subject: 7 Things to Avoid in a Website Redesign [print this page] 7 Things to Avoid in a Website Redesign 7 Things to Avoid in a Website Redesign
When redesigning a website, there are a few tips you will want to keep in mind for effective results. Putting procedures and protocols in place help create best practices and avoid common mistakes. Being prepared will help you quickly identify and tackle issues as they arise saving you a lot of time and work later on. Below are 7 decisions that will NOT be helpful to your redesign.
1. Your domain name should not be in your page title
Instead of your domain name, use text rich with keywords and especially put you most important keywords first. If you would like to include your company name, place it at the end.
2. Your H1 tags should not be drastically different from your page titles
As soon as your page title is created, make sure your URL and H1 have a similar theme. They should not be identical; however the search engines do require enough information to confirm the contents of the page.
3. Your meta description should not mirror your page title
Your page title is for the search engines and your meta description is what draws users in. The page title should be seen on the actual web page, and the meta description will be in the organic search results. Make sure your description is less than 150 characters.
4. Never include another company in your blog URL
Doing so will take away from your SEO credit. In order to help you manage blog contents, create a sub-domain or sub-directory for your blog right away. This way you will combine SEO efforts with an outstandingly written blog.
5. Forget Flash!
Search engines are unable to read flash. If you incorporate flash throughout your site, the search engines will think you have a blank site, which means no indexed pages and very minimal traffic.
6. Don't forget a 301 redirect
If you do not include one, you will end up splitting your SEO credit in two places. This only takes a few minutes and will help give you an advantage with search engines.
7. Tell the search engines what your images are
Search engines need direction. They are unable to tell what your images look like because to them, they just look like blank space. Make sure you tag and optimize your images with keywords.
