Client, Customer, Google
Sometimes we look at websites and don`t like what we see, sometimes we look at them and love what we see. But this doesn`t matter as there are only two elements you should be trying to impress, one is the client and subsequent customer, the other is Google. Ultimately, in SEO it only matters what they think and this poses an interesting question as far as Google is concerned, should we design and build more for one than the other in order to reach the results we want?
It`s a balance obviously. On the one hand there is the customer, who will be using your client`s site and hopefully buying from it or at least calling for an enquiry. It has to be easy to use and navigate and have an inviting design to it which will encourage people to buy. On the other, Google, who is the master looming over proceedings in relation to the SERPS. We all know that there are rules and guidelines to follow in order to increase our chances of a high listing in Google and although a lot of that is related to the way links are built, it is also important to ensure the website is up to standard too, including everything from design and build, to the optimisation of the site. But should we sacrifice design quality, which could be the difference between making a sale or enquiry, over SERP related criteria?
There are many areas of a website you can alter to make them SEO friendly, including quality relevant content and sensible but effective keyword distribution. These are key areas that Google look at when indexing a site and can significantly help increase it`s SEO ranking. But it`s important to balance that with a coherent design that identifies with the customer. Stuffing a site with so much SEO related content and design is one way to annoy the customer and this only ensures the user experience declines in quality. Which would then have a knock on effect when it is being ranked by Google.
There are of course other areas that can be tweaked and modified to help a site perform but is it worth doing on an existing domain? Especially one that is poorly designed? This is something I come across frequently and I find that in most cases the answer is yes it is worth doing. Performing SEO around an existing build can be tricky, especially if it`s a unique build or has certain design elements in place that are not flexible, however, there are a few that just simply require a new build. This could be because they are poorly designed to such an extent that it would be more viable to just have a new website from the start and the benefits would be well worth the cost.
Pleasing the Client
With regards to the client, of course they are just as important but obviously in a different way. What we must remember is that ultimately we are the Consultants and are being tasked with getting the client a return on their investment. Sometimes this will clash with what they want at the time, whether it`s a design change or how they want their site to navigate but in order to drive customers and traffic to the site, a high listing would be advantageous. It`s about finding a balance between ensuring the client is happy, the customer can find what they need and enjoy a great user experience whilst on the website and that we can do what we need to do to effectively gain our client the return on investment they require.
