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Search Engine Optimization and Website Redesign
December 18, 2006 |
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Several companies embark on site redesigns without fully researching the facts
about the impacts their Website redesign can have on search engine rankings and
how a smooth transition strategy can be implemented to ensure minimal impact on
site traffic. All too often companies launch a redesigned site to lose traffic
and rankings almost immediately then scramble to find a Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) firm to help recuperate the loss. Its a cart before the
horse situation.
Start planning with SEO in mind. Redesigning a website is a chance to start with
a clean slate, to design an optimized site from the ground up and avoid costly
mistakes made in the past. The first stage of doing a site redesign is
determining what the goals and objectives are going to be for the site. Ask
yourself what will the site be used for? Lead Generation? E-commerce? How will
revenue be realized from the site? If you have metrics from the present site,
what is working well on the site? What isnt? Where are customers coming from?
Where do they enter the site? Where are the common points where customers
abandon the site?
Once you have determined the purpose of the site we can begin with the actual
design phase. Does this mean hire the programmers? Not just yet. Site design is
beyond just fancy artwork and a splash of text here and there, your internet
site is a complex marketing and sales tool and therefore should be planned to be
incorporated into the company strategy as a marketing vehicle. Your site is
designed to convey a message to the potential customer, begin to sell to them
from the moment they land on the page.
Websites should mirror the typical sales process that is expected by the user.
Content should be laid out in an easy to follow sales presentation taking the
customer through the website and, at each successive click, bringing that
customer closer to conversion. Every page that is written should have a purpose
within the sales process. There are four categories for site pages: router pages
(designed to direct the user to the appropriate information), convincers (get
the visitor ready to buy), closers (getting visitors to commit to the
purchase/conversion) and closers (reassure the customer that the decision they
have made is the right choice).
With business-to-business (B2B) sales the website can be used as a lead
generation and marketing communications platform to support the sales process.
Most B2B sales take place offline with face-to-face meetings with the key
decision makers; however, research shows that 93% of decision makers will go
online to research a B2B purchase. Further research shows that search engines
are the preferred method of doing web research, favored by 64%. Conversely, only
19% of those surveyed would go directly to a known manufacture/suppliers site.
Lead generation is an important function of the website, providing that your
website ranks well and can be easily found. SEO will ensure that your new
website will perform to yield the highest ROI.
Website redesigns involve testing content continually with A/B testing. In the
case of a redesigned site, usually the older site is left online while the new
site is in development. Using the old site, certain variables can be tested with
A/B and multivariate testing. Google has recently released its Website Optimizer
tool, running in conjunction with Google Analytics, to enable companies to
quickly and easily set up online multivariate testing. However, it is highly
recommended that this testing be done by organizations with extensive SEO and
research experience to ensure the best results. After all, an experiment is only
as good as the variables tested. Multivariate testing will deliver the best
combination of messaging and design for the site and ensure maximum results on
launch.
During the website redesign development phase it becomes easy to implement
several of the best practices right at the initial design phase. Several of the
SEO best practices include ensuring proper Meta Data is used and are optimized,
externalizing JavaScript, using CSS coding to emulate JavaScript navigation
bars, performing Keyword analysis to determine which keywords to optimize for.
This list can be very extensive and is not the objective of this article. What
is important is the fact that Search Engine Optimization should be the precursor
to Website Redesign.
Starting with SEO in mind and hiring professional Search Engine Marketing
consultants will be an initial cost that will yield a significant cost savings
in the near future. Many sites have spend hundreds of thousands, if not
millions, of dollars in redesign costs only to have to spend additional dollars
making changes to ensure compliance with SEO best practices.
A full service Search Marketing firm, such as Enquiro, can not only aid in the
Website redesign with search engine optimization strategies, but can also give
support during the transition period to ensure minimal traffic loss and develop
strategies to quickly regain and surpass previous traffic levels. Enquiro will
also be able to develop strategies to take your site forward; ensuring your site
is kept current with the latest search trends and developing industry-leading
e-marketing practices. |
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 Kyle
Grant
Sponsored
Search Marketing Strategist
Search Engine Positioning by Searchengineposition
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing
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Copyright 2006 - Enquiro Search Solutions.
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