Website Strategy 201: Goals

Online Brochures vs Search Engine Results.

My clients want a website design that accurately defines who they are and what they do. The site is referenced to by the sales and marketing teams in meetings, ads, posts and phone calls. It’s used as a brochure 24/7/365.

There are a million website designers out there and each have their programs to enable their customers an online presence. The services and prices run the gamut. It’s my experience that many companies just need a professional looking website with content that represents their business well. While others rely on not only the website’s appearance and content but a myriad of strategies to gain traction on Google or some search engine to gain new business. These are different goals. Most web design companies can build a good looking site with proper code for search engines. And most will provide a sitemap for search engines. In addition many website design firms sell another service called search engine optimization (SEO). Doing some research I’ve found that the website design…the live site as seen by prospective clients is mostly straightforward and costs range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. Moving to search engine optimization this service is typically an on going process that really never ends and the cost is higher than the website design (what visitors see) itself. If the goal is a page one search result on a specific term (s) the SEO program might make sense. If the goal is a professional representation of the business on the web simple basic SEO is the answer.

I provide basic SEO for my customers. This includes proper use of code, tags, meta descriptions and sitemaps. Over time the domain will be indexed by search engines and it may of may not be on page one of a specific search. Whether or not it shows up on page one of a search depends on many factors including; age and domain authority, content on the site, the domain name, technical SEO, backlinks, security, user experience, brand perceptions, social media awareness, location, competition and so many more items it makes your head spin. No wonder the cost is high. And according to Google no result is guaranteed. That last sentence is why I don’t offer an SEO service. I offer good SEO friendly WordPress website design that speaks to potential clients and accurately represents my client. I do that starting at $700. I guarantee my clients that they will like their website before it’s launched.

Going a step further I ask clients how they want to be found on search engines, many say they don’t care about search engine results other than searching their company name. I do a bit of research to see how competitive that term or terms are using a popular yet expensive SEO program. This program allows me to find search terms and SEO tactics that we can initially compete on. In some instances this requires a specific strategy to leverage the search engine to gain a higher ranking.

Going into this subject a bit more I can see how competitive specific terms are, what is the intention of the search, how many times the term was searched in the US and locally, what is the cost per click on an advertisement and much more. The SEO is a job in itself and results can change from day to day. I’m sure some companies do this well, They have a team of SEO experts and those experts are paid well.

My clients want a website design that accurately defines who they are and what they do. The site is referenced to by the sales and marketing teams in meetings, ads, posts and phone calls. It’s used as a brochure 24/7/365.

If you hire me to build your website you will receive a well designed site that speaks to your audience and Google. I do this well. I can guarantee that you will have a website design that you are happy with for a price that’s fair and lower than most website design firms.

Please call or text me at (651)-247-1160 or email me pete@hamlakewebdesign.com.

Website design Blaine, Fridley, White Bear, Cambridge, Milaca and all areas within the United States of America.