Out of interest I took a look at the top 5 search results for the search term "web design thanet" on Google. What would these five results be like? What can we learn?

Three things were missing from the Top 5 results for "web design thanet": Indented results (supplementary results), breakout results (additional links under the search result) and anything that ranks at all for the search term "Thanet".

The first two indicate a strong web presence and the later indicates that the "web designer" knows how to get his content ranked in search engine. This is vital because a web designer that can not get his or her own content ranked can not hope to get your content ranked. That means no traffic and your website costs are wasted.

Keep reading for my review of the top 5 sites currently available for "web design thanet".

Top 5 sites for "web design thanet" reviewed

Beach Shore Design Ltd - thanetwebdesign.co.uk

The graphical elements were relevant to the search results.

Layout had imperfections in Firefox but that's just a minor quibble compared to the dire error of Duplicate Content. The very bottom of the site blue on a lighter blue background were the names of Thanet towns and locations and each one led to what seemed to me to be the same page. Duplicate content is a big no-no in web design.

Just as bad is the crippling offer to ...help keep your web presence up to date. The most important service a web site designer or engineer can offer a company is to put them in control of their own content. Designers can not react as fast as you can to changes in your industry. That's why they design instead of lead your industry.

Too spammy for my tastes.

FAIL I would not short list them for seriouse use based on what I have seen.

TW Design - thanet-web-design.co.uk

The page design was reasonable and consistent with the geeky topic.

The page was crowded and did not display an awareness of the finer points of new media, attention marketing or even sales. Furthermore the offer of "Free SEO" linked to a page that said only Web site under construction, Please check back later.

Beach Shore - beachshore.co.uk

Crisp and clean (but also a little uninviting).

Hang on, thinks I, this name seems kinda similar to the first results. I think it might be.

The design work seemed of a reasonable standard in the portfolio section but when a spam-a-like site beats it's primary (Thanet based) business site for the top spot something might be wrong.

FAIL I was very put off by what the first result said about the company. Their SEO seems too risky and lacking in what I consider the basics.

artwyse.com

Very arty. Nice to look at. As designers go they can clearly design.

They come from a print background and it shows. The design work is not bad but it is not good enough for the modern web.

WEAK While I would not dismiss them out of hand knowing what I do about how to use the Internet and what a website should do for a business I would think twice.

coastaluk.co.uk

Spammy fake search results. Whatever was here is gone.

FAIL

Overall view for "web design thanet"

The "web design thanet" web results indicate that Thanet has a big need for quality website advise on a business level. I will try to take more time to provide this via Thanet Star and can only hope for now that someone rises to fill the need.

Has your Thanet based business had a website created? Did you make any sales in the first year as a direct result? What was your experience of the process?