couple of years. While I've always thought the content should constantly change, I thought the "look" and "feel" should stay fairly constant. Such a personal bias can be seen in my 10-year-old blog. Despite undergoing three or four significant re-designs and three changes in content management systems, even a regular reader would be hard-pressed to point out anything that has changed about the design of RexBlog. Being subtle with the changes sometimes is more difficult than a major overhaul.
I've also always believed (and still do) that different people visit a site for different reasons and a company should make the site's navigation flexible enough for any of those reasons to be satisfied. Unfortunately, I've discovered over the years that no matter how flexible you make a site, it won't work for everyone. So you keep trying.
Today, we've thrown out the two-year rule. Today, we accept the reality that a company's website design and structure should be constantly reconsidered. Things change -- rapidly. And the need to have a website change along with new ways people use the web should be a part of your approach to maintaining the site.
