Prepared for discussion
Ref: KZK‑2026‑0803‑B
Rebuild Brief — Before & After
Subject: kizuki.com — Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya · companion to the Aug 3 audit
The audit found a site that was dated and compromised. This brief shows what a modern rebuild changes — and, just as importantly, what it deliberately doesn't try to fix, because it's already working. We built a live, working homepage to prove the direction, not a mockup.
The honest SEO picture
You're right that Kizuki ranks at the top for "kizuki" — so let's be precise about what that is worth, and where it isn't.
Already fine — leave it alone
- "kizuki ramen" → you dominate page one. Owned + third‑party profiles blanket it. Anyone who knows your name finds you instantly.
- This is table stakes, not a win. Google just matches the word "kizuki" — any business with a site, an Instagram and a Yelp page clears that bar with zero SEO effort.
- It converts people who already know you. It is not a growth engine, so we spend no effort defending it.
- Bare "kizuki" is disambiguation noise (a wrestler, a singer, Demon Slayer's "Twelve Kizuki"). Not worth chasing.
Where the new customers actually are
- Non‑branded local search — "ramen near me," "best ramen Seattle," "ramen Bellevue." This is where diners who don't yet know you look.
- Here you get a raw link but are absent from the lists people actually read — Infatuation, ParentMap, Emerald Palate all name competitors (Arashi, Santouka, Jinya, Ramen Nori), never Kizuki.
- Even on your own brand name, Instagram, Yelp and TripAdvisor outrank kizuki.com — because they mark up their data with schema and you don't, so they earn the rich results you forfeit.
- That's the opportunity the rebuild is built to capture.
One honest caveat on the spam
The hidden adult‑link injection hasn't tanked your rankings yet — that's the truth. But it's a latent hacked‑content liability that could, on the wrong crawl, cost you even the branded ranking you take for granted, plus it's a brand‑safety problem. Cheap to fix, high downside if ignored — still item #1.
Before → After
Projected grades for the rebuilt homepage. "After" reflects what the build positions you for; ranking gains also need off‑page work (noted in the roadmap).
What changed, line by line
| Current kizuki.com | Rebuilt homepage | |
|---|---|---|
| Heading | No H1 — starts on H2s | One clear H1 → clean H2 hierarchy |
| Schema | Generic WebPage only | Restaurant + LocalBusiness for 5 locations, ready for rich results |
| Front‑end weight | ~38 JS files (Slider Revolution, WPBakery, 15 booking scripts) | 2 fonts + ~80 lines of vanilla JS, lazy images |
| Accessibility | Pinch‑zoom disabled; alt="null" | Zoom enabled, real alt text, focus states, reduced‑motion |
| Our Story | One‑line teaser | Full narrative — consommé‑style roasting, imported ingredients, designers flown from Japan |
| Video | Present but buried in a plugin slider | Hero reel + click‑to‑play story video (their real footage) |
| Social proof | Press hidden under "In the News" | Press wall up front (Seattle Times, Eater, NRN, Nikkei…) |
| Navigation | Overlapping "Menu"/"Locations" state lists | One clear IA + a live location search filter |
| Security surface | WordPress + aging plugins; actively injected | Static HTML — no plugins, no PHP session, no injection vector |
| Copyright | "© 2019" | Current year, correct |
What the rebuild adds back
The audit's biggest content gaps — recovered from your own site and put where people will see them.
Your video, up front
The restaurant reel now plays as a muted hero background, with an official clip as a click‑to‑play feature in Our Story.
The real story
The consommé‑style bone‑roasting you pioneered, importing from Japan, and flying a designer in for every location — the details that sell "authentic."
Press credibility
Real third‑party validation surfaced as an "As featured in" wall instead of buried two clicks deep.
Findable locations
A searchable, state‑grouped locator with schema per location — the foundation for local‑pack and rich results.
Roadmap to a full rebuild
The homepage proves the direction. To match everything the current site does — and beat it — here's the sequence.
Clean the hack & secure the domain
Non‑negotiable first step, per the audit. The static rebuild then keeps the attack surface gone for good.
Full menu page
Port all five categories (Ramen, Toppings, Izakaya, Rice, Vegetarian) with photos, EN/JP names, and location‑specific menus — with Menu schema.
Per‑location pages
16 stores, each with its own
LocalBusinessschema, hours, phone, directions, and a direct order link — the biggest local‑SEO win.Keep the money paths prominent
Online ordering (Incentivio), gift cards, and the rewards app/loyalty program — surfaced, not buried.
Off‑page & catering
A real catering inquiry form, tightened Google Business Profiles, and earned "best ramen" editorial mentions — where the non‑branded rankings actually move.