Website Redesign Without a Nervous Breakdown
http://www.graphic-design.com/Web/feature/clicktracks.html

Marshall, John
Design and Publishing Center
2003

Abstract:

It doesn't matter whether you're working for a company or working as a freelancer with clients. It happens to all of us. That sigh of relief we breathe when the website we've been designing is finally 'finished.' Truth be told, a good website is constantly in flux, taking advantage of the web's fluid and flexible nature. Unlike other marketing and sales materials, changes made to your website can be relatively painless-or at least less painful than throwing out a box of brochures because you've decided to change your branding or your focus. It's hard to throw those away, no matter how outdated or inaccurate they may be; when you do, it's hard to see anything else but dollar signs hovering above the trash can. The web offers unparalleled flexibility in making changes. Whether it be adding or changing content, switching graphic elements or including features that allow customers to more easily interact, these changes typically requires only the desire, the technical know-how and the budget to support both. Go into a site redesign blindly, however, simply adding and subtracting elements and pages based on hunches or what one visitor has commented on doesn't make any sense.