Problematic Changes

As I designer I’m all for changing websites; maybe the design got a bit stuffy, maybe there’s a new layout you’d like to try, maybe you’ve got a better idea than before, or even your focus has changed.

Change is good. But yesterday I noticed some websites that once had very important links to my clients’ websites had changed. The layout changed and so had the content. The links were missing.

I wish changes to old websites would include keeping the old content. Whilst there may be more work to do in the short-term there’s ultimately less playing of “catchup” and you’ve already got a raft of content that may be indexed in the SERPs, even ranking quite well and picking up some traffic.

Please people, think about a site upate as a full, holistic upgrade including keeping your old content.