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Effective Website Redesigns: How To Avoid Costly Mistakes
With Janet Mesh of Aimtal
Website redesigns are a necessary component for marketers. But with so many elements going into an effective redesign, do you know what to focus on to develop a solid plan from the start? 
Join us and hear from Janet Mesh, CEO and co-founder of Aimtal, as she and Loren Baker, our founder and host, break down the ways to effectively launch a website redesign using Webflow and HubSpot, and the factors you need to focus on when redesigning. You’ll get tips on honing in on your site’s infrastructure using Janet’s “do no harm” strategy, to ensure that you have a clear infrastructure plan from the beginning.
If you're looking to make your next redesign efficient and effective, you won't want to miss these tips.
 
Resources:
Website Strategy Worksheet 
 
Connect with Janet Mesh, CEO and Co-Founder of Aimtal:
Janet Mesh is the CEO + Co-Founder of Aimtal, a fully remote integrated marketing & consulting agency for B2B tech companies like Cisco, Atlassian, Trello, and Prisma Cloud. She is a remote work advocate who, in the past 5 years, has built and run a team of marketers located in 6 time zones all over the world.
Janet has doubled the size and revenue of her agency year-over-year since its inception in 2018 and Aimtal won the Sprout Social ‘Always Be Growing’ award in 2022 in recognition of this growth. Her passion for integrated marketing with an agile approach is the key to her success, and has led to over a million dollars in sales for her clients in the last year.
Outside of work, you can find Janet trying new restaurants around the world, reading historical fiction novels, and hosting happy hours at home for family & friends.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aimtal_co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aimtalco/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aimtal/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aimtal_co
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aimtal/
 
Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal:
Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker 
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker 

Using data gathered from 3,890 SEO professionals for our annual State of SEO report, we're ready to give you new insights on the disruptive factors in the industry. From the rise of generative AI to shifting content trends, there are many opportunities to use these new disruptions to your advantage and stay ahead in such a competitive time.
Ben Steele, senior editor at Search Engine Journal, joined me on this SEJ Show to break down the three significant disruptions in the SEO world and the opportunities they present. We examined the process behind implementing generative AI and what AI might look like next year.
Get tactics for communicating your SEO value, tips on new ways to cultivate your audience, and new content creation strategies for facing changing trends.
People noted that generative AI would be the biggest disruptor. However, respondents are largely positive; they feel optimistic about the impact of generative AI and its potential to affect their business's bottom line. I think there's an interesting duality to note there. It's disrupting many things, but people are still excited about it. –Ben Steele, 04:33
You bring up a great point about adapting focus. The industry is incredibly dynamic. With the acceleration of AI, changes in search engine algorithms, and evolving user behavior, SEO professionals need to be agile. They have to reassess and adapt their metric priorities in real time to ensure they're capturing the most relevant data, which translates to business value. That could be the reason we had to revisit the metrics we included in this year's survey. –Ben Steele, 20:29
While I can't predict the future with absolute certainty, what's clear is that the traditional role of an SEO professional is already transforming. SEO is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. It's no longer just about optimizing for search engines; it's about optimizing for user experience, understanding data analytics, and even having some proficiency with AI and machine learning models. –Ben Steele, 21:15
 
[00:00] - About Ben.
[03:57] - Top disruptors in SEO.
[04:33] - Has generative AI affected search yet?
[07:07] - User behavior toward new technology: voice search example.
[10:46] - Freelancers moving to permanent positions.
[12:15] - Impact of layoffs in tech companies.
[16:34] - Priority metrics for SEO professionals.
[18:05] - Agency vs. in-house SEO communication struggles.
[22:20] - Importance of click-through rate as a metric.
[27:25] - SEO's role in ecommerce and Google Shopping.
[28:53] - Content's role in SEO.
[29:37] - Top barriers to SEO success.
[30:57] - Communication barriers in SEO.
[32:31] - Frequency of Google updates.
[34:01] - Changes in Google SERPs.
[34:36] - Major takeaways in the SEO report.
[36:46] - Navigating SEO algorithm changes.
[38:03] - Communicating SEO value.
 
Resources mentioned: 
State of SEO 2024 - https://www.searchenginejournal.com/state-of-seo/
An SEO's job is not just to drive traffic; it's to complete that journey all the way down to the checkout. –Loren Baker, 26:08
What we're seeing is a shift in focus. Last year, people were going back to basics and focusing on technical SEO. This year, we're seeing a greater emphasis on understanding audience intent and traffic quality, not just raw numbers, but what this traffic means. –Ben Steele, 22:22
People are no longer convinced by the promise of getting you to page one for any term you want because the question becomes, 'Page one for what? For something that nobody searches for?' –Ben Steele, 38:03
For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal
Are you looking to keep up with current and effective digital marketing today? Check out https://www.searchenginejournal.com for everything you need to know within the digital marketing space and improve your skills as an internet marketer.
 
Connect with Ben Steele:  
Ben Steele, the Se

Have you wondered how to expand your business' reach across different languages and cultures? Do you know what role multilingual and localized content can play in your business?
Naoko Takano, Localization and Community Program Manager for WordPress, joined me on the SEJShow to explore the significance of localization and internationalization in WordPress’ mission. 
Naoko has been involved with WordPress localization since its infancy and has seen firsthand how multilingual localization has built larger communities around businesses. 
Learn the power of multilingual content and what it means for effectively broadening your reach online. Discover tips and opportunities for your business to collaborate across different cultures and how to leverage this power to improve your ROI.
 
WordPress, being an open-source solution from WordPress.org, your mission is to empower the publisher. –Loren Baker, 06:45
One of the advantages WordPress has is that we have so many different types of languages, and it's possible to add more languages as long as there are translators. –Naoko Takano, 13:49
The mission of WordPress is democratizing publishing. Our mission is to reach all the people using the internet and want to publish, not only in English-speaking countries. So yes, we want to expand beyond. –Naoko Takano, 23:28
 
[00:23] - About Naoko.
[02:18] - WordPress localization and global growth.
[06:45] - Open source as WordPress.org's growth driver.
[08:49] - The role of translation in WordPress business expansion.
[10:58] - Volunteer-driven operations at WordPress.org.
[12:55] - WordPress plugins vs. enterprise CMS for expanding businesses.
[13:49] - WordPress' multilingual capabilities.
[14:55] - Anticipation of multilingual support in WordPress core software.
[16:07] - Balancing WordPress' multilingual offerings with business interests.
[16:54] - Gutenberg's fourth phase: Multilingual support?
[17:07] - Adapting translation plugins for WordPress' block editor.
[19:54] - WordPress' growth in the Spanish market.
[21:52] - The most active countries in WordCamps events.
[23:12] - The impact of translation on WordPress.org's international usage.
[24:42] - Democratization through cultural collaboration in WordPress.
[26:12] - Localization in WordPress: More than translation.
[30:15] - The future of multilingual WordPress.
[32:48] - The international WordPress community's size.
[34:07] - Site translation and localization for various audiences.
[36:24] - Connecting with the WordPress community online.
 
Resources Mentioned: https://wordpress.org/ 
 
I would like to see a more technology-assisted way for us to read and reach the audience in different parts of the world. That helps us find more engaging content and allows the content provider to reach further than the limitation of their language area. –Naoko Takano, 30:55
We benefit as a community by using the version we are familiar with and providing that to the client. The backend is also translated, which helps people make the plugins usable without the language barrier. –Naoko Takano, 08:49
We, the translation community, always say over 20,000 active people have been translating something within a year or so.–Naoko Takano, 32:52
 
For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal
Are you looking to keep up with current and effective digital marketing today? Check out https://www.searchenginejournal.com for everything you need to enhance your knowledge and skills in search marketing.
 
Connect With Naoko Takano:
Naoko Takano is the Localization & Community Program Manager at Automattic with over ten years of experience in the US. She specializes in software localization and English-Japanese translation and applies her expertise to WordPress support, technical writing, and community organization. 
A full-time contributor to the WordPress Polyglots and Community Teams

No matter what your business specializes in, your website is often the first place potential clients and customers learn about your company. This means visitors can decide about your services within the first few seconds. So how do you hook them? 
Fiona Allman-Treen, author of “Website Mastery for Business Owners Who Don't Speak Tech,” joins me on the SEJShow and shows you the three key things your website needs to increase your website’s visibility, boost your business growth, and convert visitors to paying customers. 
Get expert analysis based on Fiona’s best-selling book that will show you how to translate the tech-speak around website design and maintain ROI after your website launch's initial excitement is over.
Website Mastery for Business Owners was needed because [speaking tech] is something that people shouldn't have to do to get a really good website. They shouldn't need to know the ins and outs of the code. - Fiona Allman, 00:59
What attracted me to the web in the first place was seeing that level playing field. It makes a one-man band can sound like an orchestra online, and that's what I love. So it's, it's all about making that happen for people. - Fiona Allman, 01:31
I've always found it nice to just send a text every once in a while and send a follow-up because you never know when someone will leave and go somewhere else. It's just good sportsmanship at the end of the day. Just, "Hey, how's it going?" It's checking in, you know, happy new year, whatever it may be. It doesn't have to be cheesy, but it, it has  helped me personally retain or even bring clients back. Just having an open line of communication all the time. –Loren Baker, 20:21
 
[00:46] About Fiona.
[02:22] Keeping up with recent web design changes.
[03:12] Initial steps in defining a website strategy.
[06:11] Key elements for website visitor engagement.
[13:57] Significance of image selection in customer engagement.
[15:23] Strategies for customer satisfaction and preventing buyer's remorse.
[15:56] Importance of post-purchase customer engagement.
[17:22] Balancing customer connection and salesmanship.
[19:42] Value of communication with returning customers.
[22:57] An insight into Fiona's book "Website Mastery."
[23:00] Advantages of print publishing over online writing.
[24:02] Networking advantages of a physical book.
[25:41] Using "Website Mastery" in client onboarding.
[26:20] Unexpected outcomes of book publishing.
[27:28] Reaction to book rejection at networking events.
[30:49] Advice for non-tech individuals on web design mastery.
 
Resources Mentioned:
Website Mastery Book: https://www.fatpromotions.co.uk/wmregister/
Fat Promotions: https://www.fatpromotions.co.uk/
 
You can attract people to your website, but you've got that attraction piece if they don't connect with what they see when they get there. You've got these visitors coming in, like, with decent search engine listings. You'll get that. But if they get there and they don't connect with what they see, it's not going to happen." - Fiona Allman, 06:11
I had one guy who bought a copy, and he put this glorious review on Amazon. He was so kind. And he said, I read it in three days, and I have to work with you. That's it. And it, as it turned out, we ended up going through all the different things that he wanted.–Fiona Allman, 26:56
You want those repeat customers. That's where your engagement gold comes in. When you get those repeat customers, just show them you care. So really what you want to do is, as you say, keep them on the, on your love them up the list. Keep them in your email marketing. Give them regular newsletters, but keep people from pestering them. –Fiona Alman,15:56
For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal
Are you looking to keep up with current and effective digital marketing today? Check out https://www.searchenginejournal.com for everything you

As WordPress celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is essential to reflect on its roots and explore how its history has shaped ecommerce and what this means for your website.
Paul Maiorana, CEO of WooCommerce, joined me on the SEJ Show for this special episode to reflect on how ecommerce found its way into the WordPress world and how WooCommerce intertwined with WordPress’ values and initiatives.
We talked about Paul’s 11+ year career with Automattic, his experiences leading WordPress VIP, and what led him to take on the leadership of WooCommerce. 
You’ll also hear about the core community spirit that lives in the foundation of WordPress and how this has impacted WooCommerce’s mission for its users.
You won’t want to miss this critical look back from someone who has been there through countless steps along the way.
The difference, though, in governance is really important, which is that nobody owns WordPress. It's stewarded by the WordPress Foundation and a nonprofit that owns the intellectual property and everything around WordPress. That’s guided by Matt Mullenweg, its founder, co-founder, and still project lead. But the governance model is different. Whereas with WooCommerce, Automattic wholly owns WooCommerce. It's still an open-source product that uses the GPL license, free software, the same as WordPress is. Still, we effectively fund all of the development of WooCommerce. –Paul Maiorana, 14:36
WooCommerce is a global platform for sure. So we have customers in every country. There is such great support for localization. Translations and localization are a massive part of that, not just in terms of people providing those translations but also on the other side. It's how merchants can build a localized experience for their shoppers. –Paul Maiorana, 20:57
That's the beauty of open source, right? We're able to get leaner and meaner than some of our competitors. We’ve adequately federated this ecosystem of independent software developers, agencies, freelancers, and web hosts. These folks come together to produce a WooCommerce site and a quality product. Our interests are aligned, which ultimately makes for a better customer experience. –Paul Maiorana, 23:02
 
[00:00] - About Paul.
[03:28] - WooCommerce's origin & Automattic integration.
[07:01] - Purpose of WooCommerce development.
[09:38] - WooCommerce's market share.
[13:27] - Developer engagement with WooCommerce.
[17:10] - Exploring WooCommerce extensions/integrations.
[20:57] - WooCommerce & localization strategies, shopping support, lean model & open-source contributions.
[24:14] WooCommerce's Solution to ecommerce challenges.
[26:23] Commerce platform fragmentation issues.
[27:40] Future commerce trends: Smartphone preference.
[29:37] Growth potential in the WooCommerce ecosystem.
[30:42] WooCommerce success stories.
 
Resources Mentioned:
Woo Express: https://woocommerce.com/express/
Showcase of WooCommerce Merchants: https://woocommerce.com/showcase/
Woo’s In-House Developed Extensions: https://woocommerce.com/product-category/woocommerce-extensions
Recent Woo Blog: https://woocommerce.com/blog/
WooCommerce Merchant: https://www.tinywoodstove.com/
Tonal: Success story mention who uses WooCommerce as their ecommerce platform: https://www.tonal.com/
 
We think we've got a real advantage and opportunity to, through WooCommerce, provide a solution that developers love, but also to provide a more opinionated package of WooCommerce and extensions integrated with a hosting solution to provide something that's much more turnkey and simple and just more intuitive for a merchant to get up and running with. –Paul Maiorana, 26:23
The ability to start with something simple like Woo Express, or something like that, just out of the box simplified shopping environment. And then as that company grows and as they go down the paths of more and more and test more and more marketing channels, making that easier to

How do you prepare your social and marketing team for AI? There are a ton of AI tools out there, but not all of them are useful.
Jamie Gilpin, CMO at Sprout Social, joined me on the SEJ Show to talk social, search, and how AI can play a bigger part in your strategy.
Gain valuable insight into virality, social media trends, and emerging AI technologies, and discover the seamless integration of these technologies into your team's workflow.
 
Trends come from forces, and forces are the big cultural shifts that we see. As a result, the moment or signals from those forces become micro topics. –Jamie Gilpin, 05:43
In the world of SEO and search, search changes quickly. Social media trends change just as fast, whether it's platforms or just the way that people are communicating. Everything used to be written. Then, it went to images. And now, video.  –Loren Baker, 02:03 
Social does infiltrate not just the full customer journey but all aspects of the customer's enterprise. –Jamie Gilpin, 33:23
 
[00:00] - About Jamie
[02:03] - The evolution of social media trends & content consumption
[03:25] - Understanding trend culture and TikTok's influence
[13:14] - The importance of having a business presence on TikTok
[19:51] - Opportunities to integrate AI in daily social media marketing workflows
[20:57] - Current discourse and applications of AI in marketing
[25:39] - Understanding the AI Assist Tool 
[27:16] - Future of AI in visual content for social media marketing
[33:39] - Intersection of social media and search in consumer research
 
Resources Mentioned:
Sprout Social - https://sproutsocial.com/


One of the biggest opportunities, I would say, and it's synonymous with the challenge we have on the marketing team, is that it's so much easier to work autonomously in silos. Still, the real value, and more importantly, our customers expect that all those folks are working together and delivering one seamless customer experience. –Jamie Gilpin, 18:52
The worst thing that you can do, from a customer experience and perception perspective, is to not have a through-line for when your customer is ready to buy. When they see something they want to buy from you and can't find it. –Jamie Gilpin, 15:13
That's the future of social, and that's why I get very excited about this space. It started in marketing, but it started as a tool for us to advertise another thing–another channel that we would push our message out. –Jamie Gilpin,32:26
 
For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal
Are you looking to keep up with current and effective digital marketing today? Check out https://www.searchenginejournal.com for everything you need to know within the digital marketing space and improve your skills as an internet marketer.
 
Connect With Jamie Gilpin:
Jamie Gilpin, the Chief Marketing Officer at Sprout Social, is a marketing maestro who knows how to grow brands in technology. Her knack for building stellar teams and driving revenue through ingenious strategies make her a force to be reckoned with. 
From lead generation to social media sorcery, Jamie's expertise shines through. Armed with an MBA from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in public relations from Florida State University, she's a marketing dynamo who knows how to make things happen.
Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiegilpin/ 
Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiewo
 
Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal:
Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker