It’s not uncommon for site owners, marketing directors and even other online marketing professionals to think website design and SEO are separate tactics in the same toolbox. After all, they’re different job titles and different skill sets, right?
Yes and no. While an SEO might not be your start-to-finish website design resource they should certainly be involved in design and usability, and there comes a time in every website’s life when SEO and website design collide head-on: the website refresh. Let’s walk through a common scenario.
The Website Isn’t Converting Like It Used To
Your website was built a year or two ago and you’ve been diligent about your SEO, SEM and sales strategy. You may have seen a down month or two, but generally your strategy is working so rankings and revenue are headed up and to the right.
Sometime in the last quarter your upward progress has slowed. Maybe a new competitor is in the market and you’re losing rankings. Maybe you’re not seeing the same conversion rate and you don’t know why…so what can you do? If you’re confident in your keywords and you’re doing all you can to nurture existing customers, it may be time for a website refresh.
What Drives the Website Refresh?
We can’t tell you how many times we hear, ‘But we just finished working on the website!’. We hear you. It would be great if websites were relevant and effective forever, but it’s not a realistic goal. Websites need ongoing work and sometimes they need a refresh. If you’re seeing a ranking, traffic or conversion loss month over month, you should consider a website refresh.
The good news is that many content management systems (like WordPress) make a refresh pretty simple. You’re not rebuilding the website, you’re mostly changing the look and feel of the site and you have an opportunity to make SEO improvements at the same time.
It’s a good idea to iterate on website changes so you’re not making too many at once, but here are some edits you could combine without too much trouble…blending SEO and website design.
Website Refresh Includes: New Page Templates, New Color Palette, Page Layout & Hierarchy Changes
SEO Improvements Include: Navigation Changes, Updated Keyword Selection, Updated On-Page Copy
You’ll be able to use all your historical data to drive the edits and you can clear out some of the clutter that may have built up since the last update. Sites require change to stay relevant and if the refresh is done well, your digital marketing team will help solve design and SEO problems at the same time.