website redesign concerns

If you are considering having your website redesigned, be sure that the company who takes on the job is up to the task. Be sure that the current status of your existing website is properly assessed before jumping right into a total redesign.

One of the most important areas of concern is the search engine status. If your placement in search engines is even fairly decent, find out what is working and how it can be utilized in the site upgrade. Any and all pages that are indexed in the search engines should be looked at carefully. It can take a long time to rebuild organic search engine placements.

Be sure that 301 Redirects are used for any pages that are indexed and are set to be replaced. If not, any clients who have bookmarked these pages will receive  404 Page Not Found errors which can be deadly in the search engines. Be sure that any content from these pages that are working well is moved to the new corresponding pages.

Redesign no-no’s

Flash Menus – While Flash is fancy and eye-catching it is not search engine friendly. Search engine never have been, cannot today and will probably never be able to follow links embedded into Flash. Many Flash developers will tell you the opposite. Mostly because they are either misinformed or are trying to sell you what they do. Never use Flash for your main navigation scheme.

Splash/Intro – pages with only one link to the true home page and nothing but Flash content means a home page with no content. In the world of search engines “content is king” and you will never receive decent placement without it.

JavaScript Menus – be leery of JavaScript menus that search engines cannot penetrate or that hide links in a .js file. All subsequent pages will not be found by the search engines.

WordPress CMS settings – be sure that your Admin/Privacy settings are not set to “I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors”. Overlooking this can be deadly.

Redesign yes-yes’s

Search engine friendly URL’s – page names should be explicit and keyword rich.

Meta Tags – be sure that description and keyword tags are unique.

Alt and Title Tags – keyword rich and relevant. Image names should also be keyword rich.

H-Tags – use h1, h2 and h3 tags in titles and subtitles wherever possible.

Other considerations

Be sure that your new website has a properly formatted robots.txt file.

Don’t forget the sitemap – either HTML or XML

Custom 404 Page with proper linking and text.

May 10, 2011 · Tim Symonds · 

Right off the bat we are going to push ourselves. Not just us at Unified but our industry in general. Many people think that they are saving money by making their own website or designing their own logo or marketing materials. We are going to explain just why this type of thinking is not only fallacious but how it can actually hurt your business in the long run.

The very first reason to hire a graphic designer is quite simple. You are an expert at your business and we are experts at ours. Good graphic designers do more than just make things look pretty. Every shape, color, font and where we place elements on a page is done for a reason. We understand how people look at things and what will draw their attention. We do all this with your business in mind and we do it fast, thereby saving you time.

Secondly, good design will quickly communicate your message to your target audience before a single word is read. Good design attracts a specific audience by conveying thoughts and feelings beyond what words can say.

Everyday the public is bombarded with marketing. You need to stand out in a world full of advertising. With most forms of marketing, it is estimated, you only have about 2 seconds to grab someones eye before they move on. Good design helps to draw in customers and remember who you are.

There is a lot of competition out there. People shop for and buy products and services from whomever seems to be the most professional, whomever portrays the best image. Well designed brochures or websites attract potential customers because you appear professional right from the start.

A good designer is more than just an artist, they are marketing professionals. They work on facts and experience rather than hunches and speculation.

So, if you are truly serious about making a success of your business and want to attract more customers, get together with a graphic design specialist and start your way on a results driven design campaign that will help you reach your goals.

Next: How to choose the right designer for your business.

April 6, 2011 · Tim Symonds · 

Welcome to the Unified Graphics blog. We will be sharing many things in the future. Some things we will write and some will be passed on from other sources; articles on marketing strategies, search engine optimization, educational articles on branding and so on.

Keep stopping back so you do not miss anything and we will try to keep you up to speed when we post through Facebook and Twitter. Join us there to be notified of special deals and other valuable tidbits.

March 14, 2011 · Tim Symonds ·