SEO sign
SEO best practices will increase a site’s ranking in the SERPs just as it is designed to do. But what happens when SEO strategies increase traffic to a site that is not what the user was searching for? Having a good web marketing or SEO campaign which directs traffic to a bogus site is like advertising for a faulty product. It serves no purpose except to create a very dissatisfied consumer. It is easy to get all caught up in getting a client’s company to be listed at the top of the SERPs; but just as easy to overlook one of the most important elements of a successful SEO campaign: a good website. Without a legitimate, working website exposure is basically meaningless. There are a few situations where a poorly designed or nonworking website can have an adverse effect on an SEO campaign.
A Poorly Designed Website will Fail to Engage Consumers
One of the biggest hurdles that will be faced by an SEO specialist is the website design. No matter how high a company’s site ranks in the SERPs, or how effective a branding campaign is the website is still playing a key role when it comes to encouraging site visitors to stay on site for more than just a few seconds. Even if a site is perfectly optimized and Google ranks it in the top results, it can suffer from a very high bounce rate. If this is the case, then the site may need to be redesigned. There are certain elements which turn off visitors such as poor graphics, certain unattractive color schemes or a site which lacks visual interest. These elements can be a huge turn off to visitors who find the site through a search. To address this problem, a company needs to think about what makes a site attractive to them when they are browsing the web. A site must be attractively designed and well balanced visually to continue to engage visitors.
Out Dated Information
One of the functions of a company website is to advertise deals or offers. This can be advantageous to a business owner, but it is very important to remove the dated specials when they expire. When a site contains content which is out of date visitors have every right to think that it is poorly maintained and it gives them a poor image of the business. It can lead site visitors to believe that the company does not care about the site. Visitors which find a site through the SERPs as a result of a search will be looking for up to date news articles or other pertinent and timely information. Google will also be looking for fresh content; this is why it is important to be proactive by regularly updating a site with new content.
Sites that do not live up to off-site SEO
There can be many different ways that a site fails to live up to off-site SEO. Think about the off-site SEO that likely brought the visitor to the company website. Does the landing page match the inbound link? For a visitor it can be very frustrating to hit a link that is supposed to take them to a page about interior design only to end up on a page about legal aid. Chances are they will not stay on the site very long even though the off-site SEO campaign is working perfectly. Visitors are put off with misinformation or error pages. When a link redirects a visitor across the site they are likely to leave and never return. Off-site SEO and link building campaigns are like making a promise to visitors that the site is going to provide them with the information for which they are seeking. The site must live up to this promise or else the targeted audience will be gone almost as quickly as they arrived.
Poor Site Navigation can send Visitors Down the Wrong Path
The way a site is structured and its internal navigation can be beneficial for site traffic. If it is poorly structured it can be the cause of a high bounce rate. Visitors want to find what they are looking for, and they do not want to have to dig around for it for hours. While internal link building is an important aspect, you do not want each of the web site pages to link to a dozen more. This can be very confusing to a visitor. If the site is a maze, most visitors will not take the time to solve it. Make the site easily navigated and less confusing to visitors. They will do more than just visit; they will hang around for the long haul.
