2020 Fourteeners Silver Award: Brand and Digital Launch
Any time an organization migrates their online presence to a new website, there are risks. SEO can take a hit if you don’t plan ahead. It’s essential to formulate a strategy to ensure that existing site users, searchers, and search engines can easily find your valuable information and resources.
Those challenges became exponentially more complex for the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) as it prepared to become the home for two other associations in the same space.
All of the sites had strengths, and a critical risk was that the merger would break the SEO traction that all three organizations had established. In addition, the launch of the new website was scheduled just ahead of AAPACN’s annual conference, so timing was critical. They wanted to ensure the highest possibility for that event, so they needed to not only maintain their rankings but also stay ahead of competitors.
AAPACN’s internal web development and marketing teams were in control of the website build and on track for on-time delivery. But they didn’t have the capabilities to address an SEO migration plan. So they reached out to BizStream.
2020 Fourteeners Silver Award: Brand and Digital Launch
AAPACN was ahead of the curve but needed to be sure we could execute their most critical optimizations before their site launch. They also wanted to ensure that the site’s search engine rankings remained strong immediately after launch. We created a phased strategy to ensure both technical and keyword optimizations would be in place, right on time.
BizStream’s SEO and web development teams pulled benchmark performance data on all three existing websites. We recommended key technical optimizations to avoid common issues including:
Duplicate content, meta descriptions, and title tags
Missing or broken alt tags, external links, redirect chains, and loops
Non-responsive or adaptive design
Improperly tagged content, headings, and subheads
Slow page speeds
Non-optimized URLs
Missing or incorrect site map and privacy policy
Lack of structured data
We also performed SEO analysis on each of the domains to determine how to maintain page rankings for the most high-value pages. With that information in hand, we could provide AAPACN’s dev team with a detailed redirection mapping sheet.
Two weeks before launch, we ran a full SEO scan on the new AAPACN site and provided a technical SEO health report, giving the dev team time to address any remaining essential issues. We also provided detailed guidance on procedures for deploying the new site and decommissioning the old domains.
Also during this phase, we performed a pre-launch optimization of their page metadata. We developed a detailed keyword strategy and wrote optimized titles and descriptions for all their priority pages. This step ensured they launched with a strong, authoritative presence.
After launch, we provided ongoing analysis, leveraging Google Analytics and Webmaster tools to provide reporting and on-page optimizations.
With targeted monitoring and continuous visibility into site performance and traffic, we methodically refined their on-page keyword relevance over the course of the next four months.
After the launch of AAPACN’s new site, they found the redirection and SEO program had not just maintained their site’s page rank; it had actually increased visibility to outrank competitors.
Before the launch of the new site, AAPACN’s visibility sat below 30%.
After a few months of steady optimization, their visibility had risen to 48%—translating directly into increased traffic.
AAPACN went into their busy conference season strong, with a well-optimized site poised to engage and convert their newly combined audience.
With help from BizStream, AAPACN was able to implement an SEO strategy tailored to the unique needs of their organization. By investing in targeted optimizations, and through the creation of highly relevant content, they continue to realize lasting benefits for their prospects, members, and the organization.
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