Every single day, some of the best SEO companies in the world answer questions from local businesses about search engine optimization. Usually these conversations include explanations about "on-site" and "off-site" SEO. Search engine optimization typically involves a detailed analysis of website text content and HTML code. Of course, off-page SEO will always include some form of back-linking. Although search engines are always changing, one constant has been that successful strategies include back-linking, social media interaction and references from trusted websites.
Web design is still very much a "design driven" industry, and as such, design choices can often have a negative impact on SEO. This is because design is about the look and feel of a website, not the rank or position on the search engines. So we in the website design industry often find ourselves trying to simplify online marketing methods to prospective clients that have limited knowledge on the subject.
It takes at least three different types of talent to create an SEO-friendly site. You need a great designer that can deliver an outstanding design. To stand out in the market place, a company needs a unique design that will make an instant impression. Second, you also need a skilled website developer that can take the creative design files and convert them into best practices computer code. The third is the SEO expert. Your partner needs to be able to analyze the user search data and work with the programmer incorporate the strategy into to first line of code.
While this three-pronged approach is the ideal, website are rarely created in this way. All the effort is put into the design. The coding is often hacked together just to get the website to meet the minimum functional requirements. Internet marketing is usually not addressed at in the design phase. It is not until later when the client realizes that their site has no search engine visibility that the SEO problem is addressed. Then they often seek out an Internet marketing firm for assistance.
In many cases, companies need to re-develop websites (even brand new websites) in order to achieve search engine friendly coding. This puts Internet marketing professionals in a tough position. They have to explain to their prospective customers, in simple terms, why they may have to redevelop a new site. A leading Kansas City web design company uses the following analogies to explain the relationship between web development and SEO:
1. Professional Racing: This is a favorite SEO analogy and may be among the best out there. To do well at SEO, you need to have an optimized website that is well structured and has best practices "on page" optimization. Your site is the race car. No matter how fast your car is, it can't drive itself. You need a talented driver and a pit crew to compete. A great driver cannot win with a marginal car, and a weak driver cannot win with a the most advanced race car. This is a perfect analogy for web design - you need a great driver and a great car to win the race, just like you need a great website and a great SEO partner to conquer mount Google. Where this analogy falls short is that with Google and the other major search engines, the race never ends. You need an ongoing effort to always stay ahead of your competition.
2. The Home Builder: The web design process is similar to the design stage of construction. This is the time when the sketches and drawings can be easily be modified. Once the blueprints are approved and the concrete is set, it becomes very difficult to move a wall or change the floor plan. Website design and development is the same way. Designers can modify digital construction plans quickly. When the coding process starts, however, design changes are harder and more time consuming. In terms of SEO, the home construction is similar to the role of the builders and inspectors. In web design, the search engine optimization consultant should be managing the design and development stages so that the website has the best possible chances of ranking highly on the major search engines.
3. Sharp Shooting: The analogy of the sharp shooter is another good one. This one is simple and makes the point clearly and concisely. The world's best sharp shooter is powerless without a great firearm, and a the best firearm on the planet cannot shoot by itself. The same goes for SEO - a perfectly coded website cannot rank itself and a the world's best consulting firm can't do anything without clients and websites to rank.
4. Landscaping: The landscaping analogy is a great one for SEO in particular, because it plays into the nature of it as an ongoing strategy. Just like search engine optimization, you need a landscape design plan and a lot of upfront effort to prepare, grade and prep for planting. In most cases, a newly landscaped property will not have the same aesthetic value as a property that has a properly maintained, mature landscape. SEO is the same - we work hard in the initial months, and most often this effort does not produce organic ranking results for weeks or months later. Further, just like landscaping, it takes ongoing effort to improve results.
5. Fishing: Second to the race car driving analogy, Fishing is one of our favorites on so many levels. The best angle to use for this analogy relates to net fishing. Think of recreational fishers in an area using chum and other luring techniques to draw fish into a body of water. Fishermen use specialized lures, bait and equipment to catch fish one-by-one. This is akin to traditional marketing where companies use mass marketing to target a relatively small group of potential buyers. In SEO, we call this: offline demand creation. As fishermen use all their fancy methods to attract fish, think of a commercial fishing vessel that comes by and scoops up all the fish. This is EXACTLY what SEO does. Consumers see the demand creation by companies on TV, print and radio...then then run to the Internet to research when they are actually ready to make a purchase decision. SEO, when done effectively, enables your company to steal this market share created by your competitors.
If you are a web developer or Internet marketing professional, try using one of these analogies to explain SEO and web design to your prospective clients.
Web design is still very much a "design driven" industry, and as such, design choices can often have a negative impact on SEO. This is because design is about the look and feel of a website, not the rank or position on the search engines. So we in the website design industry often find ourselves trying to simplify online marketing methods to prospective clients that have limited knowledge on the subject.
It takes at least three different types of talent to create an SEO-friendly site. You need a great designer that can deliver an outstanding design. To stand out in the market place, a company needs a unique design that will make an instant impression. Second, you also need a skilled website developer that can take the creative design files and convert them into best practices computer code. The third is the SEO expert. Your partner needs to be able to analyze the user search data and work with the programmer incorporate the strategy into to first line of code.
While this three-pronged approach is the ideal, website are rarely created in this way. All the effort is put into the design. The coding is often hacked together just to get the website to meet the minimum functional requirements. Internet marketing is usually not addressed at in the design phase. It is not until later when the client realizes that their site has no search engine visibility that the SEO problem is addressed. Then they often seek out an Internet marketing firm for assistance.
In many cases, companies need to re-develop websites (even brand new websites) in order to achieve search engine friendly coding. This puts Internet marketing professionals in a tough position. They have to explain to their prospective customers, in simple terms, why they may have to redevelop a new site. A leading Kansas City web design company uses the following analogies to explain the relationship between web development and SEO:
1. Professional Racing: This is a favorite SEO analogy and may be among the best out there. To do well at SEO, you need to have an optimized website that is well structured and has best practices "on page" optimization. Your site is the race car. No matter how fast your car is, it can't drive itself. You need a talented driver and a pit crew to compete. A great driver cannot win with a marginal car, and a weak driver cannot win with a the most advanced race car. This is a perfect analogy for web design - you need a great driver and a great car to win the race, just like you need a great website and a great SEO partner to conquer mount Google. Where this analogy falls short is that with Google and the other major search engines, the race never ends. You need an ongoing effort to always stay ahead of your competition.
2. The Home Builder: The web design process is similar to the design stage of construction. This is the time when the sketches and drawings can be easily be modified. Once the blueprints are approved and the concrete is set, it becomes very difficult to move a wall or change the floor plan. Website design and development is the same way. Designers can modify digital construction plans quickly. When the coding process starts, however, design changes are harder and more time consuming. In terms of SEO, the home construction is similar to the role of the builders and inspectors. In web design, the search engine optimization consultant should be managing the design and development stages so that the website has the best possible chances of ranking highly on the major search engines.
3. Sharp Shooting: The analogy of the sharp shooter is another good one. This one is simple and makes the point clearly and concisely. The world's best sharp shooter is powerless without a great firearm, and a the best firearm on the planet cannot shoot by itself. The same goes for SEO - a perfectly coded website cannot rank itself and a the world's best consulting firm can't do anything without clients and websites to rank.
4. Landscaping: The landscaping analogy is a great one for SEO in particular, because it plays into the nature of it as an ongoing strategy. Just like search engine optimization, you need a landscape design plan and a lot of upfront effort to prepare, grade and prep for planting. In most cases, a newly landscaped property will not have the same aesthetic value as a property that has a properly maintained, mature landscape. SEO is the same - we work hard in the initial months, and most often this effort does not produce organic ranking results for weeks or months later. Further, just like landscaping, it takes ongoing effort to improve results.
5. Fishing: Second to the race car driving analogy, Fishing is one of our favorites on so many levels. The best angle to use for this analogy relates to net fishing. Think of recreational fishers in an area using chum and other luring techniques to draw fish into a body of water. Fishermen use specialized lures, bait and equipment to catch fish one-by-one. This is akin to traditional marketing where companies use mass marketing to target a relatively small group of potential buyers. In SEO, we call this: offline demand creation. As fishermen use all their fancy methods to attract fish, think of a commercial fishing vessel that comes by and scoops up all the fish. This is EXACTLY what SEO does. Consumers see the demand creation by companies on TV, print and radio...then then run to the Internet to research when they are actually ready to make a purchase decision. SEO, when done effectively, enables your company to steal this market share created by your competitors.
If you are a web developer or Internet marketing professional, try using one of these analogies to explain SEO and web design to your prospective clients.
About the Author:
About the author: Kansas City Web Design is an Internet marketing and web development company based in Overland Park, KS. For more information on the author, visit: Website-Design Kansas City
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