As I mentioned in a previous post, many of my clients come to me looking for ways to improve their search engine rankings. Melissa Muller Counseling was no exception. When Melissa first reached out, she needed more than just a new brand and website—she wanted a way to rank higher on Google and stand out in a competitive market.
Melissa was already creating valuable blog content regularly, but her site wasn’t gaining traction. The problem was clear: her website was outdated (Weebly), not mobile-friendly, and completely unoptimized for SEO. The content was there, but the search engines simply weren’t paying attention.
Melissa’s Weebly Website – Before our redesign
The Challenge
Melissa’s situation wasn’t unusual. Here’s what we were up against:
- An Outdated Website: Her site wasn’t mobile-friendly, and search engines prioritize sites with modern functionality.
- Low Visibility: Even though she was a consistent blogger, her posts weren’t reaching her audience because they weren’t optimized.
- A Competitive Industry: Melissa operates in a crowded niche where everyone is vying for the same keywords.
The Strategy
After reviewing her site, listening to her needs, and having a one-on-one consultation, I put together a plan. We decided to:
- Redesign Her Brand: Creating a look and feel that reflected her vision.
- Build a New Website: Using WordPress with the Divi theme builder to create a modern, SEO-friendly, and user-friendly site.
- Optimize for SEO:
- Researching keywords her competitors were targeting.
- Optimizing her website pages and previous blog posts.
- Tracking progress with an SEO stats tracker.
The Execution
The first step was a complete website overhaul. I moved her site to WordPress and used Divi to build a site that wasn’t just visually appealing but also aligned with best practices for mobile responsiveness and SEO.
Next came the SEO work:
- Keyword Research: I studied her competitors to see what keywords were driving their traffic and made small adjustments to bring that traffic to Melissa’s site.
- Content Optimization: Using Yoast SEO, I optimized meta descriptions, titles, and headings on her site.
- Search Engine Registration: Once the site was live, I set it up on Google Search Console and uploaded a sitemap so search engines could crawl the site properly.
Melissa’s redesigned website
The new website was a great start, but the real key was creating valuable blog content that spoke directly to Melissa’s audience.
The Results
Melissa was already a talented writer, so we worked together to make the most of her blogging skills. She posted 1-2 articles each month, and I would go in behind her to:
- Tweak titles.
- Add headings.
- Align posts with the keywords we were targeting.
The results speak for themselves. Within 9 months:
- Her website climbed from the bottom of page one to the top three spots on page one for three competitive keywords and climbed to the top five on three others.
- We did it all organically—no paid ads, no paying for clicks. Just good content, strategic optimization, and consistency.
Ubersuggest SEO report
Lessons Learned
This experience with Melissa reinforced what I’ve always believed: a well-designed website is just the beginning. When you pair a modern, user-friendly site with thoughtful, valuable content that meets your audience’s needs, you can see incredible results.
If you’re ready to take your website and rankings to the next level, I’d love to help! At SMPL Web Design, we specialize in creating simple, beautiful, and affordable websites designed to support your business goals. Contact me today and let’s work together to make your website shine.