Those who don’t know much about web design associate it primarily with how pretty the website looks. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg that is the designer’s job. The website also needs to be fully functional and responsive.
But that’s not the end of it either. There’s one more aspect of web design that’s crucial for its success online — its SEO-friendliness. If a site is not optimized for SEO, it is doomed from the start. It simply doesn’t stand a chance in a sea of competition. Read our explanation of SEO
So what is SEO web design, and why should you care? But, first, did you know you could get an online trading voucher worth up to €2,500 to help toward the cost of a new website?
What Is SEO Web Design?
To make a design SEO-friendly, you need to follow Google’s SEO guidelines. That’s because, in order to rank higher in search results, you need to cater to Google’s preferences. There are many design elements that can help boost your rankings, but it’s important to remember that you should also cater to the user.
In fact, by prioritizing user experience (UX), you’re actively improving your SEO game. Search engines’ function is to provide searchers with the best possible results that suit their needs, and they’re getting better at recognizing those.
Elements of SEO Web Design
Many design elements affect how SEO-friendly the website is, and here are some of the most important ones:
- Loading speed — It takes three seconds for an average visitor to abandon a site due to slow loading. Optimizing for speed should be the number one priority of any designer.
- Great navigation — A great design is also easy to follow. It should be pretty straightforward, and users shouldn’t have any trouble navigating the site and getting to where they want to arrive. You should also make navigation simple for Google crawlers by including sitemaps. They provide info about all the pages on the site and how they’re connected and make it easier for the search engine to read and index your pages properly.
- Readability — The website needs to be “easy on the eye,” i.e., readable. That means the design shouldn’t be cluttered with unnecessary details that make it difficult to notice important things. It also means website copy and content should be structured in a way that is easy to skim or scan for details. No one wants to read a block of text. Finally, the font style and size should be appropriate and pleasant for the eye.
- Mobile optimization — With half of all web traffic now coming from mobile devices, it’s essential to make the website mobile-friendly. If your site is not mobile friendly we can easily convert a desktop site to a mobile site.
Why Is SEO Web Design Important?
We’ve touched on some reasons why having SEO design is essential, but there are many benefits to it. Here’s how SEO design helps websites succeed.
It Gets the Website on the Map
A business can be great at what they do and even have an attractive web design and get no traffic at all. Over half a million new websites emerge every day, so it’s a tough competition out there. In order to get noticed by people, a site first needs to get acknowledged by the search engine, and you achieve that through SEO.
Before Google crawls and indexes your web pages, it’s as though they don’t exist — you’re just a droplet in a vast ocean.
It Boosts Your Traffic
Naturally, when a site ranks higher in search results, it gets noticed more, and consequently, it gets a lot more traffic. As many as 75% of internet users won’t even scroll past the first page of Google. So higher rankings mean much better chances of people discovering a site in the first place.
Of course, you can get traffic through paid ads too, but getting organic traffic is much more valuable, and it’s a better long-term strategy.
It Attracts the Right Crowd
Getting traffic is one thing, but getting the right kind of traffic is where it’s at. No matter how many people you get to visit a page, if they bounce without giving the site a chance, that’s bad news. A high bounce rate is even worse than no traffic because it tells Google that your site is poor-quality and it doesn’t give users what they want.
SEO-friendly design helps businesses attract the right crowd and get them to stay and explore. They are much more likely to become paying customers and even make repeat purchases.
It Improves User Experience
All the roads lead to user experience. Ultimately, that’s what Google’s SEO guidelines are all about — striving for the best possible UX. SEO design helps businesses make people feel welcome on their sites and enjoy their stay.
When users enjoy their time on a website and find it useful and easy to navigate, they are much more likely to engage with a brand and start a lasting relationship. Great user experience also translates to a great reputation in the long run.
It Helps Conversions
An SEO friendly design is also optimized for higher conversion rates. This kind of design needs to take the visitor by the hand and guide them through the site’s internal links to the end goal — a conversion of some kind.
No matter if you want to get them to buy a product, subscribe to a newsletter, or take a quiz, taking these actions makes people more invested and engaged with the brand. Even if they don’t make a purchase at first, they are much more likely to return.
It Aligns With How People Browse and Shop
Internet users tend to develop habits rather quickly and en masse, generally because they are in a way conditioned by social media and other popular platforms. If they’re used to certain patterns in design, that’s what you should give them.
Search engine optimized design adjusts to the way people search for things. For example, voice search is becoming increasingly popular, so it’s important to optimize for it. A great SEO web designer knows how to make the most of these user trends.
If you’re looking for a professional to do your web design in Ireland, we’re happy to help. Contact us for more info.
“We had our old website re-designed by Optimum Internet Solutions for Business. During the re-design planning stage, Optimum explained to us that their approach to designing a website was based on achieving the business objectives of the client.
Within weeks our objectives were being met as well as appearing on the first page of google.”
David Flaherty – Claddagh Oil