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This is a problem that we often encounter in agencies: some clients are not aware of the links between SEO and website. They want to finalize the creation of the website as quickly as possible and prefer to postpone the implementation of an SEO strategy until later.
It’s up to you to convince them that things don’t work that way and that generally redesigning the website is the best solution. The arguments below will help you convince them for an SEO overhaul in the same way as a site redesign.
Better control over SEO
Taking SEO issues into account when designing the website allows it to be optimized from the start. There will be no need to go back and change things later, once the site is complete. The necessary changes are sometimes significant and range from modifying content to changing the architecture of the site.
1- Adding keywords afterwards
Of course, you can analyze the keywords later and add them directly to your content. Proceeding in this way is difficult, however, because the result risks being artificial. If search engines consider your website to be overusing certain keywords or the content to be low quality, your SEO will suffer. This is by far the worst methodology. We recommend that you establish an effective content strategy from the design stage that will bear fruit over several years.
2- Web analytics
In addition to implementing best design practices, you also need to analyze audience and behavior so you know the strengths of your site. It is also important to know your target audience and to understand the way in which users interact with the site to be able to implement your customer acquisition strategy. The best way to obtain all this information is to use web analytics tools.
Here is a list of the main web analytics tools:
- Google Analytics (visitor statistics)
- Piwik (visitor statistics)
- Optimizely.com (page optimization – A/B testing)
- Hotjar (user behavior)
Web analytics solutions require the integration of source code on the pages. If, when creating your website, you are not sure what parameters you want to analyze, you can set up simple source code.
Take advantage of the latest SEO trends
SEO is constantly evolving. This means you have to constantly adapt your strategy. Creating a site from scratch will allow you to gain an advantage over your competitors by integrating new trends from the start.
3- Accessibility
Digital accessibility is one of the relatively recent trends. In addition to having to adapt to different devices, sites must be accessible to a wide range of users. For example, they must be able to work on a screen reader. Making your content accessible from the start saves you time by preventing you from having to make changes.
4- Maintenance & future developments
In addition to taking into account current SEO trends, you need to keep an eye on keeping your client’s CMS (content management system like WordPress, Drupal or Jomla) up to date. A site that is difficult to maintain accumulates security vulnerabilities which can harm your client’s SEO. To do this, do not hesitate to design a site that is easy to update.
You can recommend SEO-optimized CMS like WordPress (and some plugins).
The importance of creating a website with an SEO strategy
Some entrepreneurs consider that implementing an SEO strategy is too big an investment and prefer to create their website without it. Others even go a little further and think they can grow their business without a website. These are two errors and here is why:
5- Without SEO, no visitors
You will need to appear on search engine results pages so that people can find you and be properly informed. Your current customers must also be able to access your website, particularly to learn more about your new offers, services and promotions.
6- Increase conversions
Even when all your sales are made in physical points of sale or via social networks, a website contributes to increasing conversions. Through your website, you will be able to make people aware of their needs and show them why your offering is the best. If your sales funnel is particularly long, you’ll need a website to nurture your prospects, whether through a regularly updated blog, premium content, or newsletter signups.
Redesigning a site: the opportunity to improve the User Experience
SEO and UX are complementary. Optimizing them promotes an optimal user experience and allows you to meet all SEO criteria. Certain elements are common to both disciplines.
7- Site Speed
Nearly half of Internet users believe that a web page should load in 2 seconds. It is easier not to add elements that slow down page loading time when creating the site, rather than boosting its speed afterwards. If you don’t optimize site speed during the design phase and later notice that some pages are slow to load, you’ll need to analyze your entire website.
Remember, Google now takes site speed into account when calculating positioning. If you are on Shopify, I invite you to read the article : List of fastest shopify themes
8- Multiple locations
If your business has more than one location or presence in multiple countries, it’s important to think about how users from different geographies will interact with your site. When you want to create pages specific to each location, you must implement a content strategy to avoid duplicate content. If users speak multiple languages, you will need to create a multilingual site using one or more domains.
Also be careful to differentiate between geographic areas and languages: we have already experienced this for one of the leaders in global industrial weighing (present in the United States, India, Australia). All English-speaking countries do not always share the same vocabulary, especially in ultra-technical/niche areas.
Conclusion
Although website design and SEO are distinct disciplines, they nevertheless rely on each other. You now have plenty of arguments to convince all your skeptical clients to combine an SEO strategy with their website redesign. Up to you.
