SEO question and question about new homepage design

hey guys? a few questions for ya...

my site has a squeeze page on the homepage (I know I know, i'm still stuck in 2007)?. and a blog at .com/blog

I want to change the homepage to make it more "google friendly"? they won't even let me advertise on adwords until the homepage is more of a "homepage"?

Plus I just hired a blogger who's going to do 180 posts a month on the site, so I wanna maximize this as much as possible. My site took a hit in april 2011? panda?. since then it's been destroyed on SEO. (thanks to me using dripfeedblasts.com and xrumer)

so...

First thing I did was go to SEMRUSH.com and make a list of all the top sites in the niche.

Then, I saw all the keywords that are getting them traffic with the specific articles? and made the list for him? so he can go in and write similar stuff with those keywords.

Then? my big question? I designed something similar to http://www.digitalmarketer.com homepage but added a section with the most recent blog posts (4x4 post snippets in 2 columns).

first question: is that cool or enough for getting the site back to ranking?

second question: I want to make the homepage part of WP? so it's easier to do the seo etc. Can I just have a coder turn it into a wp template into my theme?

And then what do I do?

Do I need to make a 301 redirect to make it work as the homepage? (the blog is on .com/blog)

hope this made sense.

not entirely sure on what to do with the details? but I'm thinking this might be the best way to move forward to getting the site traffic again.

Thanks.

Appreciate the time and replies

dconstrukt said:

first question: is that cool or enough for getting the site back to ranking?

Click to expand...

No way. Its not a right method for recovering your site. You need to use GWT Disavow tool for recovering your site.

dconstrukt said:

second question: I want to make the homepage part of WP? so it's easier to do the seo etc. Can I just have a coder turn it into a wp template into my theme?

Click to expand...

Yes you can. If you need any help, PM me. I will try to help you. I think, you are in trouble. I feel it after reading your post.

dconstrukt said:

And then what do I do?

Click to expand...

You should create a proper plan for going next step. I think, you are in the wrong track. You need to take a treat from an expert guy.

dconstrukt said:

Do I need to make a 301 redirect to make it work as the homepage? (the blog is on .com/blog)

Click to expand...

Why you will do it?

thanks dude. sent you a pm.