Category: Website Design and Management

  • A New Site Design Doesn’t Have to Kill Your SEO — But It Can

    A New Site Design Doesn’t Have to Kill Your SEO — But It Can

    One of the biggest concerns companies have when redesigning their website is that it might kill their SEO. And honestly, it often does. But that’s not because a redesign inherently hurts search visibility — it’s because the process was handled improperly.

    The Disconnect That Tanks Rankings

    Many companies work with a developer or design agency that simply doesn’t think about SEO. They focus on how well the site performs in terms of user experience, or how polished the design looks — and those things matter. But they don’t necessarily connect what’s being launched with what has existed. When those two things are completely disconnected, that’s when SEO tanks.

    We’ve seen clients who were convinced that working with an overseas development team — say, out of India — made sense purely because it was cheaper. And for the development work alone, that might be true. But when those developers are unconcerned with the existing site architecture or the existing site content, they’re likely to make decisions that hurt search engine visibility and potentially even user experience. We’ve seen companies do this the right way, and we’ve seen them do it the wrong way.

    How to Redesign a Website Without Losing SEO

    The right way to approach a site redesign involves analyzing the existing site’s URL structure and reviewing webmaster tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Every URL within those tools needs to be accounted for when planning the new site architecture.

    The best approach is to replicate the existing site architecture as closely as possible. But there may be legitimate reasons that can’t happen — maybe you’re consolidating pages, restructuring navigation, or moving to a different platform. If that’s the case, you need to implement what’s called 301 redirects.

    A 301 redirect tells the search engines that an old URL no longer exists, but a page just like it exists on the new site — and here’s where to find it. This way, the new page receives at least partial credit for the visibility the old page had built up over time.

    What we often see, though, is that development teams won’t even consider creating 301 redirects. It’s just not in their thought process. And without them, all of that accumulated search equity disappears overnight.

    The Content Rewrite Trap

    Another thing that tends to happen during a site redesign is that companies get deeply involved in rewriting their content. Even if the rewritten content lives on the same URL, when it’s substantially different from what was there before, it no longer aligns with what the search engines have indexed.

    Maybe the content itself is truly different, or maybe the HTML structure has changed significantly. Either way, it gives the search engines a reason to downgrade your ranking.

    If you’re going to rebuild your content in addition to redesigning the site, it’s best to roll out those content changes over time — don’t push everything live the moment the new site launches. We know that’s not what most companies want to hear. After all, they’re rebranding or enhancing their brand, and they’re proud of the new messaging. They want it out there immediately.

    But the unfortunate reality is that search engines don’t care about your branding or your new messaging. What they care about is consistency of content — how it relates to the links that have been built pointing to that page, how it relates to the search terms people use when looking for content like yours. If the search engines find a reason to downgrade your ranking and lift up a competitor instead, they will.

    The Bottom Line

    A site redesign should be an investment in your business, not a setback for your search visibility. With the right planning — proper URL mapping, 301 redirects, and a phased approach to content changes — you can launch a fresh, modern site without sacrificing the SEO equity you’ve spent years building. The key is making sure someone on your team, or your agency partner, is thinking about search from the very beginning of the redesign process, not as an afterthought once the damage is already done.

  • Boost Your Plumbing Business: Digital Marketing Strategies

    Boost Your Plumbing Business: Digital Marketing Strategies

    Ready to elevate your plumbing business? Discover effective digital marketing strategies that will attract new customers and boost your bottom line.

    Boost Your Plumbing Business: Digital Marketing Strategies

    Ready to elevate your plumbing business? Discover effective digital marketing strategies that will attract new customers and boost your bottom line.

    Understanding Digital Marketing for Plumbing Businesses

    In today’s digital age, marketing your plumbing business effectively requires more than just traditional advertising methods. Digital marketing has become a crucial element for businesses to reach out to their potential customers, engage with existing ones, and ultimately grow their bottom line. The internet offers a plethora of opportunities to showcase your services, and knowing how to leverage these opportunities can set you apart from the competition.

    Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of strategies including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, and online reputation management. Each of these components plays a vital role in creating a comprehensive marketing plan that can help you attract, engage, and convert potential customers. By understanding and implementing these strategies, plumbing businesses can effectively reach their target audience and grow their customer base.

    As a plumbing business owner, it’s essential to recognize the importance of adapting to the digital landscape. With more people turning to the internet to find services, having a strong online presence can make a significant difference in how potential customers perceive and choose your business. Digital marketing is not just about having a website; it’s about creating a holistic approach that encompasses various online channels to drive traffic, generate leads, and build brand loyalty.

    Importance of Online Presence in the Plumbing Industry

    The significance of having a robust online presence cannot be overstated, especially in the plumbing industry. When people face plumbing issues, they often turn to search engines to find local plumbers who can address their needs promptly. If your business does not appear in these search results, you are missing out on a substantial number of potential customers.

    An online presence also builds credibility and trust. Customers are more likely to trust a business that has a professional website, positive online reviews, and an active social media presence. These elements show that your business is legitimate and capable of delivering quality services. In contrast, a lack of online presence can make potential customers question the reliability and professionalism of your business.

    Moreover, having an online presence allows you to reach a wider audience. Unlike traditional marketing methods that are often limited by geography and reach, digital marketing can help you connect with people beyond your immediate locality. This can be particularly beneficial for specialized plumbing services that may not have a high demand in your local area but could attract customers from neighboring regions.

    Key Digital Marketing Strategies for Plumbers

    Implementing effective digital marketing strategies is essential for plumbing businesses to thrive in a competitive market. One of the first steps is to build a user-friendly website that reflects your brand and provides essential information about your services. Your website should be optimized for both desktop and mobile devices to ensure a seamless user experience.

    Search engine optimization (SEO) is another critical strategy. By optimizing your website and content for search engines, you can improve your visibility in search results, drive organic traffic to your site, and attract potential customers who are actively searching for plumbing services. This involves keyword research, on-page SEO, link building, and creating high-quality content that addresses the needs and concerns of your target audience.

    Social media marketing is also a powerful tool for plumbers. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow you to engage with your audience, showcase your work, and build a community around your brand. Regularly posting informative and engaging content, responding to comments and messages, and running targeted ads can help you reach a larger audience and generate more leads.

    Building a User-Friendly Plumbing Website

    Your website is often the first point of contact between your business and potential customers, so it’s crucial to make a positive impression. A user-friendly website should be easy to navigate, visually appealing, and provide all the necessary information that customers might be looking for. This includes details about your services, contact information, pricing, and customer testimonials.

    One of the key aspects of a user-friendly website is its loading speed. A slow-loading website can frustrate users and lead them to abandon your site in favor of a competitor’s. Ensuring that your website loads quickly on both desktop and mobile devices can significantly improve user experience and reduce bounce rates. Additionally, having a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes can enhance usability and accessibility.

    Another important factor is the website’s layout and design. A clean, well-organized design with clear calls-to-action (CTAs) can guide visitors through your site and encourage them to take the desired actions, such as booking a service or contacting you for more information.

    Incorporating high-quality images and videos can also make your website more engaging and help potential customers get a better sense of your work.

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Plumbing Services

    SEO is a fundamental component of digital marketing that can significantly impact your plumbing business’s online visibility. By optimizing your website and content for search engines, you can improve your rankings in search results and attract more organic traffic. This involves a combination of on-page and off-page SEO techniques.

    On-page SEO focuses on optimizing individual web pages to rank higher in search results. This includes using relevant keywords in your content, meta titles, and descriptions, as well as optimizing your images and ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly. Conducting thorough keyword research can help you identify the terms and phrases that potential customers are using to search for plumbing services, allowing you to tailor your content accordingly.

    Off-page SEO, on the other hand, involves activities that take place outside of your website, such as building backlinks from reputable sites, social media marketing, and online reputation management. Backlinks from high-authority websites can boost your site’s credibility and improve its search engine rankings. Additionally, creating valuable content that other websites want to link to can drive more traffic to your site and enhance your online presence.

    Utilizing Local SEO to Attract Nearby Customers

    For plumbing businesses, local SEO is particularly important as it helps you target customers in your specific geographic area. Local SEO involves optimizing your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. This includes claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing, building local citations, and getting positive reviews from satisfied customers.

    Claiming your Google My Business listing is a crucial step in local SEO. This allows your business to appear in local search results and on Google Maps, making it easier for potential customers to find you. Make sure to provide accurate and up-to-date information, including your business name, address, phone number, and hours of operation. Adding photos and encouraging customers to leave reviews can also enhance your listing and attract more local customers.

    Building local citations involves getting your business listed in online directories and local business listings. Consistency is key here, so ensure that your business information is accurate and consistent across all platforms. Local citations can improve your visibility in local search results and help potential customers find your business more easily.

    Leveraging Social Media for Plumbing Business Growth

    Social media platforms offer a unique opportunity for plumbing businesses to connect with their audience, build brand awareness, and generate leads. By creating and sharing valuable content, engaging with your followers, and running targeted ads, you can leverage social media to grow your plumbing business.

    One of the benefits of social media marketing is its ability to humanize your brand. By sharing behind-the-scenes content, showcasing your team, and highlighting customer success stories, you can create a more personal connection with your audience. This can build trust and loyalty, making customers more likely to choose your business for their plumbing needs.

    Running targeted ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram can also help you reach a larger audience and generate more leads. These platforms offer advanced targeting options that allow you to reach people based on their location, interests, and behaviors. By creating compelling ad campaigns and experimenting with different ad formats, you can attract more potential customers and drive traffic to your website.

    The Role of Online Reviews and Reputation Management

    Online reviews play a significant role in shaping the perception of your plumbing business. Positive reviews can build trust and credibility, while negative reviews can deter potential customers. Therefore, managing your online reputation is crucial for attracting new customers and maintaining a positive image.

    Encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook can enhance your online reputation. Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by providing links on your website, in follow-up emails, and on your social media pages. Responding to reviews, both positive and negative, shows that you value customer feedback and are committed to providing excellent service.

    Negative reviews are inevitable, but how you handle them can make a significant difference. Addressing negative reviews promptly and professionally can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction and potentially turn a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one. Apologize for any issues, offer solutions, and take the conversation offline if necessary to resolve the matter privately.

    Effective Email Marketing for Plumbing Businesses

    Email marketing is a powerful tool for plumbing businesses to stay in touch with their customers, promote their services, and generate repeat business. By building an email list and sending targeted, personalized emails, you can nurture relationships with your customers and keep your business top of mind.

    One of the key aspects of effective email marketing is segmentation. By segmenting your email list based on factors such as customer location, service history, and engagement level, you can send more relevant and personalized emails. This can increase open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement with your emails.

    Creating valuable content for your emails is also important. This can include tips and advice on plumbing maintenance, special offers and promotions, company updates, and customer success stories. Providing valuable content can keep your subscribers engaged and more likely to choose your business when they need plumbing services.

    Measuring Success: Key Metrics to Track Your Marketing Efforts

    To ensure that your digital marketing efforts are effective and delivering the desired results, it’s essential to track key metrics and analyze your performance. This can help you identify what’s working, what’s not, and where you can make improvements.

    Some of the key metrics to track include website traffic, conversion rates, bounce rates, and customer acquisition costs. Analyzing website traffic can help you understand how many people are visiting your site, where they are coming from, and which pages they are visiting. Conversion rates can indicate how well your website and marketing efforts are turning visitors into leads and customers.

    Social media metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and follower growth can provide insights into the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts. Email marketing metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates can help you gauge the success of your email campaigns. By regularly monitoring these metrics and making data-driven decisions, you can optimize your digital marketing strategies and achieve better results for your plumbing business.

  • How much should a new website cost?

    How much should a new website cost?

    Well, we have to say it. The cost of a new website depends. And it can vary greatly. 

    We’ll start with a price range for building a site. It’s useless really, but if we don’t show it up front we won’t answer the basic question. 

    Building a new site can range from a few hundreds dollars to 10s of thousands. Is that vague enough? 

    Most small businesses can expect to spend $2,000-$4,000 for a new site that is not one of the template drive CMS systems. More on those in a bit.

    So why the wide range in cost site development? 

    Broadly speaking, there are a few factors involved. The following will impact the price of building a new website..

    Technical complexity of the user experience. 

    Once you step beyond the basic HTML code of a site and start to address functionality, costs can rise. Any reaction the site has to a user action increases the technical complexity. Common elements  like form fills or simple roll-over/clicks to display expanded content, are usually not too costly.  Most front-end developers can handle these things, and if you have a CMS like WordPress, there are plugins the take care of them.

    If you start to get too complex, you will need to engage UX designers and site architects as well as developers. The project can go from easy to difficult very quickly. It is not just a matter of coding a function, but ensuring the entire site navigation/interface  is user friendly, the technologies are compatible, and the structure is manageable as the technical aspects get complex. Very few sites get to this level, but when they do, it can be a 5 to 6 figure cost.

    So the more you want the site to do, the more time and higher level of technical knowledge is required. This simply costs more.

    The creative/aesthetic level

    Do you want a truly unique creative execution with custom design and graphics, or are you good with available themes and stock creative?

    There are a lot of stock image and video resources available. You can get some nice creative elements for relatively cheap. Then there is additional time to make the images web-friendly, resize and change their format. While it takes some time, it is a more economical option.

    Custom creative elements take time to design and execute. For this site (fanaticallydigital.com) the creative is entirely custom. The graphic designer created the elements for all the main pages. This takes talent and time. A site that uses custom graphics can easily have a five-figure price tag. 

    Managing the cost of revisions

    Beyond the general directions (stock vs custom), is the number of revisions. Whichever route is taken, the website owner rarely accepts the first version. Each iteration is more time and adds more cost. Scopes of work have to be very clear on the number of revisions allowed or the approval process for the additional hours to make them.

    Ongoing cost for hosting and maintenance

    Once built, a website has to live somewhere and be updated regularly. Hosting can be as cheap as $15/month (or less) or $100+ (though rarely this high.) Most websites can have adequate hosting for $15-$30/month. 

    Maintenance is another issue. For something like a WordPress site, basic upkeep is pretty straightforward. But, most site owners are not familiar enough with the CMS to do this. As a result, maintenance is not done and then a core WP update breaks the site because the site was too far out of date. 

    Ultimately, time/hours are the most costly part of building a site. And the more specialized the knowledge needed, the higher the hourly rate.

    So, realistically, what can a business expect to pay for a website to be created?

    On the low end $20/month using templates and doing the work yourself.

    Cost of Captive CMS Systems

    Using platforms like Wix or Squarespace for a basic site, or Shopify for ecommerce, you can have a relatively low development cost IF you use the templates and do the work yourself. 

    Wix starts at $17/month, but you’d likely want to opt for the $29/month Option or higher

    SquareSpace starts at $16/month, but again, you’d want to opt for the higher $23/month option or higher.

    Both Wix and SquareSpace have ecommerce capabilities, but if you are serious about selling online, you’ll want to look at Shopify

    Shopify starts at $29/month and has good base packages. 

    What about WordPress?

    WordPress (WP) is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS),however  it is not an out-of-the-box solution. Where the above-mentioned website builders are straightforward if you use their templates, WordPress requires a basic understanding of how the CMS works and the ability to work with the Themes and Plugins. If you are not familiar with it, WordPress can be frustrating (you do need that for the others, but they are easier to grasp.)

    That said, companies like GoDaddy and BlueHost have built website wizards to help you create a WordPress site. What is challenging is that, even with the wizards, things can go sideways. You can only deal with that if you learn the ins and outs of the CMS. 

    So, why is WordPress so popular?

     It was an early entry into the CMS ecosystem before sites like Wix and SquareSpace became popular. As an open source CMS, developers could implement sites and site owners could edit the sites without having to pay recurring license fees. It became an early goto for a CMS because little else could compare.

    WordPress is also more flexible than the captive CMS systems like Wix and SquareSpace. The UX can be customized and functionality can be created that is unique. Developers soon specialized in WP development, making it their goto for client solutions.  It also has a vast library of plugins that extend functionality for little or no additional cost. 

    Other CMSs can be customized, but there are simply fewer resources available to do so and the knowledge is applicable only to the respective CMS. Besides, once you start with customization that requires code development, you step away from the low-cost advantage of these CMSs.

    Also, WordPress is portable. Unlike the captive CMS systems, you can move a WP site from one host to another. This allows site owners to assess their hosting costs and make adjustments if needed.

    What should a site developed in WordPress Cost?

    If you hire a WordPress developer to create your site, the cost will range based on customization.

    Using a theme with no customization, but adding your graphics and images, you can expect $750 on the very low end to $3,000 on the higher end. 

    If you add custom page templates, the cost can increase by a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Sorry, but it just depends on the complexity of the customization.

    Add custom graphics and WP sites can cost $10k or more. 

    The two pricing elements in site development (including WP sites) are time and specialized knowledge. 

    Most businesses can get a nice WordPress site developed for a few thousand dollars.

    There is much ambiguity in website development pricing. Some of this has to do with the number of technical variables and some has to do with who is developing the site. Domestic developers cost more, off-shore is less to varying degrees, As you reap the benefit of lower cost, you experience the trade-offs of off-shoring projects. 

    We may dive into the components of a website development project to provide a better understanding of why the cost and experience you have can vary so much.

    Finally, we’ll close with this: Whether a development project is successful or not depends as much on your ability to understand what the purpose of the site will be. Is it a sales-assist for your sales team, is it a lead gen, ecomm/sales,  or is in branding and awareness. Chances are it can be all, but your company may emphasize one or two more than the others. The site needs to be designed accordingly. 


    Is SEO critical, Conversion Optimization, Calculators for prospective customers, disseminating sales material? This an a host of other questions should be answered before the site development project gets going.

  • The Importance of Redundant Event Tracking: Ensuring Accurate Data

    The Importance of Redundant Event Tracking: Ensuring Accurate Data

    Why Redundancy Matters in Event Tracking

    When it comes to event tracking in Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics (GA), redundancy is not a sign of inefficiency; in fact, it’s a crucial safety net.

    Implementing redundant triggers for each essential conversion events or GTM tags helps ensure data accuracy and reduces the risk of data loss.

    By setting multiple triggers, such as the URL, button text, ID, or class, you ensure one alteration doesn’t spell disaster. In this way, redundancy is your safeguard against unforeseen changes, providing a failsafe mechanism for your data collection.

    In this post, we’ll look at why redundancy matters in event tracking and how to set up redundant triggers.

    The Basics of GTM Tags and Triggers

    Google Tag Manager (GTM) operates on a system of tags and triggers. A tag is a snippet of code that performs a specific function on your site, such as sending information to Google Analytics (GA). Each tag is associated with one or more triggers, which are conditions that dictate when the tag should fire.

    Triggers can be based on a variety of events, such as a page view, a click, or form submission. They can also be refined with factors like click classes, URLs, or form IDs, offering a customizable and precise way to monitor interactions on your site.

    For example, if you want to track when visitors to your site do something specific—like clicking a button—you would set up a tag to send that information to GA. You’d then set up a trigger to tell GTM when to send that information—like when the button with a specific ID is clicked.

    So, when a visitor clicks that button, the trigger fires, and the tag sends the information to GA. This is how you can capture and analyze specific user interactions on your website, providing you with valuable insight into user behavior and website performance.

    Understanding the Risks of Single-Point Event Triggers

    Relying solely on single-point event triggers is akin to walking on a tightrope without a safety net. This is especially true for larger websites with multiple people or teams working on them, where elements — URLs, button classes, or IDs, for instance — can be altered without any prior notice or communication, potentially breaking your triggers.

    For example, imagine you’re tracking button clicks on your website and your GTM tag is set to fire when a user submits a form with a specific ID. But one day, someone from sales creates a new, slightly different form with a different ID, you’re trigger for that event will fail to fire.

    When a trigger fails, you don’t just lose a few data points; you risk losing significant amounts of valuable user interaction data that could drive your business decisions.

    The absence of redundancy, in this case, could mean the difference between a comprehensive understanding of your user behavior and a gaping hole in your analytics.

    Implementing Redundant GTM Tags for Button Click Tracking

    This strategy may initially seem like an overkill, but consider this how easily a small miscue can result in days, weeks, or even months of lost data. For the marketing folks and decision makers who rely on… well reliable data, it can be incredibly frustrating to NOT have redundancies to fall back on if something goes wrong.

    Diversifying Trigger Elements for Reliable Event Firing

    To establish redundancies, you can utilize a variety of trigger elements in GTM. For instance, when tracking button clicks, besides utilizing the button’s ID, consider triggers that fire on the button’s text, CSS class, or even the URL the button directs to.

    1. Button Text: If you have a “Buy Now” button, a Click Text trigger could be set to fire when “Buy Now” is clicked. Even if someone changes the button’s ID or class without informing you, this trigger would ensure event tracking.
    2. CSS Class: Suppose your button has a unique CSS class. In that case, you could add a Click Class trigger that fires when that specific class is interacted with, providing another layer of redundancy.
    3. URL: If your button redirects to a specific URL, a Click URL trigger could be set to fire when that URL is clicked. This adds another level of redundancy and ensures the event is tracked even if the button text or class is altered.

    These are just a few examples of how diversifying your trigger elements can help ensure reliable event firing, regardless of changes made on the site. By implementing these redundancies, you’re bolstering your event tracking, ensuring the integrity of your data, and ultimately making more informed business decisions.

  • 4 Critical Website Mistakes Made by Small to Mid-sized Businesses

    4 Critical Website Mistakes Made by Small to Mid-sized Businesses

    It’s the 2020s. With few exceptions, all businesses have websites nowadays.

    Yet despite this, many businesses treat them as a bit of an afterthought. Maybe because websites are complex and intimidating things or perhaps it’s because they can be too expensive to actively maintain.

    Whatever the reasons, the fact of the matter is that, as a digital marketing agency, we see many businesses squander their website’s potential because of misunderstandings and critical mistakes.

    Here are the most common mistakes businesses make when designing and creating a website and how you can avoid them.

    Mistake 1) Businesses don’t have an established “purpose” or “function” for their site.

    All too often, we see SMB owners who throw together a couple of web pages — because, again, it’s the 2020s, and having a website is just ‘the thing that businesses do now’ — without considering how to integrate them into their sales process.

    How to fix: Clearly define how and where your site fits within your sales funnel; define its role in how it helps achieve business objectives. Depending on that answer, your priorities and website will look very different. 

    For example, if you’re a B2B firm, then a probable function of your site might be to generate leads for your sales team. If that’s the case, then investing time and resources in good search marketing, copywriting, and conversion rate optimization is a must. On the other hand, maybe you’re a restaurant looking for more sit-in diners. Then strong local SEO, a Google Business Profile account, clear branding, and an appealing menu with quality images on your website will be critical.

    Mistake 2) Fail to understand how search engines work at the most fundamental levels. 

    If you expect a significant amount of traffic to come from search engines, then a strong understanding of how those search engines crawl and index websites is crucial. Specifically, mistakes can include a lack of internal linking (such as orphaned pages), no sitemap, and lots of unnecessary code that can slow down load speeds.

    How to fix: In the absence of professional developers or search marketers, unfortunately, the best fix here is simply to research. Don’t worry, there are a wealth of good articles and explainer videos teaching the best ways to design, organize, and code a website to rank on search engines.

    Mistake 3) Designers don’t give enough thought to marketing and SEO.

    You’ve made your sleek new website. Great. Now, how do your potential clients/customers find you? Whether business owners handle it themselves, they hire in-house, or go the agency route, marketing is a step that CANNOT be overlooked if a website is to be worth the effort, resources, and frankly, the headache.

    This is the scary part for most business owners. Nobody wants to fork over a ton of cash — usually thousands of dollars a month — for something that won’t guarantee returns right away. 

    How to fix: If your website plays any role in your sales process, ensure that your marketing team has at least some grasp of SEO and digital marketing. Search marketing tools such as Moz or SEMRush offer great SEO overview courses and are well worth the investment.

    Mistake 4) Don’t have a dedicated in-house webmaster.

    Even if a business outsources its website management, there needs to be someone in-house who is responsible for overseeing the website. As a digital marketing agency, it’s common for us to onboard new clients who have forgotten the login credentials for their CMS, hosting service, or Analytics accounts. Needless to say, if you can’t even access the site to make changes, install updates, or fortify security, it can quickly become a major liability for your company

    How to fix: Assign or hire for the responsibility of webmaster at your company. Ensure the person can, at the very least, keep track of login credentials, make simple updates, content changes, and ensure that security measures are up-to-date.

    How can these mistakes hurt a business?

    A bad web designer has the potential to put a business under. This is especially the case when established sites decide to redesign and relaunch their site. Here’s a true story from one of our clients (again, we are a digital marketing firm for SMBs):

    The client was a small Ecommerce site selling heavy equipment. We had been working with them for years at this point. They had strong SEO, decent year-over-year growth, and a good website structure. They wanted to redesign their site and went with a small, local firm — turns out to be just one guy. 

    Without our consultation (another big mistake; everyone working on a website needs to be in the loop about big changes at all times!), the client and designer changed the URL scheme of ALL of their core landing pages.

    This guy (a “professional” webdesigner) didn’t realize that Google operates by keeping all of the URLs it knows about in a massive database.  So when the new URLs didn’t match anything Google had in its database, in the eyes of search engines, the landing pages simply disappeared and new ones were created. And, for many different reasons, new pages take time to start ranking on Google (and also note: THEY DIDN’T BACK UP THEIR SITE — maybe the biggest, most costly, most avoidable of all possible mistakes involve big changes and no back up).

    Predictably, traffic, and therefore sales, plummeted. However we’re still making a slow but steady recovery. So in short, this bad designer hurt their business because he and they (the client):

    1) didn’t understand just how important their website was to their sales process (mind you, this is AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITE!)

    2) didn’t understand the fundamentals of the internet and search engines in particular.

    3) gave no thought to the SEO aspect of web design.

    Should You Go With a Pro?

    Websites are extremely complex and powerful tools that have the ability to skyrocket your business beyond the ‘small-midsize’ level. But, at the same time, one bad line of code can tank the whole thing. The more ambitious your business objectives are, the more necessary a good professional web developer will become.

    Fanatically Digital is here for all of your digital marketing needs. Whether it’s SEO, PPC, social media marketing, or any other web-marketing project you have, contact us today!