Welcome to Online Marketing Tips, Tricks and Secrets from Gilmedia! Episode 40 reveals website redesign disasters - where 93% of redesigns lose SEO traffic, a Singapore firm lost $180K/month after a $50K project, and 49% of projects never finish, with the exact blueprint to avoid these catastrophic failures.
Key Topics Covered:
- 93% of redesigns lose significant SEO traffic without surgical precision
- Singapore firm: $50K spent, $180K/month lost (67% traffic drop, 52% lead plunge)
- 53% of mobile users abandon sites slower than 3 seconds
- 49% of redesign projects don't launch on time or never finish
The Hall of Shame: ✅ Singapore Financial Firm - Changed URLs without 301 redirects: 45K→15K visitors (-67%), leads -52% ✅ Digg - Radical UX change: 90% traffic drop, $164M→$500K valuation ✅ Snapchat (2018) - 1.2M petition, 5M daily users lost, 36% ad revenue drop ✅ Toronto Services Firm - Minimalist redesign won awards but -64% leads (fixed to +218% in 6 weeks)
Seven Deadly Sins:
- Neglecting SEO - Missing 301 redirects (301=permanent, 302=temporary kills authority)
- Designing for Executives - Ego pages get <20 seconds before users leave
- Underestimating Complexity - Requires project management, not intern side project
- Skipping User Testing - Marks & Spencer: Beautiful site, -8% sales (navigation confusion)
- Changing Everything at Once - Can't diagnose which change caused failure
- Designer-Developer Disconnect - Aesthetics vs conversion optimization conflict
- No Success Metrics - No baseline = meaningless post-launch data
Four-Phase Strategy: Phase 1: Strategic Planning
- Specific goals (not "more leads" → "2% to 3.5% conversion rate")
- Comprehensive SEO audit to protect superstar pages
- Team: Project manager, UX designer, visual designer, developer, SEO specialist, conversion optimizer
Phase 2: Design & Development
- Create comprehensive URL mapping spreadsheet (every old→new URL with 301 status)
- Mobile-first design (60% of traffic, Google's indexing basis)
- Page speed optimization: Compress images, minimize code, use CDN
Phase 3 & 4: Testing, Launch & Monitoring
- Staging environment tagged "noindex"
- Launch checklist: Verify redirects, submit sitemap, rollback plan ready
- First 30 days critical: Daily monitoring (5-10% dip normal, 30%+ = emergency)
CDN Explained: Content Delivery Network stores site copies globally - Vancouver user gets data from Seattle server instead of Toronto = faster load times.
Recovery Steps (If Disaster Strikes):
- Identify problem in Google Search Console (coverage errors, Core Web Vitals)
- Triage: Fix missing 301 redirects first (stops the bleeding)
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