Should a Website or Blog Completely Change Its Image?
As you can see, Create Business Growth has a brand spankin’ new look! We’d like to thank reader, fellow blogger, and friend Jonathan Phillips of Freelance Folder whole-heartedly for creating this new design. Thanks Jonathan!
Most of you probably know Jonathan; he and his team of writers at Freelance Folder are practically rock stars in the Blogosphere. (Not to mention in real life Jonathan plays guitar in a band that is currently cutting an album and the very awesome regular guest poster Dave Navarro shares his name with one of the worlds most infamous rock stars!)
I also contracted Jonathan to make some tweaks on my personal blog Self Made Chick wow! I saw measurable results as soon as he worked his magic. More readers are clicking more article titles thanks to the most popular posts plugin and the related posts plugin. My subscribers also jumped from 144 to 316 in 6 days. You can read more about exactly what he did in the post How I Drastically Improved My Blog Stats with a Few Tweaks .
What Are the Pros and Cons of a Complete Image Overhaul?
I have a few clients that (I think) are in need of a new look, but they are hesitant to make a change for fear that they may lose some of their readers/clients. The reason is usually because they think readers will believe they ˜disappeared” and that a new company has taken its place.
I see their point, but I wonder what would happen if companies never updated their images? If Mountain Dew still had a picture of a drunken moonshiner and the slogan “ll Tickle Your Innards” on a glass bottle, would it be the pop hero of action sports today?
There are several bloggers who have recently changed their looks and even their names, yet it hasn’t deterred me from reading their blogs one bit.
Michael Martine changed his blog’s name from Michael Martine to Remarkablogger and received a very favorable response. In his post announcing the name change, he explains why he made the switch. He’s also working with Moshin of Blogging Bits to create an entirely new look and logo which his readers are excited about!
Bunk at LifeJotter (formerly Lifestyle Maverick) changed not only the name of his blog, but also gave it a complete design overhaul pretty much all at once. I love the new look and the new theme and it hasn’t deterred me from reading it whatsoever. In fact, I’m pretty excited about the changes. In this post, he gives his reason for the blog’s rebirth.
Maybe if guys like this would have changed their look when the times changed, they may not have died out with the hair bands.
Share Your Thoughts and Experiences
What do you think of our new look? Have you been contemplating giving your website or blog an update, but been hesitant? Do you think that giving a website or blog a complete image update is necessary? Is it risky? Have you had a personal experience with a redesign that worked out well or went wrong?
December 03 2007 06:00 am | Announcements
Michael Martine on 03 Dec 2007 at 6:31 am #
I have to confess I’m not crazy about the logo. It looks a little more “old Mountain Dew” to me. I like the blog design well enough, but I think the right logo and/or header image would really make the whole thing pop.
Christine on 03 Dec 2007 at 9:23 am #
Thanks for your feedback Michael! I think Jonathan did an excellent job with the entire design – especially considering how far it’s come from before!
erin on 03 Dec 2007 at 12:07 pm #
i really like the new design/ feel, christine. it flows better, with the most immediate changes on top (comments, articles) and things you want to get to later below that (other articles, checking out who’s been here before…). jon did a great job.
as far as changing your brand or logo or site design is concerned; i have mixed feelings about it. sometimes it generates more interest in the company and keeps people returning more often. other times, it’s slightly annoying. like all of the different versions/designs of coca cola that are out right now. diet coke, coke zero, cherry coke, cherry vanilla coke, vanilla coke, cherry coke zero, diet cherry vanilla coke, diet coke with lime…see where i’m going? it’s annoying, not interesting. and i don’t even drink pop. if i did, i’d go with dr. pepper; 3 options, period. speaking of pop, TAB redid their packaging so it’s cans are the same shape as ‘red bull’ and it looks much more trendy than it used to. one simple change like that and it’s appearance is much cooler than it used to be.
great topic!
Christine on 03 Dec 2007 at 12:22 pm #
Thanks Erin! Seriously… I didn’t even know that TAB was still around.
BTW – I absolutely love your new site. Even though they went over schedule, they did a great job with the look!
Christine
Anthony on 03 Dec 2007 at 12:59 pm #
I think changing the design was a good step. Although this site had a nice look before, I think having a custom design will take you further as this site continues to grow.
Good job, Jon Phillips!
Christine on 03 Dec 2007 at 1:31 pm #
Thanks Anthony! We’re really excited about it and very thankful to Jon for creating it! I love the look of his blogs and I absolutely love working with Jon.
Looks like your site has a bit of a new look too! Are you still doing custom blog designs?
Matt on 03 Dec 2007 at 2:23 pm #
I think your before and after of Mountain Dew helps sum it up..you need to change with the times and adapt…good read
Koozie on 04 Dec 2007 at 1:28 am #
KFC went back to their old image recently, they re decorated all their stores, it think they even got their old logo back
new isn’t always good
but most of the time new is good
Anthony on 04 Dec 2007 at 4:32 am #
Christine,
I know Jon is a great guy to work with and multi-talented too!
I’ve gotten in the habit of changing my design up every couple of months or so… can’t seem to quit.
I am still doing custom work, and also plan to continue creating free themes as time permits.
blogjer on 07 Dec 2007 at 9:56 pm #
This blog looks better now. Over the time, I agree that blog has to change it looks as long as the content is as good as it looks