Design is very underrated...

[brianzajac]

As I have been working more and more with customers on search engine marketing, I'm noticing one major factor that is very underrated in my opinion: the designer...especially the content designer. For example, I have a client who is in the vacation rental industry...take a look at it (http://www.naplesresortrentals.com). The competition for search engine marketing is unbelievably saturated. The various directories have both swamped the PPC and traditional SERPs. In any case, we were able to drive some traffic, but no one was doing anything. So, being the designer (and marketer) that I am, I changed around some items and redirected everyone to the details and contact page. Now, these guys have gotten 17 requests in November alone!

Now to my question (sorry for the build-up)...What is everyone else on this post doing about redesigning the site? Traditional web designers usually take care of the outer area (navigation, ect...) while SEO's take care of title tags, text, ect...but are you really driving traffic to the right areas? And, how are you telling the client your results? Is it through statistics or bottom line figures (actual human request and financial transactions)? I hope you can shed some light on this subject...

[spiderbait]

Hi Brian,

I provide all of my clients with real-time visitor tracking and on-site behavior. That way we can see where the visitor came from (including which keywords they may have used if they found the site through a search engine) and how they navigated through the site, how long spent on each page, etc...

I've also provided some clients with the ability to not only measure the number of visitors, but also their satisfaction level and/or the method by which they learned of the company.

I've done this through optional surveys that are strategically placed (typically as a final few optional questions at the end of a form). As long as it's just a few questions and the visitor is already getting something they value (for example downloading .pdf guides or requesting an estimation) they are more likely to complete the survey.

The survey results are logged to the server in .csv format so my client can easily download and open them in a spreadsheet. This way we can see how effective the optimization was in drawing visitors, how satisfied the visitors were - and ultimately, my client can then cross reference them against actual sales records to measure the share-value of optimization investment vs. other forms of marketing or advertising.

That's the kind of thing that I'll typically do. Anybody else got other suggestions or ideas about what they've done?

[janeth]

I agree it takes more then just getting a site ranked in the top ten for a major key word to be successful. You need good information, good design and then you need to get the site where you can see it.

Your site should be easy to navigate, should read good, be appealing in the eye and then you should market it.

Everyone talks about the search engines and yes it should be a major part of your marketing campaign but only one part.

But there are a lot of others things that should also play a part. Things like press releases, news letters, ads, links and many many other things.

If your going to run a successful on line business or off line business you should make sure your business looks good to your customer and serves a purpose.

Then when you start marketing your business you should never put all your apples in one basket.

When you market your business use the search engines as only one part of your marketing.

[brianzajac]

I do the same as Spiderbait does...offer the client statistical information access and keyword analysis. I like your idea of the surveys...but what type of businesses have you done this with? And, if I were to do this with my vacation rental client, what kind of value could I offer the client for filling out the survey? And, are there general questions you can ask on a survey that would apply to most businesses?

Janeth (or anyone else), I was wondering if you've done some press releases. If you have, how successful were they? How much time did you invest with them?

Thanks for the support...

[Shanti]

I've worked for several years as a programmer on websites (you know the HTML coding, ASP and all of those things) so now i am getting ready to start my own E-bussines (or somethjing like that) but i have several questions on this topic, like how would i do a press release, in papers? television ? radio ? this is not really clear to me and i am probably way off on this subject, so any clarification will be great.

now back to the topic, i've noticed also that SEO is very importatn but as janeth said SEO should only be ONE part of all the marketing, right now the 4 - 5 web sites i manage get more bussiness from links from other web sites and from ads on the paper that we do from google or any other search engines.

i also think that having good content for your customers is a very good way for them to stay, and buy your product.

i hope i make sense :)

[rumblepup]

Although I seldom post, and that is my fault, I believe that design is just as, if not, more important the SEO, AS IT RELATES TO THE ENTIRE WEB PACKAGE.

What I mean to say that SEO is a part of the web package, as well as design. They are both in there. However, most of my clients are re-designs, because their website was "designed" by a coder, and and in all honesty, looked like a dead dog. These clients would then complain to me that, yes, they where getting plenty of traffic off of the search engines, but the website was not successful. Well, it's great if they found your site high on the search engine, but when they get to your site, because the websurfing public is more sophisticated today, they will not TRUST a website that looks like it was created by a part-time office clerk using FP98. A website has to evoke trust, and that is largely based on image.

Remember the old marketing rule. IMAGE IS EVERYTHING.

[Cyber Gypsy]

I think that they are equally important. A good designer can put up a beautiful site and still have it rank high with the search engines. You have to take advantage of every bit that you can though. Alt tags, name your images, "poodle" if your site is about poodles, not "image_1". and so on. Even your domain name counts, and title each page according to its relevancy

http://www.cybergypsywebdesign.com

[dmcgill]

It's sort of interesting to read the various posts on this topic. My very first site was one that I designed through "suresite.com". It was a free site with very little options, small selections of pictures etc. Not only that it would not support a domain name. It had a space to place your title, keywords and headings but when you viewed the source in your browser, there was nothing there.

I submitted it to all the majors and classifieds and then waited.
That silly page made it to the top in 12 of the then 15 major search engines. I don't know how but it did and I did well. Saddly, the program that I was offering stopped and I had to let it go. The question was, what made it go so high when no SEO worked on it and I never paid a dime for promotion. It was an ugly page with a less than 1000 word dialoge on our business. The only way I could get business was via snail or email.

We design pages for others now, have spent years in understanding the search engines and SEO technique but have never seen one do that well.
I think the massive change in the whole industry creates the need for SEO companies that can help you with content, proper tags, appearance and all the aspects. It takes a lot of different people to make a page work today in this new internet. Any comments?

[janeth]

brianzajac wrote
Janeth (or anyone else), I was wondering if you've done some press releases. If you have, how successful were they? How much time did you invest with them?

Once your business is online, you have just made a newsworthy event.

A press release is a letter sent to newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations about your company.

It has to be a newsworthy event.

You should send a press release every time something new is happening with your web site, but make sure it is newsworthy.

1. You just put your web site online
2. You have just started offering a new service.
3. Partnerships
4. Contests
5. Fundraisers
6. Awards
7. Free Stuff

Done right a press release could be one of the most important things you do for your business.

I know of companies that make the sole income from press releases.

[brianzajac]

First of all, thanks for all the great views on this subject. I just glad everyone realizes how important design + SEO is to make a successful website.

Janeth,

You've got me pretty excited about press releases (PR). However, I want to know where I can find PR that go to all the different mediums. Do they do that? Or all they all specialized to certain mediums? What about price...do you have to pay membership dues for this (like a chamber of commerce)? Any info would GREATLY help. Thanks!

BTW, my company is built on web design (vacation rentals, artists, and general) and internet marketing for small business.