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Drew Hannush

Patience In SEO Nets #2 in Asheville Web Design

by Drew Hannush
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May
28

So, it has been about 5 months since we redesigned our website (Hannush.com) using strong search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.  And the results?

Well, surprising to me, in the highly competitive market of Greenville, SC we were able to jump in with both feet and within 2 1/2 months the site hit #3 in Google under the keywords “Greenville Web Design.”

This was our goal when we started, since we had pretty much completely ignored our own website’s optimization to focus on our clients instead (funny how web design companies always forget to focus on their own sites).  But a slow economy made us realize that good search engine placement is critical at all times, because you never know what will happen tomorrow and you don’t want to be playing catch up when you need the business the most.

In the Greenville market we had always been around page 3 or 4 in Google results, so it felt like a triumphant achievement when be broke onto page 1 of Google, let alone the result of hitting as high as #3 ahead of some firmly established web design companies.

Yet it was even more surprising when we looked at our Asheville, NC results the other day.  Asheville is where I grew up and we have a couple of customers there, but it has always been a very creative market and one that I thought was untouchable.  In fact, our search results there were non-existent.  In January, you couldn’t find us as deep as page 10 in Google.

Today, I looked and we were #2 under “Asheville Web Design.”  I must say, this was a lot more than I was expecting.

But this proves that in some cases good search engine optimization and a lot of patience (it took 5 months to get here) alone can get you to the results you desire and maybe better.

The key is, use your website’s strengths to leverage the results you desire and decide up front where you want to focus your energies.  Then hyperfocus on that goal.

A single plan of conquering a couple of keywords or markets can really help you and your web designer take your site to the next level in SEO.  But don’t rest on your laurels.  There is another website soon to sniff out your techniques.  SEO takes patience, but it also takes some care and maintenance.

For more information on how to achieve your SEO goals, I’d suggest trying out our Free Web Report, from EvolveYourSearch.com.  It will give you a little food for thought and help you decide if SEO is your next logical step.

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Drew Hannush

How Often Should You Redesign Your Website?

by Drew Hannush
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Apr
15

This is a question I get quite often from my clients.  And my answer is…it depends.

I once heard a rule of thumb was once every 2 years.  I am less likely to look at the passage of time and more at whether your website is effective or not.

The first question you should ask yourself is, are you getting the results you are expecting from your website?  If the answer is yes, then you might look at some ways to incrementally improve your website by changing content that is outdated or adding information about some new promotions, products or services you have added.  If search engine optimization is your main concern, then maybe a change in technology behind the scenes is the key to a successful redesign.

If you aren’t getting good results from your current site, it may be time to do an analysis (you can do a mini-free-analysis here) and see if maybe you just need to improve the content you are already providing, or scrap the whole website and go for a complete overhaul.  Reviewing the quality of your site every year should be a target goal…redesigning should be determined from that review.

The second question you should ask yourself is, how busy is my site?  If you have a lot of repeat customers and they engage with your site 3 times a week or more, they may be getting bored with the look of your site, but remember, people also don’t like change.  Be very careful about how you change your website during a redesign.  If you have an established navigation that is well thought out, this is not something to tinker with.  Radically moving items or doing a complete overhaul on a popular site is not an activity to be taken lightly.  Talking with your web designer about what elements are popular on your website and which ones are not will help you make a good decision on how to refresh your site without a lot of damage to your client base.

Another item to consider is how your site is fitting with your brand and your sales strategy.  If your site is giving the wrong impression about who you are as a company, this is a prime reason to talk redesign.  Again, this decision is not based on time a timeline, when your business is being judged by your website, any negative impressions it is delivering should be taken care of with the greatest of speed.

Good communication with your web designer, a review of your site stats, and an eye on what your goals are for the site will be the best gauge for when you should pull the trigger on a website redesign.

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