In this post, I’m going to share my experience with web design since starting out in the internet marketing world. It was a shock to me and I know it will be a shock to you.
I’ve evaluated at least 70 websites now and performed an ‘official analysis’ of the way they are structured for two main criteria:
- getting indexed and ranked on search engines like Google, and
- getting people who visit them to take the desired action – like call, sign-up, answer a question etc
The scary truth is that not ONE of these sites has come close to satisfying anywhere near best practice. As a relative ‘new-comer’ to working with websites to get an outcome, I was as perplexed as the owners of these sites – some of whom have spent over 20,000 on their website for no return.
It’s became very clear to me, very early on that no-one should build a website unless that website is going to be built from the very beginning to rank on Google and cause people to take an action. Otherwise, there is no point in worrying about colors, fonts, graphics, flash headers – all the things that are typically the domain of web designers.
It also became clear to me that web designers just don’t seem to know stuff about search engine optimization or conversion optimization. I continually found that what I wanted my designers to do – they’d never done before. And when speaking with them – it’s no surprise. They spend months and years perfecting the art of design, not the art of marketing.
In the end – after much trial and error – I managed to find a programmer who understands what I want and he can deliver. We design our sites first for search engine optimization and conversion optimization – and then we make it look pretty – which is the exact opposite of the 70 or so sites I’ve analyzed.
Examples of the tyranny leveled at business owners include putting a ‘newsletter’ sign-up down the bottom of the page on the left hand side! First, who in their right mind wants to sign up for a newsletter?! Especially if there’s no information about what’s even IN the newsletter! Second, who can even see the sign-up form when it’s hidden down the bottom of the page – oh but never mind – the site has a pretty header graphic! Jeez…
Another is the contact information (warning – sarcasm ahead): “Let’s not put the phone number right at the top of the page asking people to call – no – let’s make people HUNT for the “contact us” link and make them have to click a few times to even FIND the phone number. See the problem with phone numbers is that they get in the way of design.”
The list goes on and on – from really simple stuff to highly technical stuff – it’s all over before they’ve even started trying to get a return on their site. And it gets WORSE.
Often, the site was built with really DUMB tools – which means it really can’t be salvaged and has to be re-built. Or the other version is that the site owner can’t make any updates to the site and has to rely on the web designer to add pages, change graphics, add photos etc – all for a fee of course.
If you’ve got a website – ask yourself even the most basic of questions. Are your page titles useful? What about your page descriptions? Are the keywords you are targeting worth targeting? What about your site structure? Do people know what they’re actually supposed to do? Is it too confusing? Do they have to hunt for even the most basic information? Put another way – would you get frustrated if you were a user of your site?
What about the footer? Has your designer made the best use of that? Do you have irrelevant links pouring out of your site? What about page load time? Are the graphic files too large?
And please don’t tell me that they set you up to collect peoples names and emails into your local email program, like outlook or mac mail?
If none of this means anything to you – and you’re about to fork out a bucket load – or a few cents – on a website for your business, then STOP. There is absolutely NO point getting this wrong and you will waste time, money and life – just like the 70 businesses I’ve dealt with in the last 6 months. If you’re going down the ‘website’ route – and you absolutely should – then get it done right the first time. Invest in a website that works now and into the future.
I guess I should write a ‘what to ask your web designer before you hire them’ post from the point of view of a pedantic researcher and perfectionist who insists that he gets what he wants (that’d be me …)
In the meantime – at least ask them the stuff I’ve outlined in this blog post.
In fact, I was speaking with my programmer, and I decided to ‘open-up’ my closed door operation to other people who want a website designed and installed properly for SEO. If you want to find out more about that potential opportunity, then follow this ONE link and follow the easy steps.
Ahh … what the heck … allow me to be myself … I urge you to do this. We offer a cracking service and you WILL actually get a website that is designed with a whole bunch of hard won intel that will set you up to rank well in Google AND that greatly increases your conversion rate.
Do it now before you get distracted with other stuff.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome post Nic!
Lucky for me an awesome web designer/seo guru found me before I wasted to much money on a poorly designed website.
Why thank you Clinton! Glad you like your site.