How Does Website Structure Affect SEO
In our decade-long experience operating as a SEO company in Singapore, we’ve noticed something important that many lay people don’t know. A poorly built website can significantly damage on page SEO efforts. This is especially true for those who try to cut corners with their website design.
Taking Shortcuts Can Be Costly
For instance, consider a law firm. A comprehensive website for a law firm would ideally have a home page, an about us page, individual pages for different legal services, an FAQ page. But, to save costs, a firm might opt for a one-page website. This squeezes all this information into a single scrollable page. So instead of a website with over ten pages of content, it becomes just one page.
This setup is not favorable for search engines due to its lack of substantial content to positively influence search engine results. While it may seem straightforward to improve the website and generate more content, the reality is more complex. A crucial question arises – who should shoulder the responsibility for these enhancements? Should it be the SEO vendor, the client’s web vendor, or the client’s copywriter? This situation leads us into a conundrum.
The Limitations of Standard SEO Services
When you then engage a SEO company in Singapore, their standard scope of work often includes creating content, building backlinks, and performing some site optimization. However, it usually doesn’t include revamping your sitemap and structure to align with search engine algorithms.
Consequently, your SEO consultant might advise you to revamp or add more pages to your site.
The Reluctance to Adapt
Here’s what likely happens next: after completing the single-page web project, the client may be unwilling to invest more money and time. This reluctance puts the SEO company in a tight spot while running the campaign, increasing the risk of its failure.
Timing Matters
Even if the client is willing, these web enhancements need to be made early in the SEO campaign, not later. Why? Without a good site structure from the start, you risk being detected by search engines as a low-quality site. Google might still rank a poorly structured site, but it will never compare to a well-organized website with multiple pages each detailing the services provided comprehensively.
Content is King
Remember, Google loves quality and useful content. A typical one-page site falls extremely short of that standard. This dilemma leads to the question: should the SEO company upgrade the website, or should it be the client’s responsibility? This area is often grey.
Communication is Key
Henceforth, it’s crucial for SEO vendors to communicate these possibilities upfront. It is also similarly essential for clients to understand the importance of having a solid website structure for successful SEO. This understanding and communication are foundational to ensuring the SEO campaign’s effectiveness and success.
A Closer Look: An Actual SEO Case Study
Let’s delve into a real-world scenario to understand why some SEO campaigns fail, despite considerable effort and investment.
The Situation
Here’s a luxury tour company (Name has been omitted) that was lingering around an average rank of 60 in March, showing no significant improvement since the campaign’s commencement in August of the previous year. But then, a sudden surge was observed from April 2022 to June 2022 when their ranking rocketed to the top two pages. What triggered this abrupt change?
The Problem: Website Issue
The problem was always the website. The keywords were combinations of ‘luxury tour’ plus a country name, like ‘luxury tour Japan.’ Despite targeting over ten countries, each page of the website had a mere introduction and a brief overview of the tours, summing up to approximately 500 words.
Now, take a look at the competitors. Their respective country pages were brimming with relevant information. From the country overview to detailed tour descriptions, FAQs, related articles about the country, each page was densely packed with approximately 2000+ words.
Google’s Preference
If you were Google, which site would you rank higher? Certainly, the one rich in content and information. Despite the luxury tour company’s high link authority, Google wouldn’t rank it higher because the site had content issues. This situation is akin to a toilet that can flush, but there’s a blockage in the pipe. It won’t work effectively until the blockage is cleared.
The Solution
The solution, in short, was simple. The webpages needed more depth and information. Developers could upgrade the pages within a month to include a short FAQ section, related articles, and additional content describing the country and various potential experiences. Each of these new sections, spread across all the country pages, would hold substantial copywriting, covering at least 2000 words.
The Implementation
However, despite communicating the necessary changes in the first month of the campaign from the post SEO audit, the client, lacking in-house developers did not make the necessary site enhancements. We used the backlinking budget to hire a developer to make the additions.
The Setback
But another roadblock emerged. The client did not have the time to provide the new extensive copywriting for the pages, even after multiple reminders of its significant impact on the campaign. The rankings remained stagnant for nine months.
Taking the Initiative
Subsequently, we decided to invest in the campaign by writing over 30 pages of web copy for the client. Every single country page had now a huge jump in its word count from 800 to a few thousand words.
And voila! The rankings soared to multiple page 1 positions. This improvement was a testament to where site authority meets relevance. The blockage was cleared, and the website started to “flush” like a reservoir, showcasing the built-up SEO power over nine months.
Reflection
In conclusion, the delay in web enhancements and additional copywriting held back the rankings for nine months. If these changes had been implemented in the first month, the campaign could have concluded with a majority of top 1 rankings in 12 months or less. The campaign did eventually boost various rankings, but by then, the campaign had ended due to another change in staff, leaving behind a story of what could have been a smoother, faster climb to the top of the search rankings.
Lessons Learned and Moving Forward As A SEO Company
It was indeed a pity how the campaign unfolded. However, on the other hand, it shed light on several essential aspects, enabling us to evolve as a more customer-centric and result-driven SEO company in Singapore. Here are the significant takeaways and how we plan to apply them for a seamless, efficient future working relationship.
A. Onboarding Clients on Web Structures
What We Learned: The significance of making the client aware of potential web structures and ensuing costs before any agreement is finalized.
How We Improve: We now ensure that expectations are well managed, and potential additional costs are outlined from the onset. This approach ensures clear, simple, and transparent pricing, eliminating unpleasant surprises for the customers later on.
B. Bridging the Communication Gap
What We Learned: The changeover in staff can lead to a significant communication gap and a lack of priority awareness for the new individuals.
How We Improve: We are refining our communication strategies to ensure that both the partnership and strategy are consistent and clear to all parties involved, irrespective of staff changes.
C. Understanding Clients’ Limitations
What We Learned: Our clients can be busy, and being non-technical, they may not grasp what needs to be done on their end.
How We Improve: We are now adopting a more comprehensive approach to SEO budgeting. It’s not just about SEO anymore; we utilize the budget to cover website fixes by our developers, offering our clients a hassle-free experience and peace of mind. Whether they lack understanding or time, we’ve got it covered.
D. Recognizing the Technical Aspect
What We Learned: The site’s design and structure significantly impact its ranking ability. A modern, well-organized website is crucial for higher rankings.
How We Improve: In our SEO techniques, we now emphasize the need for a robust website structure, including various essential pages and a minimum word count of 2000 words on individual service pages. We share these insights with our clients upfront to ensure their websites are optimized for the best results.
E. Revised Our SEO Company Packages
What We Learned: The uncertainty regarding the responsibility of website upgrades and content writing.
How We Improve: Our SEO packages have been revamped to eliminate this dilemma. We now include website upgrades and content writing as part of our service offering, ensuring clients no longer need to worry about these aspects.
Moving Ahead with Enhanced Service Offerings
Every campaign is an opportunity to learn how we can constantly improve our SEO service offerings and the way we conduct business.
As a result, we’ve upgraded our operations to ensure that the client is freed from technical complexities and additional responsibilities, as opposed to having too many to and forth bounce around with Clients that may potentially delay a campaign. Our all-inclusive SEO packages today covers everything from SEO to site upgrades and content writing. It is designed to aim for that coveted #1 rank, establishing the client as the industry leader, yet offering convenience, peace of mind for Clients without an in-house writing team and developers.
By handling all aspects seamlessly, this allows a stronger partnership between both the seo company and the client. So we can produce not just higher rankings but peace of mind and satisfaction.
