How to kill your online business by redesigning your website.

[stuarty]

Ladels and Jelly Spoons...something I'd like to share with you. Please don't make the same mistake for your website.

Last October a client came to us with a view to increasing their rankings and improving online sales. We took them on and set a 6-12 month plan in action. After the 1st month we improved rank, optimised their online shop for better conversions and things were improving steadily. Months 2 and 3 showed good improvements and we started to look at fine tuning their site coupled with optimising key sections for the seasonal stuff like christmas, easter, mothers day etc.

The client (unknown to us) however was reading up on SEO/SEM from one of the "Dummies" books. Whilst doing this they read up a little bit about CTA (call to action) placement and user experience stuff. They told us they wanted to hold back on the work we were doing for a short period as they had to use funds for stock or something so we respectfully stopped work on their site.

What we discovered was that the owner thought he knew better and decided to save cash by following the dummies book. So.... they then told their web design company to make their website look better and duly told them to go ahead (Again unknown to us). So...site gets redesigned and uploaded.

We run a rank checker on all our clients sites on a daily basis so when we ran the check for this client we noticed the rankings dropped considerably for all their key phrases. Normally we don't panic as Google can somtimes be tinkering with their algorithim with results fluctuating for a day or two. This was our intitial thought but 6th sense and the fact no other sites were doing this prompted us to check things. We duly checked their site and noticed it had been redesigned. All the onpage SEO/SEM work had been changed and all the text had been replaced by images - ie text in the image as opposed to real text.

Although they weren't paying us we still informed the client that their rankings had dropped severely. As days went past their rankings dropped considerably more and some of their phrases even dropped out of the index completely.

They weren't too bothered about the rankings, sales drop instead boasting that their site now looked great so we stepped back.

Recently they came back to us because their site now gets virtually zero traffic.

The website is an online shop and they removed all the product descriptions, the header tags and installed the same meta description for all the pages. By removing all their all the text and replacing it with photos etc they effectively removed all the longtail traffic that was accounting for all their orders etc. Their overall ranking for their trophy phrases dropped off into obscurity as the linkbuilding had also stopped.

Be extremely careful when reading these dummies books as the information may be out of date or not be relevant for todays ranking factors. (Google's algorithim saw lots of changes at the start of 2009). Additionally, if you are considering redesigning your website then please make sure that you retain all the original text in your new pages. Longtail key phrases can make up 80-85% of your visitors so it's extremely foolish to make radical changes.

 

[Adventurelife]

Told you before you should only work with good clients:lol:

 

[Mike Lewis]

Clients. What you can do. Can't live with 'em; can't shoot 'em.

Mike

 

[PeterHoggan]

Shooting clients… the only black hat technique worth considering!

 

[TomB]

Additionally, if you are considering redesigning your website then please make sure that you retain all the original text in your new pages. Longtail key phrases can make up 80-85% of your visitors so it's extremely foolish to make radical changes.

Hi Stuarty,

That's quite an interesting point. I am just about to embark on a new design on my own portfolio site.

My plan was to do an overhaul of the site design, content and do a fresh seo and marketing plan.

I don't get much traffic anyway as i have totally let me seo slip.

Do you think it will make much of a difference having a clean start all at once?

Cheers

T

 

[Canary Dwarf]

I got a call today from a potential new client, and as the conversation went along, I started to get 'that feeling', paticularly when they said they were very anti-web, but they felt they had to get a site done to compete. When I explained how they would get an view and opportunity to approve the design at an early stage, they replied: "We will be paying you, so you will have to do it the way we tell you."

So why don't they do it in Word?

 

[Employment Law Services]

What we discovered was that the owner thought he knew better and decided to save cash by following the dummies book. So.... they then told their web design company to make their website look better and duly told them to go ahead (Again unknown to us). So...site gets redesigned and uploaded.

Gotta say I think its a bit unfair putting the boot into the client when all they were trying to do was save some money and improve the look of their web presence.

Shouldn't the web design company they used carry the can for this? Surely any reputable web design company would be aware of SEM/SEO and should've therefore flagged concerns about the potential impact redesigning the website would have?

 

[stuarty]

Gotta say I think its a bit unfair putting the boot into the client when all they were trying to do was save some money and improve the look of their web presence.

The client wasn't trying to save money actually. They were advised beforehand about redesigning and the implications It was a case of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The web designers raised the issue but were told to get on with it. All the clients fault I'm afraid.

 

[Employment Law Services]

The client wasn't trying to save money actually. They were advised beforehand about redesigning and the implications It was a case of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The web designers raised the issue but were told to get on with it. All the clients fault I'm afraid.

If the web designers flagged it then fair enough - client needs to carry the can fully!

It always amazes me how, in the face of sensible, trustworthy advice, people completely ignore it and do the complete opposite, which usually results in a negative outcome.

Its like those people you seen on that property development show - the expert advises on what they should do, how they should budget, how they should use neutral designs, etc but they still go ahead an design/decorate the property like they're going to live in it - crazy!! :w00t:

 

[peteark]

Can you believe this

The website is an online shop and they removed all the product descriptions, the header tags and installed the same meta description for all the pages. By removing all their all the text and replacing it with photos etc they effectively removed all the longtail traffic that was accounting for all their orders etc.

Shocking!!!

I have had no problems with redesigns as all aspects (design/seo) are worked over with a fine toothcomb. There is obvious nervousness when redesigning a site that is already ranked very highly.

In my experience people shoot themselves in the foot by their lack of research and not understanding the intricacies of online marketing or being swayed by their designer. As Matt Cutts started last month, if you do not need a software based CMS website, don't have one. I would always go for a clean coded style sheet site, in PHP.

This is a problem area for many designers as they are generally only confident with only one particular type of software, swaying a client towards that with promises of wondrous back end functionality.

My advice is, if you are an online retailer, don't be greedy, base your site around a small number of items, have a bespoke site built (one you own),make each page totally unique and grow the site slowly as profits mount up. If your site is based around lead generation, I wouldn't touch a CMS with a barge pole.

You may be surprised to hear that a bespoke website is no more expensive than a CMS based site, in many instances cheaper

Pro's of a software based CMS based site

Great back end functionality
Easy to build
Easy to integrate ecommerce facilities
Attractive

Cons

Very difficult to optimise
Code will never be unique - template based
Too many designers pass on open source software as their own work
You can be tied to the designer for life (if the site is locked on their server)
Ownership issues (If the designers go 'pop' what happens to your site) - Do you have a copy of your website

Most problems arise online through, lack of research or greed, the latter I see daily. With personalised search on our doorstep, gone are the days when an SEO provider will be assessed on the ranking of a few keywords, they are now consultants, traffic generators, brand awareness experts and should be measured by the overall profitability of a company.

 

[Tim Barlow]

What we discovered was that the owner thought he knew better and decided to save cash by following the dummies book. So.... they then told their web design company to make their website look better and duly told them to go ahead (Again unknown to us). So...site gets redesigned and uploaded.

And for their next trick....they'll start selling SEO services

(Actually in a funny sort of way that is not too far removed from how many of us started in the search world, there aren't many better ways of learning than by your mistakes. Luckily SEO for dummies didn't exist in my days of doing SEO)

 

[PeterHoggan]

Trying to get some clients to accept that a website should support customer needs first rather than representing an extension of their own egos can often be difficult. This leads to pages that read something like "Welcome to our website, our widgets are the best" rather than explaining any tangible benefits and often depend on extrinsic motivators to fuel their CTAs (if they even exist).

This is the trademark of the ‘have a go SEO hero’ who has come to realise that if you point enough links at a page it’s going to rank. What they forget, or don’t realise, is that rankings are only part of the equation. Being top of Google means squat if the page fails to connect with the customer.

Personally I don’t have the time or patience to try and re-educate this type of person. I will give best advice if a prospective client doesn’t want to hear or accept what I say then that’s the end of it. If they wreck the work we have done for them in the past, as Stuart eloquently describes, I would never resume work with that client.

 

[peteark]

Well put Peter

I was delighted to hear this week that my only overseas client, no longer required my services, working for a French guy who speaks very little English was frustrating to say the least.

In the early days I tried to explain that copying their French website to English, with all 800,000 pages containing duplicate content wasn't a good idea. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was only employed to build links, their in-house team would take care of the rest.

It was of no surprise that the site is stuck in the mud and currently under a Google penalty, something I pointed out to them yesterday. This backs up what you state Pete, if they don't want to hear, why bother.

 

[TomB]

Hey All,

peterark i have to disagree with you. So far on my travels most companies will charge more for a custom system that a CMS system. Is certainly true in my own case.

With regards to CMS being hard to optmise, i wouldn't say that was generally right (in my opinion) either.

I work with CMS Made Simple and find it very easy to optimise as i have complete control over the templates and the xhtml it generates.

Don't tar us all with the same brush, there are many decent web designers out there!

 

[TomB]

You can be tied to the designer for life (if the site is locked on their server)
Ownership issues (If the designers go 'pop' what happens to your site) - Do you have a copy of your website

This can equally be true as well regardless of bespoke or CMS system

 

[Gordon N]

Sorry Pete, not trying to be funny here but I disagree with a lot of what you wrote on this one - here are my reason.

As Matt Cutts started last month, if you do not need a software based CMS website, don't have one. I would always go for a clean coded style sheet site, in PHP.

In many cases there is a huge difference between CMS platforms and E-Commerce platforms, I am familiar with number of both and all the software I use can be styled with stylesheets. There is no requirement to build a standalone site just to use CSS. As for language used to create the site, well that depends on any requirement for integration of back-office systems or accounting bridges etc.

This is a problem area for many designers as they are generally only confident with only one particular type of software, swaying a client towards that with promises of wondrous back end functionality.

To be honest a designer shouldn't be recommending any software, it's their job to design the site in a visual sense and workflow sense. The developer should then evaluate the most efficient platform to base it on. If your designer/developer is only familiar with one system and pushes you into it walk away, most professional developers will stick to one or two languages - but that includes all CMS/E-Commerce system written in those languages.

My advice is, if you are an online retailer, don't be greedy, base your site around a small number of items, have a bespoke site built (one you own),make each page totally unique and grow the site slowly as profits mount up. If your site is based around lead generation, I wouldn't touch a CMS with a barge pole.

Really couldn't disagree more on this one, and for very good reason - security. By utilising existing commercial/opensource solutions you can be assured that security of personal information, transactions, and overall software security is an ongoing concern. A 'one-off' solution developed for one client would never be as well monitored or consistantly updated, or if it was it would cost! I also struggle to see why a well coded CMS differs from a bespoke site. If the developer knows their stuff at all everypage can contain unique content, different meta etc. It also means the site is far more controllable, manageable, maintainable and more importantly easily scalable.

Pro's of a software based CMS based site

Great back end functionality
Easy to build
Easy to integrate ecommerce facilities
Attractive

Back end functionality and 'ease of build' really comes down to the choice of software and developer. E-commerce integration, I would recommend you use E-commerce software for E-commerce solutions and CMS software for Content Management Solutions. Would you wear a t-shirt as trousers?

Attractive - that has absolutley nothing to do with the software! A design can be applied to CMS / E-Commerce / Bespoke and look identicle.

Cons

Very difficult to optimise
Code will never be unique - template based
Too many designers pass on open source software as their own work
You can be tied to the designer for life (if the site is locked on their server)
Ownership issues (If the designers go 'pop' what happens to your site) - Do you have a copy of your website

Optimisation is very similar to a unique coded site, the same tags are in the same place - and if developed properly just as easily accessed. Why does the code need to be unique?? If two sites have the same code (but different content) are they punished in some way - no. As for ownership issues, that is between you and your designer/host and is the same no matter what type of site or software you use.

I am not looking to cause any offence or trouble with this reply, I am just aware that some people may be making crucial decisions on this kind of subject and they should be able to trust the advice they gain from this forum - and their designer/developer.

 

[peteark]

Tom have you designed any CMS based online retail sites that rank highly for competitive terms?

In regards to the price, I base this assumption on the prices we charge, of course you are right prices can vary considerably depending on your choice.

As an example, my website only cost £500 to design.

A person can access a bespoke site via FTP, therefore it can be copied by the site owner, many CMS based sites cannot be accessed this way.

The are good bad and indifferent designers and optimisers, I would hazard a guess there are more bad on both sides of the fence than good.

 

[peteark]

To be honest a designer shouldn't be recommending any software, it's their job to design the site in a visual sense and workflow sense. The developer should then evaluate the most efficient platform to base it on. If your designer/developer is only familiar with one system and pushes you into it walk away, most professional developers will stick to one or two languages - but that includes all CMS/E-Commerce system written in those languages.

I really agree with this comment

The rest, well it's just a difference of opinion

In regards to optimisation, Gordon have you designed an ecommerce website that ranks highly for competitive terms?

 

[TomB]

peterark,

are you a designer or developer?

or seo/internet marketeer?

 

[peteark]

Of course it is possible to design a software based site that ranks highly, I have worked on many

Exclusive Bulgarian Property, Property in Bulgaria - page 1 for its main keywords
Hamper, Hampers, Valentines Hampers, Christmas Hampers, Gourmet Gifts - page 1 for its main keyword
Cheap Bikes, Cheap BMX Bikes and Cheap Mountain Bikes - page 1 for its main keyword
Wedding Jewellery, Costume Jewellery, Accessories and Gifts - page 1 for tons of terms

However to get these types of sites to rank highly for all the main pages is a difficult task, it certainly is not based around tweaking meta tags.

One of my designers is a real clever guy, he was the main designer for Barclay's before wanting to go his own way, he has over 20 sites, they are custom built, take very little effort in terms of optimisation and just about every site is at the top of Google. This site Funny Quotes, Author Quotes and Quotes from Famous Celebrities generates 100,000 uniques per day.