Does changing the look of your Blog/Website have a negative impact?

Jon

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When websites change (blogs or normal websites) it can take a while for people to adjust to it. Even though the site owner may have been planning these changes for quite some time and even maybe previewing them, for everyone else it is a change that is being forced on them that no one asked for.

How do people go about changing the look of their blogs/sites without it having a negative impact on your userbase?

I used to love the website UK Business Forum (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/) - Full of amazing content and it was easy to start threads and get replies and then one day the entire site changed. Not just in how it looks but also in functionality as well. I got error message when I went to do things I used to do and I found the website slower to load and harder to navigate. Sadly it really put me off using the site but maybe there was some great reason for why the change had to happen.

With TMS I have plans and ideas I want to implement but I believe if I do it all in one big swoop it will have a negative effect on how people view the site. Then there is how Google reacts to change in regards to the layout of a site (although maybe if the sitemap stays the same it doesn't change)

Has anyone had any experience of changing how their Blog/Website looks and works and what happened afterwards?
 

FreeSwagSites

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Personally, a site's speed and ease of navigation are 2 of the most important issues. I am not going to wait for your page to load like a ZX Spectrum game and if I can't find what I'm looking for I'm off.

I have to use Netmums and Mumsnet occasionally for KSF, but it took me ages to even work out how to get to the relevant forum boards - and even now I sometimes forget the magic navigation formula for each of them! :mad:

I don't think that Google gets upset about changes of themes / layout / looks provided that you don't go around deleting loads of pages etc. or completely changing your sitemap without warning. They seem to be easily confused by that sort of thing and it takes a little while for them to get comfortable with your new site structure. I suffered a bit when I deleted about 30 pages on KSF after about 4 weeks of starting the site.
 

onebusywahm

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I think this largely depends on your audience.

If 90% of traffic to your site is new visitors then a change in layout will not be such a huge issue since they have nothing to compare against previously.

If the bulk of your traffic is repeat visitors / community-based readership, then changes could have an impact (for better or for worse).

With community-based readership, I think it's important to understand why you are making changes (easier navigation, better functionality etc) and to communicate those. Also, to engage with your readers and ASK. What would THEY like to see?

It doesn't necessarily mean you have to implement what they want, but it pre-empts issues, identifies areas that regular users want / dislike and makes them feel valued. They may also raise points that the site owner hadn't considered.

... and always take a back up of your old site so you can switch back if necessary ;D
 

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