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Do You Want an SEO'd Site or a Pretty One?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Personal SEO - Website SEO and Real Estate Marketing

Oh, the dilemma! As an SEO person (I hate using the word 'expert' or 'pro' because we are always learning and things are always changing), we constantly work on making sites load faster, appeal to Google and follow all the rules.  But as a consumer, I want a pretty site, easy to read, attractive, and one that stands out, which usually means movement, big images and buttons. 

 

  UGH  - The DilemmaSEO or pretty website Hence lies our dilemma. I get it. You want an amazing site! Who doesn't!? But because we are SEO people first and web designers second, we build and design for the search engines, leads and rankings, not like graphic designers. 

I had a graphic designer come to me a couple months ago and said they wanted a new site. She does beautiful work and laid out a whole website for me the way she wanted it. The problem was that it was all in pictures. No actual text or content, just large format pictures. If we went with exactly what she wanted the site would have taken 3 minutes to load and Google would have laughed at it, if it even took the time to view it at all.

We kind of went round and round on the design for a couple weeks because she just couldn't figure out why everything couldn't just be her amazing graphics. She's a dear friend as well so I got real with her. No one will find your site and no one will wait to view it. Is that what you want? LOL... well, no, of course not, so we made some compromises. We allowed her a few graphics designed for web and she allowed some actual text content. The finished product is amazing (I think, anyway) and so did she - Peddy Graphics

But this is the same scenario with just about everyone. We did a beautiful site for a photographer in New York and you KNOW she wanted her photos to look stunning. But we couldn't just throw any old photos up there; they had to be optimized for search engines and the web. Not so cut and dry as you might think. They have to look amazing and they have to load fast. To do this, we usually use a caching software like Cloud Flare or a CDN service that allows images to load on the closest server, speeding up the entire site.  

 

What if a graphic designer tried to do SEO?

This is the situation we get into BUT I think it's also a good one. Think of it the other way around; would you want a graphic designer or branding manager designing your website? It might look amazing but score an F on the Google rating scale. 

We were asked to clean up our church's website because it was so slow and wasn't performing. Turns out there were 15 videos playing immediately when you got to the homepage. Imaging how that slowed down the site!? The main designer was a graphic designer and she does BEAUTIFUL work but putting it on a website was not working. We had to reformat all the videos, pare things down and adjust all the images and coding. But that's what we do! And we love it. Check it out: Grove.Church  

 

functionality or pretty?I see it all the time - There are dozens of web design companies that 'claim' they do SEO too. But it's not their main focus and 9 times out of 10, they are using old, outdated techniques that will actual get a site banned rather than help the site.

Using an SEO 'expert' (okay, I used it) to design your website means that it will be optimized first, designed second. We make sure all the code is accurate, there are no errors, and it does what you want it to do CAPTURE LEADS. A site might be pretty, but does it drive home who you are, what you do, and how a person can buy your service or product?  Not only do we design for search engines, but for clients to find you, call you and buy from you (or use your service). We make it pretty after all the foundation work and that's what you really should be looking at. 

Some our sites we are really proud of:

http://elitestagingandinteriors.com/

http://orlandomilliondollarhomes.com/

http://30aexclusivebeachrealestate.com/

http://peggywester.com/

http://wheretoliveinorlando.com/

http://denlinproperties.com/  

Posted by

Personal SEO Tim and Tammy Emineth

Personal SEO Facebook Page Personal SEO Instagram Page Tammy Emineth Pinterest Page Personal SEO Linkedin Page Linkedin Page

 

Tim and Tammy Emineth have owned Personal SEO since 2004. We focus on SEO first whether it's blogging, images, website design, IDX solutions and calls to action. We operate with a Storybrand philosophy to encourage more traffic to your site, more eyes on your content and more leads to your business. Call us or email us for a free website audit.

Tim: 425-443-8372  Tammy: 425-344-0677

Comments (11)

Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

I land on some sites and all I see are photos ... no content.  That is not why I am there and within one second .. I am gone. I won't waste my time looking for content. 

Jul 22, 2017 05:44 PM
Tammy Emineth

I mean, unless it's a photography site, you better give me some words. HA

Jul 24, 2017 09:20 AM
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

I am sure consumers want information when they visit a web site and it is important to have good seo .

Jul 23, 2017 03:07 AM
Tammy Emineth

yes, give me the info! Ha

Jul 24, 2017 09:21 AM
Mark Neighbor
A O Home Solutions - Sell House Georgia - Buy House Georgia - McDonough, GA
Sell House Fast In Georgia

Good content is important. Getting good content fast is important as we live in a instant i want it right now time, but SEO is so important as people won't see your  information if they can not find it on the web.. I am always looking for SEO help. www.sellorbuyhouses.com and www.sellhousegeorgia.com

Jul 23, 2017 05:07 AM
Tammy Emineth

Hi Mark, Thanks for your comment., I sent you an email :)

Jul 24, 2017 09:19 AM
Donald Payne
Vision Realty - Columbus, OH
What's your Vision..

I get it. people want flashy but sometimes flashy doesn't load and I'm not going to sit there forever waiting for my information. 

Jul 24, 2017 10:05 AM
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

That is very true, visuals vs. SEO. Hard to tell a designer of anything that the photos don't come first.

Nice job on Beth's website.

Jul 26, 2017 09:41 AM
Dave Halpern
Dave Halpern Real Estate Agent, Inc., Louisville, KY (502) 664-7827 - Louisville, KY
Louisville Short Sale Expert

Function over form, the age-old question. Whatever captures the most leads is the way to go.

Jul 27, 2017 10:02 AM
faye schubert
Retired - Branson, MO
Living the Branson Lake Life

Amen Sister! I hear all the time about wanting a pretty website.  The realtor spends a boatload of money on the pretty site, then they tell me they don't  ever get any leads. Well, they wanted pretty..... I don't do pretty. I build for SEO.

Jul 29, 2017 08:12 PM
Praful Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
Andover, MA: Andover Luxury Homes For Sale

Tammy Emineth - I am with you. Just the pictures - even each of them are equivalent to 1,000 words - it does not tell the whole story!

And how about SEO? Do they notice that? (Unless some tricks are used to do so...lol!)

Jul 30, 2017 10:38 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

That is the internal question in the eternal question. SEO has gotten a lot more intuitive lately

Aug 08, 2017 11:51 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

I do agree with everyone that is all about capturing leads in the bottom line a The bottom line in the grand scheme of things

Aug 08, 2017 11:53 PM
Elva Branson-Lee
Solid Source Realty GA - Atlanta, GA
CDPE - Atlanta Real Estate & Short Sale Agent

It's a balancing act for sure. When someone actually does land on your site, via great SEO, it had better be visually appealing enough to hold them there or else they'll bounce away.

Sep 02, 2017 07:13 AM