A Saddened SEO Sigh

So I had an old client, one that I helped about 2 years ago with some SEO work.

At the time, this client was concerned because his company website was not ranking for his targeted keyphrases. I worked with him to help create a new, improved structure, and wrote a bunch of stuff to help him hit his organic goals. The results were very positive--we entered the Top-10 SERPs for most of his targets, all without using anything more than some relatively simple and inexpensive on-page strategies.

So his traffic improved, and the site started doing really well for him. Great!

Here's the Rub
Since his traffic improved and site conversions were up, he decided to upgrade the site. A good move for sure, because the look and feel of the one we had optimized was pretty weak.

He found a new, fairly expensive developer who made him a new site. It was built with some solid UIs (user interfaces), allowing him to update and edit his content on a whim. Sounds great, right? Sounds like he was taking steps toward making the most of his web presence.

The problem?

There was no way for him to build new pages, or add to his basic site structure. Worse still, he had no way to control the meta data or individual page titles in the new site. There was only one page title and one set of meta data--so all of our wonderful optimization and SERP mastery was now for naught.

Sure enough, as soon as the new site was indexed, all of the precious SERP positions disappeared. His new developer was not very SEO savvy, and told him that the single set of meta tags was all any search engine needed (WHAT???!!!)

I wept, quietly on the inside, for my client...I knew he was pretty well hosed by his new, fancy website, and his developer's attitude would prevent him from improving in something very crucial to his success. My hands were tied.

The Moral
Bells and whistles are for trains, not websites. If you want to really service your customer base, make your site appear in the engines when an end user is typing in a search. Help them find you.
For my old client, he came to me imploringly, seeking some SEO juice. I suggested a few things, but told him that he was really missing a valuable piece of the puzzle, and he shouldn't expect it to work as it had for us in the past. I explained why the meta data was so valuable, and suggested some off-page strategies to make up for it. He had spent too much money on his new site to pitch it or start over, so he is doing what he can.

But this caused me to heave a weary SEO sigh twice:

1. My client looked to upgrade a successful organic site, but did not consult an SEO before making a success-crushing decision...and the decision made could have been avoided.
2. My client's new developer was telling my client bad, uneducated and inexperienced SEO information, and my client (though I thought differently) didn't know any better.

These are things I have always dealt with as an SEO writer and web developer. But it still makes me shake my head...and sigh sadly.

Oh well...there's always more to do.