Fellow marketer, Sam from Marketing Pace, asked us to apply our technical SEO skills to this website that was underperforming. She had been tasked by Botting & Co to improve its search engine performance and useability.
However, not only was the site difficult to navigate, but it was very slow. (It was only scoring 31 out of 100 for performance on a PageSpeed Insight test.) So, we agreed to carry out a site audit to see what could be done to improve its performance.
Website Audit
We carried out our standard website audit which checks all elements of a website that can immediately impact SEO. This is a traffic light system that we have created that allows us to export an SEO action list. Starting with the most critical issues, that have the biggest impact, the report contains a comprehensive list of actions to improve the website.
Whilst we were auditing the site, we saw some ‘quick win’ opportunities, so we made a few amendments. By optimising some very large images we were able to significantly reduce the home page download speed. This alone drastically improved the Google Lighthouse performance score, taking it from being in the red, up to 61/100.
User Experience
Unfortunately, the way the site had been built, meant that it would never truly perform well. The web hosting certainly played a part in the site’s performance score. But the WordPress theme and page builder also contributed to the front-end speed.
The blog section of the site is very substantial, containing over 580 posts. But with no search bar, categories or tags, there was no way to search for content other than by date. Therefore, we concluded that it needed to be restructured to make it functional and user-friendly.
There were, in fact, lots of things we could have done to improve the old site. However, after a consultation with Sam, we ultimately concluded that it would be better to rebuild it from scratch. Building a brand-new website would allow us to implement all the SEO best practices, making it much more efficient. It would also be quicker, and therefore cheaper, to rebuild it, rather than fixing what was already there.
Website Rebuild
We set about rebuilding the website on our secure, super-fast web hosting and with our tried and tested WordPress theme. But as we were restructuring the website to accommodate blog categories and tags, we had to be extra careful…
It’s really important for a website’s authority and for SEO that old URL’s do not just disappear. So, we ran a scan of the old site and exported a list of all the pages to an Excel document. We then did the same for the new website that we were developing and added them to the same spreadsheet. The next step was to match up the URLs from the old site with the corresponding URL from the new site.
The reason we do this is to tell browsers where to go if someone tries to visit the old link. It prevents dead links and directs the user to their intended content without them realising that the URL has changed.
A Design Refresh
Whilst we were rebuilding the site, it made sense to give it a bit of a face lift. Botting & Co have a strong brand identity. So, our designer’s job was to give the website a subtle redesign whilst staying true to the existing brand. In essence, we have built the same site, just a bit slicker, with improved structure and a lot, lot quicker.
We’re really happy with the technical stats that the new website is getting and the search functionality of the blog. Now the technical SEO is on the right track, it’s back to Sam to work her magic with the content.
Web Design & SEO in Horsham
We are based in Horsham, with many of our clients based in West Sussex and the surrounding counties. But we also carry out SEO and web design for our clients throughout the UK and even some abroad. If you are struggling to get your website found on search engines, then get in touch. We’d love to speak to you about your website or any other aspect of your digital marketing.
Key Services:
Website Audit; Technical SEO; Web Design & Build
Visit the website:
www.bottingandco.co.uk
