RUN AWAY if your web designer …
- Does not ask you about your business
- Does not ask you any questions about your Search Engine Marketing and Optimization programs
- Begins the new design without discussing with you the goal of your website
- Begins the new design without discussing with you who your target audience is
- Puts visual impact ahead of the usability of the web site
- Recommends a Splash entry page (Search Engines cannot normally ‘see’ Splash pages. This is a dated feature that tends to put off site visitors – who will often simply leave the page (and the website) before it has had a chance to load)
- Recommends your entire site be in Flash (Search Engines cannot ‘see’ Flash pages)
- Recommends putting your site in Frames (Search Engines have great difficulty ‘seeing’ Frames pages – there are workarounds for using Frames but they are a costly retro-fit. A good designer will recommend using tables rather than Frames if you have your heart set on a Frames look)
- Does not realize that the <title>, <meta name=”description”>, and <meta name=”keywords”> tags should be different on every page
make sure they understand:
- How to optimize a website for Search Engines,
- How to design a website that will be user friendly for your target customers, and
- What you want to achieve with your website.
Be careful out there – there are very real dangers facing your website.
key points
1. Ensure that you take care of the basics.
2. Be mindful of existing rankings and things such as your existing page optimization.
3. Understand your website’s target audience.
4. Have a clear purpose for your website. Define some goals that you want to achieve.
There can be a danger in losing your existing SEO rankings if you do not carefully plan out your website redesign. For traffic and rankings that you have worked so hard for over the years, you run the risk of losing them in an instant by creating a flashy new site that does not serve the needs of your target audience.( enquiro research)
