I’ve written before about how you can gain a lot by treating your online communities in the same manner as you would a group in real-life.

And that also applies to change.

I’ve seen a lot of people put a lot of hard work into completely rebuilding a site, only to be surprised by the vitriolic reaction of a lot of the heaviest users.

If you’ve ever been into your usual supermarket to find they’ve moved everything around, you might not be so surprised. Especially if the new signage hasn’t been put up. Or think about what would happen if you went into your local town or city to find it had been totally rebuilt overnight.

Ways to avoid such a strong reaction?

1. Give as much warning of the change as possible. It gives people time to adjust to the idea something new will appear.

2. Show them screen shots of the new design and get their comments. Explain how you think the new site will work and let them feed back. They might raise points you wouldn’t have noticed, or suggest better improvements. And they’ll also be better prepared for when the new site goes live.

3. Best of all, let them play with the new site before it becomes a necessity. Launch it on a different URL, say www.website.com/newsite, and then link to it on your front page. That way the early adopters and advocates can go and experiment, giving you a chance to test with a smaller group, before you switch over and let everyone loose.

4. Make sure that you have enough staff to adequately deal with any queries via email, and forums if you have them. The first few days and weeks are crucial for retaining your audience, and the longer people wait for an answer, the more likely it is they’ll find an alternative.

You may still get some resistance, but it will be more moderate, and easier to deal with if your users are so surprised. And don’t forget the basics of a site when you being.