You are the marketing manager for your company and tasked with rebuilding your company's website, however, you have no online marketing experience and have no idea what to look for or who to hire to build your website. Perfect, this article is for you and will help the inexperienced internet marketer better understand website optimization and the questions to ask when hiring a website development company.
Many first and second generation websites are more than a decade old, designed with little to no thought about website optimization, in terms of both search engine optimization and user engagement optimization. So what? What is web optimization and why is it needed?
What good is a website if it cannot be found in the search engines? What good is a website if the user experience is poor and visitors leave one's website immediately? In some cases, not having a website is probably better than having a website design that is so poor as to leave visitors with a negative view of your organization.
SEO web design is the process of designing a website that is visually appealing and simple to use as well as developed with ClapCreative
Fall is the perfect time for organizations to review and evaluate their online marketing strategy and the impression of one's website design and experience. If your website is less than stellar, your company is at a competitive disadvantage. As a marketing manager, one of the most direct ways to improve your company's brand reputation and potential for success is to ensure your organization's website is visually impressive, intuitive and interesting to visit. Now is the time to make plans for a better website next year.
What to Look for When Redesigning a Website
Depending upon the industry and level of competition, a website redesign can be fairly straight forward or fairly complex for those organizations offering many products or services. Here is a list of several important considerations when vetting a SEO Company Los Angeles (I suggest going with a marketing agency, rather than a small website design firm/person, because of the broader scope and resources available with an agency.):
1. Establish a baseline - research your competitors. A practical starting point when deciding what one website should looks like and how it should function, is to take a look at your competition and how their website is designed. Do your homework ahead of time and discuss with management those websites that are liked and those that are not. This will become a great starting point toward understanding what is desired as well as what to avoid.
2. When researching your competitors, try to understand why some competitors rank well and why others cannot be found in the first page or two of results. While the inexperienced marketing manager may not know what to look for, visually evaluating your competitor's websites will begin your journey into better understanding what terms are used, where they are positioned and how the website is laid-out, that is, its menu and navigation.
INSIDE TIP: When you find a website you like, take a look at the bottom of the page to see if credit has been provided to the website design firm. You may wish to contact this design agency, who can provide valuable insight and an idea of cost.
3. Contact at least three digital marketing agencies to discuss their approach, past clients (listen for experience in your industry) and price. Ask them about what role search engine optimization and visitor engagement play in their website design and development process. Take notes and ask questions. If you are unfamiliar with certain topics, educate yourself to better evaluate the answers received.
4. Ask for references. The best way to understand the capabilities and success of a design agency is to speak with previous and current clients. Take a look at the website(s) of these clients. Do all the websites look the same? Or, is each website crafted to fit the individual needs of each client? Differentiation of website design from one agency shows diversity and an ability to adapt to different industries and situations.
5. Still unsure of how to proceed? Ask for a website review, or audit, from the short list of agencies being considered. Which agency conducted the most thorough website audit? Who was able to walk you through the results and provide sufficiently clear explanations and course(s) of action?
INSIDE TIP: Most agencies will provide a FREE website evaluation, which is a great way for you to better understand current website issues and solutions. An agency may require a much more in-depth analysis (for a fee) prior to final design and development.
You are the marketing manager for your
company and tasked with rebuilding your company's website, however, you
have no online marketing experience and have no idea what to look for or
who to hire to build your website. Perfect, this article
is for you and will help the inexperienced internet marketer better
understand website optimization and the questions to ask when hiring a
website development company.
Web Design Los Angeles and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Considerations
Many first and second generation websites are more
than a decade old, designed with little to no thought about website
optimization, in terms of both search engine optimization and user
engagement optimization. So what? What is web optimization and why is it
needed?
What good is a website if it cannot be found in
the search engines? What good is a website if the user experience is
poor and visitors leave one's website immediately? In some cases, not
having a website is probably better than having a website design that is
so poor as to leave visitors with a negative view of your organization.
SEO web design is the process of
designing a website that is visually appealing and simple to use as well
as developed with ClapCreative
Fall is the perfect time for organizations to
review and evaluate their online marketing strategy and the impression
of one's website design and experience. If your website is less than
stellar, your company is at a competitive disadvantage. As a marketing
manager, one of the most direct ways to improve your company's brand
reputation and potential for success is to ensure your organization's
website is visually impressive, intuitive and interesting to visit. Now
is the time to make plans for a better website next year.
What to Look for When Redesigning a Website
Depending upon the industry and level of
competition, a website redesign can be fairly straight forward or fairly
complex for those organizations offering many products or services.
Here is a list of several important considerations when vetting a SEO Company Los Angeles
(I suggest going with a marketing agency, rather than a small website
design firm/person, because of the broader scope and resources available
with an agency.):
1. Establish a baseline - research
your competitors. A practical starting point when deciding what one
website should looks like and how it should function, is to take a look
at your competition and how their website is designed. Do your homework
ahead of time and discuss with management those websites that are liked
and those that are not. This will become a great starting point toward
understanding what is desired as well as what to avoid.
2. When researching your
competitors, try to understand why some competitors rank well and why
others cannot be found in the first page or two of results. While the
inexperienced marketing manager may not know what to look for, visually
evaluating your competitor's websites will begin your journey into
better understanding what terms are used, where they are positioned and
how the website is laid-out, that is, its menu and navigation.
INSIDE TIP: When you find a website
you like, take a look at the bottom of the page to see if credit has
been provided to the website design firm. You may wish to contact this
design agency, who can provide valuable insight and an idea of cost.
3. Contact at least three digital
marketing agencies to discuss their approach, past clients (listen for
experience in your industry) and price. Ask them about what role search
engine optimization and visitor engagement play in their website design
and development process. Take notes and ask questions. If you are
unfamiliar with certain topics, educate yourself to better evaluate the
answers received.
4. Ask for references. The best
way to understand the capabilities and success of a design agency is to
speak with previous and current clients. Take a look at the website(s)
of these clients. Do all the websites look the same? Or, is each website
crafted to fit the individual needs of each client? Differentiation of
website design from one agency shows diversity and an ability to adapt
to different industries and situations.
5. Still unsure of how to proceed?
Ask for a website review, or audit, from the short list of agencies
being considered. Which agency conducted the most thorough website
audit? Who was able to walk you through the results and provide
sufficiently clear explanations and course(s) of action?
INSIDE TIP: Most agencies will
provide a FREE website evaluation, which is a great way for you to
better understand current website issues and solutions. An agency may
require a much more in-depth analysis (for a fee) prior to final design
and development.
STILL NEED HELP WITH YOUR WEBSITE REDESIGN, CONTACT CLAPCREATIVE FOR A FREE WEBSITE AUDIT AND TO DISCUSS YOUR WEBSITE GOALS!