Top result in Google search: Should I update my website?

AAnonymous ·October 17, 2014 ·11 answers

I run a fairly new B2B startup. Without spending a cent in ads or SEO I ended up reaching the top position (or at least being listed in the first page) in the search results for the main keywords related to my business. I don’t know how I did it.

Unfortunately my website sucks, it looks old, the graphics are amateurial, the layout uninspiring. Today I was ready to code a new, slick and cool website but a friend of mine strongly suggested me to leave it as it is, to avoid losing the top position. Is he right?

11 answers from the community

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

First, make sure you are logged out and do the search in an incognito window.

Second, search results are particularly volatile right now and also vary significantly by geography as well. Have friends in different locations (e.g. other parts of the country, not other parts of the city) search those terms as well (or if you have proxy servers, check using those). As far as the volatility, this ranking (particularly for a thin site with few links) could disappear quickly.

After the above you should have more of an accurate handle on that ranking.

Whether you should build a new one depends mainly on conversion. If the old one doesn't convert despite a good ranking, it isn't doing you any good. A newer and more refined site might convert better.

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

Thank you for your suggestions. I did the search in incognito and I asked people living in different countries/continents to do that too. My website has been on the first page for several weeks and now it's on the top. Being a B2B, the sales cycle is fairly long and I cannot really measure conversion. I get contacted by email or phone and it takes between a few days and a few weeks to close a deal. As a matter of fact, I don't have time to follow up with all the prospective clients that contact me.

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

One approach would be to change the graphics and some cosmetic areas while leaving the written content identical. There is some risk with this (though way less than a full re-do). Based on your second comment that this site is generating leads, I would leave it alone for now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

Yes, I'll probably slowly work on the new site and switch to it once I fall off the grace of Google...

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

what is the keyword search and your site? I always use a serp tool to check. I use whatsmyserp .com.

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

I'd prefer to stay anonymous... :) That's the only way to get honest feedback, right?

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

Wrong.

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

yes

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

Keep source code the same.Change the graphics by changing the graphics on your computer , ( rename ) the same as they were on the source code. Follow me ?

change the image inside the name.Keep the name of the file in the source code.

AAnonymous· Oct 17, 2014

Definitly tweak and simplify the graphics question is, Is it generating sales ?

AAnonymous· Oct 20, 2014

Keep the existing site and content, point the DNS elsewhere

Top result in Google search: Should I update my website?

11 answers from the community

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