Ep 16: How to Make Sure Your Web Development Process is On Track with Peter Mesarec

Who is Peter?

Today I’m talking with Peter Mesarec, an experienced marketing consultant and an SEO expert at Seos.si. He is also a fellow podcaster, with a show called Time for Marketing. Peter is passionate about SEO and has over 10 years of experience in the field. His professional journey started when his brother opened an online shop. In order to solve their issue of no traffic and no sales, Peter dove headfirst into the SEO market to rescue their fledgling e-commerce store.

Problem: How do you determine your website’s performance?

In SEO and marketing, one of the biggest problems is companies spending a lot of money on redesigning and creating new websites. Afterward, they are unsatisfied with their results. They don’t have the tools they need in order to make the adjustments they want. So they have to go through the entire expensive process all over again.

To make matters worse, there are web development companies out there who aren’t doing what they are supposed to do. While they can make your website beautiful, they will often neglect certain important aspects of having a website: product descriptions, placement, and SEO copy which will bring in visitors. Unfortunately, companies and clients, who are looking to have their websites designed for them, don’t often know what to look for or what has gone wrong when their websites aren’t performing the way they expect or need.

What are some of the tools or the framework Peter uses to resolve this problem?

There are two things that need to be done:

1. Think about your website, client needs, and products
2. Use the specific KPIs (key performance indicators) for different parts of your website

The latter of the two is a neglected, but more valuable part of the whole process. It is Peter’s opinion that while some web developers will tell you that they can bring you better SEO results and faster loading times, that emphasis may be a bit misplaced.

Which KPIs and metrics should we look for?

Peter highlights six different types or groups of metrics we should look at when we delve into website KPIs:

• Google Analytics metrics
• SEO metrics
• Advertising metrics
• Product metrics
• Company metrics
• Subjective metrics

He thinks that there is too much emphasis placed on KPI metrics outside of these six categories. Diamond and Bounce Rates metrics aren’t going to help you by themselves or if you don’t put them in the right context.

Peter also adds that you can’t really make your SEO ranking better, but you can certainly make it worse if you make the wrong move or make multiple SEO mistakes on your website.

When Peter talks about subjective metrics, he specifically means for you to look and listen to what your visitors are saying.

Listen to the person that is using the webpage. How many curse words per day is he or she going to say?

Which parts of your website are you proud of? Which would you show off to a loved one or to impress your friends or clients? If you say, “Nothing,” then there is something wrong with the subjective metrics of your site.

What steps should you take when starting a website from scratch?

Peter suggests these six steps for starting a website from scratch, whether it is your first site or if you’re scrapping your current website and starting over again.

1. Planning
2. Wireframes
3. Graphics
4. Technical Optimization (SEO)
5. On-Site Optimization (creating the best content for your website)
6. Testing

Of course, during each of these steps, you should always be going back to your plan from the first step, to ensure you are on the right course.

Peter places an incredible amount of emphasis on the planning period because it is your foundation for your site. If you have a good enough foundation, you will have great cohesion and you will be able to test your website accurately and with useful results.

Make sure you conducting your testing wisely and effectively.

Testing your website does not mean that three of the people that are a part of your company click around your website. That is looking at your website.

What are some websites Peter uses to stay up-to-date on the SEO world?

To those interested in web design, Peter suggests going to The Baymard Institute. They specifically provide their clients with over 49,000 hours of large-scale e-commerce UX research and also shows their clients how their UX performance stacks up against leading e-commerce sites.

They conduct specific testing on websites to come up with informative data to help their clients improve their web pages. They also offer a number of free tools and information on their website, including articles, benchmarks/UX case studies, and page designs.