How Search Fits Into The Web Site Design Process

by Rob Garner, Jan 28, 2009, 2:30 PM

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I've been in search and online marketing for many years, and I've learned that while some messages may seem old and familiar (or at least well-worn), they may still be new to others who are guiding the enterprise Web site development and creation process.

 

I was recently going through a discovery process with a Fortune 500 executive who was guiding his company's Web site redesign, and I inquired directly about the search aspects of the project. His response: "Search is not relevant to this process." Contrary to what he was saying, search was in fact critical to the overall process; he was just clearly unaware of his company's campaign history and investment in the search channel. In light of this response, seemingly old and worn advice is worth another spin or two around the block, especially if it will help convey the natural search value of a legacy Web presence.

In enterprise marketing, it is not a question of whether your company's site is going to be redesigned or not, it is simply a question of when. Most companies do some kind of major redesign or tweak every two years, and if they haven't just relaunched, they are planning for the next one. So the "when" is most often "now," no matter where you are in the process. The important thing to remember here is that search should be a key consideration at every stage of the process, whether it is selecting a provider, setting requirements, producing comps, coding or site deployment.

So how do you fit natural search into the process? Here are a few ideas to start:

Use site language and messaging that is consistent with the user's perception of your product or service. For the most part, search engines are still very literal, and truly effective semantic intelligence still lies far ahead. Position content and language that reflects the way users search, in order to rank for those terms. The path to understanding this language is through linguistic and keyword research, and also by studying and knowing your target. Language and keywords impact and guide information architecture and content strategies, among other aspects.

Read your log files (and/or review analytics reports). If you want to know what you stand to lose in a site redesign, take a look at what you are currently gaining in terms of traffic, visibility, revenue, and conversions. Are there any particular Holy Grail terms like "travel," "shopping," or "banking" that may be giving you a lot of traffic? See a section of a site that is referring a ton of long-tail terms? You will likely find some areas that are worth preserving.

Ensure that RIAs are both crawlable and indexable by search engines. Rich Internet technologies that are implemented without search engines in mind can instantly render a once-thriving natural search program into total obscurity. Flash and Ajax are key tools in the design and development toolbox, but considerations must be made for search upfront.

Avoid the creation of URL canonicalization issues. When you change phone numbers, the phone company will leave a recorded message telling the new number to the person who called your old number. This is the effect a 301 permanent redirect has on a search engine -- it applies the old URL and backlinks to the new URL; the search engine is happy, and your site is happy. A canonicalization problem occurs when 302 redirects are pointed to permanently moved pages. I have seen instances where clients have gone through four or five redesigns using 302s, and a string of six-to-eight redirects points to a single page, each with its own set of inbound links. This basically makes it difficult for engines to determine the "real URL" to show in results and apply backlinks to. How do you fix it? See the next point.

Set up a redirection plan. In just about every redesign project, at least some content is removed, and URLs go away. Help the engines and your users by using a 301 redirect to point them to the most similar page on your site, or the site map, home page, or custom 404 page. Spend the time to map out which URLs are going away, and where they should be pointed. And don't sit on the plan ---do it on the day or evening that a site is pushed out of production.

Don't remove content that supports coveted rankings without assessing risks first. One mistake I see frequently is when content is removed from a site, with no replacement content to support the valuable rankings and visibility it has previously created. Before axing existing site content, determine how difficult it would be to re-attain the ranking, the ranking's importance in terms of traffic and revenue, or if it is your CEO's favorite pet ranking. Then create a plan for bridging new content, or leaving it alone.

Include search as both a business and technical requirement before planning has even started. If search is not a consideration and priority early on, then it will be 10 times harder and more expensive to try to re-engineer at the end of or after the project.

Ensure that there is a voice for search within the Web site team structure. Having a search specialist as part of the Web design team (and implementing their recommendations) will do a lot to ensure a healthy transition in the redesign and relaunch process, in addition to the potential for growth. The list above is useless without some subjective strategy behind it. Get experienced search optimization help that is fit to your company's unique situation, needs and goals, and make it an integral part of the redesign process.

These are just a few considerations to get you started. Feel free to add your own thoughts and considerations for redesign at the Search Insider blog.

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0 comments on "How Search Fits Into The Web Site Design Process".

1. Stacie Brookshire from Unisyn Marketing Multimedia
   

   commented on: January 28, 2009 at 2:51 p.m.

   Informative article. Our company is currently redesigning our website, this information was very helpful.

   Stacie Brookshire
   www.unisynad.com
   

2. Steve Plunkett from M/C/C
   

   commented on: January 28, 2009 at 3:46 p.m.

   beware first comment (spam)...

   great article.. But the situation you describe has happened to me at least 50 times over the past 10+ years..

   Thank God at our office we get the client to sign on to SEO, before/during/after we are redoing their website.

   It allows us to have historical analytics, Top page and entry page analytics and also be there when the new site goes live.

   Which means:
   a. we get to do the 404/sitemap page... (ask me about this if you want)
   b. also for the past 3 years i have'nt been using 301s or 302s, but i went back to refresh tags which i have been able to pass the old page PageRank to the new page as well as adding some anchor tags on the refresh...

   (again, ask me about this if you want..)
   

3. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited
   

   commented on: January 28, 2009 at 3:46 p.m.

   A fortune 500 executive has no use for search within their company's website. And you wonder why our economic situation is beneath fixing. "They walk among us."

4. Dave Kohl from First In Promotions
   

   commented on: January 29, 2009 at 12:05 p.m.

   Wouldn't the ideal solution be for the webmaster to re-direct the "old" URL to the new page within minutes of the "new" page being activated? The "new" web page should immediately have built-in traffic.

5. Rob Garner from Author of "Search and Social: The Definitive Guide to Real-Time Content Marketing Wiley/Sybex 2013
   

   commented on: January 29, 2009 at 6:45 p.m.

   Thanks for the responses.

   @dave - I think we are saying the same thing - roll out redirects on the day of launch, and go for a seamless experience for people and engines.

   @steve - sounds interesting about the 302's and 301's. I may experiment with that myself now : )

6. Amanda Davie from Reform
   

   commented on: February 1, 2009 at 8:52 a.m.

   How Search informs online linguistics and brand communication online is something that I've been researching recently with a company called CDA.

   We've published a white paper called "Online Language Pathways", which can be downloaded from here:

   http://www.webwordsworking.co.uk/research/online_language_pathways.htm

   Our study explores the linguistic journey people take, from their language of intent, their Search and their 're-search' language, through to how they respond to brand language of websites.

   It demonstrates that Search behavioural insight MUST inform website design, otherwise brands will disappoint and deter users.

   Hopefully online marketers and website teams will start to sit up and take note!

7. Thomas Anthony from Intend to Choose
   

   commented on: February 4, 2009 at 2:42 p.m.

   @ Amanda
   Truly connecting branding to a customer's "language of Intent" is a incredibly smart move. It's not just giving a customer what he wants, but it then also offers it in the way he can recognize, appreciate and accept it. Bounce rates should decrease and ROI numbers should skyrocket following that practice. - Tom

   http://www.acleaningbid.com http://www.couponandcodes.com

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