OUR WORK

CitiQuiet

ABCs of SEO
We deliver a combination of technical know-how and beautiful design.

SEO that IS as Good as it Looks

SEO doesn’t just happen. A successful SEO plan needs to come from two places: functioning, responsive design, and technical know-how. On this project for CitiQuiet, e9 worked with our SEO partner agency to find the sweet spot between those two places in order to improve search rankings and move customers to action. After three short months, these are the results from a successful partnership, a synergetic relationship, and a lot of talent.

The Verdict Is In…

Where it all began

When CitiQuiet came to e9, their website needed a lot of help. While it wasn’t lacking in content, it had technical problems and needed direction. CitiQuiet’s product offers its customers a quiet space, a tranquil environment, and peace of mind, but their website was noisy and cluttered. They called on e9 to transform their website into a virtual extension of their product and purpose.

“I shopped many companies when looking to create our next generation website.” Michael Lentin, CitiQuiet CEO

A budding relationship

“Love these guys!!! This is a must use company.”
Michael Lentin, CitiQuiet CEO

CitiQuiet began its mission to a better performing website with the help of e9’s SEO partner firm, Techwood. With the help of Techwood, they identified several technical issues that were hindering the performance of the website. For starters, the website was not responsive. It had not been optimized for users in terms of design, load speed, or mobile use. To help them overcome these issues, CitiQuiet called on e9’s expertise to make improvements. From there, all eyes turned to Google.

Responding to Google’s requirements

1

Strike One.

Is the website optimized for mobile usage? No?

2

Strike Two.

Does the website download quickly across different platforms?

3

Strike Three.

Is the website responsive and overall user friendly?

Google determines search rankings from a few of these different characterizations of a website. When websites don’t meet Google’s criteria, their rankings drop. Knowing this, CitiQuiet and e9 began to overhaul the website.

The Technicalities

Google’s penalties

CitiQuiet’s previous website didn’t meet a lot of Google’s requirements, and they were being penalized through their rankings. These requirements from Google are all based on enhanced user experience. When someone uses Google as a search engine, Google wants to make sure that the website results shown meet or exceed the user’s expectations.

Speed of site load

CitiQuiet’s website didn’t have a reliable or consistent load time. This is a problem, because if it takes too long for a user to access the website’s content, they may grow impatient and search elsewhere. To remedy this, the team upgraded the website on e9’s cloud server. With servers in locations all over the country, this ensures that the content will always load from the node nearest the user.

Optimized code

Another way e9 improved the site load speed and overall responsiveness was with updated and optimized code. The team analyzed the existing website’s code and identified the components that slowed the site down. Smart design coupled with flawless code immensely helped with the functionality of the website.

Making it mobile

With no real mobile solution in place, e9 updated the website to seamlessly translate between desktop and phone. With the dramatic increase in overall mobile usage, it was important to make a website that didn’t just look nice on a phone screen, but also utilized the function of the phone by making it easy to turn a quick informational browse into a personal conversation with a representative. A link to call a CitiQuiet representative was placed at the top of the screen to make it easy for visitors to become customers.

Technical Bumps

As e9 updated and improved the aesthetics and technical bones of the website, they faced a few challenges. It was important to preserve the search rankings of CitiQuiet’s existing pages while making the URL easier to find, remember, and share. Once the team found all the URLs in CitiQuiet’s search index, they redirected those search results to the new, simpler URL and worked with Google to make sure the existing rankings were passed along to the new URL.

Prior to working with e9, CitiQuiet’s website lacked sufficient microtags to help Google understand the content of the site. To remedy this, e9 set up a variety of microtags, most importantly a “Home and Construction Business” tag to help those searching for information on relevant projects find CitiQuiet.  

Designing with purpose: Beautifully optimized.

Once we had the technicalities and framework down, it was time to dress it up.

Design: Simplifying UI and growing user engagement

Ironically, CitiQuiet’s website had so much content, users weren’t able to get the message. On the homepage of the original website was a video that gave a (not-so) brief explanation of CitiQuiet’s history, product, guarantees, and testimonials. First things first, the team cut down the length of the video and pulled out the best stories that highlighted the most relatable customers and settings, so that anyone watching could visualize Sound Proof Windows in their life. We created icons to make the data and product specs easier to digest, and used typography to create visual hierarchy for the most important information.

To grow the website’s user engagement, the team enhanced a few of the interactive components so that users could easily browse pictures of the product, get price estimates, and find answers to questions. We created a dynamic system to help streamline the process of calculating an estimate. Rather than be directed to a general customer service representative, users could now simply fill out a form and be connected with service representatives in their area.

Design: Communicating tranquility

CitiQuiet’s product guarantees a tranquil environment, and its website needed to evoke the same feelings of peace. Muted colors, warm, soft photography, and an overall comfortable environment help set the visual tone for what this product can bring to a potential customer.

With a product that promises no noise, the team had to make sure that the tone used wasn’t overwhelming or, well, “noisy.” Concise messages and soft, assuring language help to tell CitiQuiet’s story at an appropriate volume.

While it’s great that CitiQuiet has so much information for curious website visitors, it’s important to make the information easy to quickly digest, or else the message will be skipped altogether.  That’s why the team worked to strategically adjust the hierarchy and make sure that the most important tidbits were noticed first. We made it easy to have specific questions answered as well as get personalized information or quotes through direct contact by placing their contact information at the top of the screen.

Oh sweet, sweet success.

“Our web presence and revenue have increased dramatically by working with e9.”
Michael Lentin, CitiQuiet CEO

At e9digital, the team knows how important it is to work from the user’s perspective and anticipate their needs on every section of every page. Putting ourselves in the user’s shoes makes sure that the content is streamlined and optimized to best suit their experience. Working with our SEO agency gave us the opportunity to find the sweet spot between improving search rankings and moving customers to action. When you meet a user’s needs from the moment they search for your content to the moment they engage with it on your website, you gain their trust and turn users into customers.

notable news