Designing Websites for Search Engine Optimization – Twin Cities, MN

Why is good web design the foundation of SEO?
Should you talk to an SEO company before redesigning your site?
Is your website built with a generic template?

Does Your Website Have Top Google Placement?

What is the point of designing a website that no one can find? Many companies in Minneapolis St. Paul and nationwide have paid high prices for websites that can’t possibly get top Google rankings. What a waste of money! Many business owners have made the costly mistake of regarding search engine optimization as an afterthought without knowing that it can only have maximum impact when it is integrated into the design from the beginning. Most websites created by web design companies are built with cheap, generic templates that lack optimization features. They have to be completely redesigned in order to gain excellent search engine rankings. Such a revamp can cost a business a hefty amount.

The close relationship between SEO and web design makes it absolutely necessary for business owners to hire a web design company that understands how to optimize websites. In reality, the majority of web designers know almost nothing about search engine optimization. They often build graphically beautiful websites that can’t be understood by Google, Bing or Yahoo. Search engines don’t read websites the way that human visitors do. What looks very pleasing to our eyes can be very confusing. At Site Revamp, we often see this problem when we evaluate existing websites for companies that contact us. We want to help you understand why.

Many Websites Can’t Be Optimized without a Complete Revamp

Two websites can look identical to visitors. However, they may look totally different to search engines. Google, Bing and Yahoo use computer programs to collect information from websites, and are not impressed by colors, graphics, animations and artistic beauty. They extract and catalog keywords and phrases found in the text content. These keywords are evaluated to determine its ranking positions for various searches.

Many factors can prevent Google, Bing and Yahoo from extracting the keywords and phrases that their ranking algorithms use to determine the placement in the search results. Some of these are:
- Text Contained in Graphical Images – Google’s “spiders” cannot see any text embedded in graphics.
- Pages Not Accessible During Indexing – If the navigation doesn’t lead the spiders to all the web pages, they can’t be cataloged or ranked.
- Flash – Flash-based designs can’t be viewed by most smartphones and tablets. Websites built with Flash lose their placement positions because of that.
- Obsolete Content Management Systems – Many proprietary content management systems were developed before the age of Google. Web pages generated by these outdated systems are difficult or impossible for Google to index.
- Poor or Limited Content – Google finds most keywords and phrases in text content. Poorly written content, limited keywords, and brief content can’t effectively convince Google that your site is relevant and useful.
Choose Your Web Design Company Wisely for Effective SEO

How can you avoid hiring a web design company that is clueless about search engine optimization? One way to avoid this costly mistake is to ask about the agency’s SEO experience. Insist on seeing outstanding rankings for its clients. If you can easily find a company through search engines using generic phrases like “SEO Web Design Twin Cities,” you won’t go terribly wrong. Any firm that can’t get high Google placement for its own website sends up a red flag of warning. Any company that specializes in SEO will provide ample information on this subject on its website. In contrast, a web design firm or ad agency will focus primarily on general marketing and advertising. Not every web designer that promises SEO is capable of delivering actual results. Most have no experience at all.
Hire an SEO Consultant for Your Web Design

Many Twin Cities business owners are surprised to learn that their brand-new or newly redesigned website needs to be completely revamped because it lacks the basic elements of optimization. It could cost $10,000 or more and take months to rebuild. To avoid such a waste of money and time, think about search engine optimization from the beginning. Seek advice from a qualified SEO specialist to learn whether a web design company you’re considering is up for the job.

In most cases, it pays to have an SEO consultant on board early in the process. You may only need 2-5 hours of SEO consultation. That could save you the high cost of redesigning your entire website later. We have seen many brand-new websites that were designed with outdated technologies. Optimizing them is impossible without a complete revamp.

BEST Search Engine Optimization Consultants in the Twin Cities

Search engine optimization is an art and science. It only works when experienced SEO consultants who have extensive training and years of real-world experience in running marketing campaigns for various industries implement it. Just about every web design company claims it can provide SEO services. Most of those claims are worthless because web designers are graphic artists. Search engine optimizers are mathematicians.

Many business owners assume that their web designers are capable of doing this highly specialized job. Too often, they end up with disappointing results. Since 2003, we have been helping businesses in Minnesota and across the country to get their online marketing back on the right track. We have worked in a wide range of highly competitive industries with exceptional returns for our clients, including real estate, law, consumer products and business-to-business service. Call us for a free analysis and a competitive price quote!