SEO is not just some magic words a content writer is to inject into your website and make it rank top on Google! It’s so much more than that. The way how your website is designed affects your SEO, too. Here’s what you need to know about web design and SEO.
User Experience and SEO Are Buddies
Your website is where your clients will likely first meet your business and it’s vital that you make a good first impression! Not only for impressions’ sake but also because it will affect how you rank on Google and it will help you keep a strong search engine presence.
Time spent on your website, click-through rate, and bounce rate will all affect your Google ranking. Make your visitors’ stay on your website comfortable by minimizing pop-ups and keeping a clear navigation structure that will make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for.
Page Speed and Performance Matter
Performance is a big part of web design. How quickly the pages on your site load directly affects your SEO ranking and any good web design agency knows it. And a great web design company knows how to fix you up with a speedy website.
Why does it matter? Google uses page speed as a ranking factor for both desktop and mobile searches in a bid to provide users with the best experience. Also, if your users are met with a slow website, they are more likely to leave. So, lay down the JavaScript and use smaller images for optimal page load speed.
Mobile-Friendly Is the Way to Go
More than half of users access your (and everyone else’s) website from a mobile device. That means that you need to make your website mobile-friendly so their stay at your site is convenient for them.
Your web design company should make your website mobile-friendly through various aspects like design, page speed, and structure. Google has a ‘Mobile-Friendly Test’ you need to pass if you want your website to rank high on Google and attract the most customers.
Content Layout Is King
Only 16% of people read the whole web page, word-for-word. They are less likely to even start reading if they see a cluster of text spread over 2 or 3 pages. That’s why you need to properly lay it out and separate it with relevant headers.
This will make it easier for them to find exactly what they’re looking for in your text and less text in more groups will make it seem easier to read. That will help keep them on the website and properly positioned keywords in headers will also help with the SEO.
Visuals Affect SEO, Too
People are more likely to read or consume something that comes wrapped up in eye-catching design. Also, they will want your website’s layout to be easy to navigate and find what they want. So, give them what they want and you will get what you want!
Besides them staying longer on your website, you can also increase speed by minimizing the size of the photos you use or you can use lazy load. That will optimize your website on Google rankings.
Find an SEO-friendly Web Design Agency
We hope we’ve helped you understand why web design matters for SEO and which things you want to pay attention to when creating your website. When you decide to hire a web designer, make sure to communicate these things with them and results will come!
