The main website is now receiving around 15,000 unique visitors a month, and continuing to grow. I also have new features (unique & good quality of course!) to integrate into the site. The problem is the current design! It is a very pretty looking site with the big image of a sunset, but the navigation bar at the top is small and fiddly and now I can’t fit anymore links on it. It also only has one sidebar, ideally for all the content I need two.

So I’m now in the process of completing a new design for the site (screenshot on right of outline). I have plenty of other jobs to be getting on with for my other sites, but I feel this is such an important issue with the site growing and new features potentially letting it grow even quicker.

When I first installed the current design I focused on it looking ‘all pretty and arty’, not thinking what would happen when I came to adding new content and the whole site needing to be more user friendly to accomodate thousands of visitors every week. Now I’m paying for it in time and money, the money lost (IMO) is from potential lost advertising revenue and the visitors not returning like they would with new features/links to bookmark accounts etc.

So when you are coming to do a new site design or improving your current one think of what you will need down the line, and when you need it in the future whether you will have the time or money to find/create a new design!

Im off to finish the new design……….Chris.