Calling the pros

Even though elliott.org has been online since 1997, it hasn’t always looked like this. In late 2004 I took an extended break to launch another site and then redesigned these pages. The facelift worked — and it also didn’t work.

From a content perspective, the new elliott.org site did exactly what it was supposed to. The pages were easier to read, intuitive to navigate and uncluttered by distracting graphics. So far, so good.

From a traffic point of view, however, the redesign tanked. Big time.

In June, elliott.org drew 34,533 unique visitors. Two years ago, the number routinely exceeded 100,000 unique visitors. (Now, it’s worth noting that those visitors clocked more than 1.2 million page views — not too shabby.)

Meanwhile, the number of subscribers for Elliott’s E-Mail, my weekly newsletter, has settled at about 40,000. Of that, roughly 11,000 readers actually open the newsletter every week.

So who do you call to fix this?

I’ve turned to Sally Falkow, one of the country’s leading Web content strategists, for help. Sally’s company, Expansion Plus has helped scores of businesses make the most of their Web sites. Sally also writes an engaging blog.

During the next several weeks, I’ll be reporting back on what kind of changes Sally has recommended. And, once implemented, I’ll let you know what kind of an effect the revisions are having on site traffic.

My goal? To revive traffic levels back to where they were in 2004 and to exceed them by year’s end. I would be exceedingly pleased with 250,000 unique monthly visitors and 100,000 newsletter subscribers. But I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get there.

Got any search engine tips or suggestion for how to grow this site? Please send me a e-mail.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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