WWW WorkWith regards to web design, in the past I thought about whether it was best to:

  • Method 1: Record all plans and ideas, and then do lots of updates all at once. Or;
  • Method 2: Each time I get an idea or find important info on web design issues make the changes straight away

The second method means rather then spending a lump amount of time (say every 3 months) doing upgrades to your website, it is more of a continuous ongoing process.

Types Of Sites
The method you choose should be based on your type of website. If it is purely an ecommerce website then I think using method two is much better. It is a lot more flexible and if the issues will improve your sales, such as these tips, then can you really afford to wait until your next round of upgrades? Best to just get the changes done to start benefiting straight away.

Alternatively if the site in question is a blog for your business, or a related minisite you use as a feeder to your main site then I think method 1 is better. The nature of these sorts of sites means waiting to do a whole round of updates would be more beneficial as you could continuously build up ideas, and then carry them all out when you have a set amount of time available to you. And unlike with ecommerce sites the web design changes you make to these sites probably won’t have as big an impact on sales/profitability.

Conclusion
Given the points made above I think for a main ecommerce website it is definitely best to have continuous website development, because then you can be more flexible (IE when sales are quiet work on the web design) and also take advantage of the improvements right away.

I’m sure other people will have differing opinions on this but I’ve found this way best, and alternative opinions are the beauty of business :)