It is important to keep your web site on par with the needs of your visitors.

As your business evolves or market trends shift or user needs change, you must adjust your website accordingly.

How do you determine how much of an adjustment to make? Should you re- design or simply re-align?

In many cases, it is better to refresh what is already there and leave the Extreme Makeovers to reality television.

Here are some examples:

I recently met with Dr. Jeanne Best of Royalton Equine Veterinary Services (www.besthorse vet.com) to go over her web site and talk about some changes. Dr. Best has been my client since 2003 and it was exciting to see how well her web site is working for her.

She uses the site to communicate with her clients through announcements, event listings, helpful resources and client photo pages. In fact, her site had been working so well, that many of the pages were getting too long and cluttered with information. So we added new pages to break up the information and make it easier to find.

The overall design and “look” of the site did not change. Since she has many “repeat visitors,” that is a good thing because it is not disruptive to the visitor experience. The only change they will notice is that it is easier to find what they are looking for. By the way, that is Dr. Best and her horse Arctic Diamond jumping in the top banner background!

Another one of my clients, Todd Firkins of Shutterworks, Inc. (www.shutter worksinc.com) makes it a point to schedule a “check-up” of his web site every year. I look forward to these visits because it shows that Todd is using his site and it is paying off for him.

This year he expanded information about the Homeowner’s Lifetime Transferable Warranty, included Customer Satisfaction survey results and added professional photographs of his shutters in their home or commercial settings.

Again, the overall design did not need to change. The warranty and customer satisfaction information emphasizes the Shutterworks, Inc. commitment to quality and service. The addition of professional photographs throughout his site and in the Picture Gallery better present the fine craftsmanship of his product.

Of course, sometimes it is necessary to recreate instead of refresh. Some situations warrant a complete re-design, for example, adapting to a new identity or “brand” or if the design is the cause of your problems (confusing navigation or painfully slow load time).

Here are some questions to consider when considering changes to your site:

Answering these questions will make the process less painful for you and your visitors.

I was chatting with a friend recently about my own business and how I was happy with the way things are taking shape. When he congratulated me on my progress I remarked, "It has taken me up to this point, to get to this point."

He was quite amused by the phrasing, but it made perfect sense to me. I studied at the Yogi Berra Learning Center!

FutureMe allows you to write a letter to yourself and pick a date in the future when you want it sent.

So far almost a quarter-million letters have been written. You can choose to stay private or go public with your words of wisdom. It is interesting to read what other people wrote to themselves.

I was letter 224,214 - I chose to keep my thoughts to myself. It was exhilarating to press the send to the future button!

Try it! Use an address you are likely to still have in the future (hotmail, yahoo, your own domain) and add thepast@futureme.org. to your address book so the letter is not trapped by your Spam filter. Your future self will be glad you did.