One of the most frustrating things that can happen to you as a small business owner is to invest in a brand-new website, only to be told that it needs to be ‘fixed’ by a digital marketing agency months later.
If you are in a situation where a prospective SEO agency is telling you that your website needs changing or renovating but you like it as it is, give this article a read. We’ll share some advice on how best to proceed.
Why do SEO agencies insist on changing websites?
First of all, why is it that SEO agencies are always so insistent on making so many changes to people’s websites? Can you really trust them with FTP access?
Contrary to what you might imagine, it’s not about ‘making more money’, it’s about ensuring that your website performs optimally.
You see, SEO isn’t just about creating awesome content, building a solid backlink profile, and ultimately attracting more traffic to your website; it’s about ensuring that when new visitors do visit your website, they have the highest possible chance at converting into business.
Your web developer may not have thought about your long-term SEO goals
The average web developer has one job: create an attractive and user-friendly website with your branding in mind. They listen to your requests and then construct something that is ultimately going to please you.
However, not every web developer does extensive keyword research and creates SEO optimised sales copy that is designed to attract and convert a certain demographic.
As such, it’s not so much that your website is broken and needs to be fixed, but more a case of polishing it off.
You could almost look at it like this:
- Web developers manufacture blank canvases.
- SEO experts sit down and paint your portrait for you.
Ask your SEO for a detailed plan of action
Remember, you are under no obligation to proceed or to make any changes if you don’t want to. So, the best approach is to ask them for a detailed plan of action.
What changes do they want to make? And why do they want to make them? What value will it bring to your business?
In doing so, you can effectively ‘test’ their authenticity. Are they simply trying to squeeze as much money out of you as possible, or do they have a valid reason for every technical change that they have proposed?
The likelihood is that they have a very good reason to want to make the changes that they have suggested. The fact is, proper SEO bound for success does require an awful lot of tinkering on the back end of your website, especially when it comes to health, security, hygiene, and performance.
And the best part? So long as you do your due diligence and invest in a highly reputable SEO agency in Brisbane with a record of delivering superior results for their clients, then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
Conclusion
To recap:
- It’s perfectly normal to have your doubts (it’s frustrating after you’ve just spent a load of money on a brand new website only to be told it needs even more work).
- Most web developers aren’t SEO experts, so it’s not uncommon for some tinkering to be required.
- It’s difficult to build an SEO optimised website without first having a solid long-term strategy in place.
- You don’t have to make any commitments until you are satisfied with the what and the why. If the right digital marketing agency can provide you with a detailed explanation as to why they need to make the proposed changes, then you should put your faith in them.
Ultimately, unless your website is incredibly old or very poorly designed, there shouldn’t need to be too many structural or aesthetic changes to be made. For the most part, it will likely be a case of editing content, updating meta and titles, and rooting around in the backend to improve page load speed and security.
We hope this article has helped shed some light on the subject and made you feel a little more comfortable with it. If you are still unsure, you can always take the website audit data provided by your prospective SEO and get a second opinion.
In any case, for the most part, when a reputable SEO agency wants to make changes to your website, it’s because they want to make you money! After all, their reputation depends on your success.