Good web design has many benefits and is crucial for any business that wants to compete in the digital world. But did you know that there is a strong relationship between web design and SEO?
We have already written several times about the fact that web design should be taken into account when optimizing your website for SEO. This topic is important to us, so we have decided to cover it in detail.
After reading this article, you will understand the role of web design in search engine optimization, and know what needs to be adjusted to achieve good search engine rankings.
When we talk about SEO, we should always have two questions in mind.
- What does Google want?
- What does the customer want?
Most of the time, these questions have the same answer. Google tries to look at the website design through the eyes of the customer.
Google's algorithms are designed to ensure the best user experience. When everything is done right, the customer's satisfaction means Google's satisfaction.
Now that we have dealt with the general aspects, the following questions arise:
What do Google and your customer think is a good web design?
1:** Attractive design.
Responsive design is a prerequisite for both Google and the customer. According to Global Stats, the number of websites that are not optimized for mobile use is still greater than 60 %. Make sure your site is not one of those 60 %. That alone will give you an advantage.
It makes sense that Google favors websites that work on both mobile and desktop devices, as more and more people are accessing websites via smartphones or tablets.
Here are a few quick tips to make your website mobile and responsive:
- Choose the right theme.
- Optimize the speed of the website.
- Compress all images.
- Do not use annoying pop-ups.
- Avoid unnecessary detour.
2: Speed:
The speed of your website is an important ranking factor. Every second that a customer waits for your pages to load increases the likelihood that they will leave your website in favor of your competitors.
Not only will you lose a potential customer, it will increase your bounce rate, a bad factor for your search engine rankings. To optimize the speed of your website, try:
- Add only optimized JPG images.
- Choose a slim theme.
- Compress your files (try G-zip).
- Remove unnecessary plugins.
- Avoid unnecessary detour.
Bonus tip: The W3 Cache plug-in helps you to optimize the speed of your website in Wordpress.
3: ** Visually appealing design. **
Google may not have good taste and personal opinions in websites, but it has many ways of finding out if your users find your web pages appealing. This has an indirect effect on your ranking.
If your design is too complicated, unprofessional-looking, childish or simply too difficult to use for your users, they will quickly leave your site. Your bounce rate will increase and Google will rank you lower.
To optimize the appearance of your website:
- Keep your design minimalist.
- Acquire a lean, error-free theme with good performance.
- Make sure that the content of your website is well structured and visually appealing.
- Make sure you use images that match the overall design.
- Keep things simple.
- Concentrate on just one or two colors.
4: ** Fresh contents.
Good content is part of web design. Make sure that you include a blog on your website in which you talk about and provide information about your product and service. Update it regularly, because Google prefers up-to-date content.
5: ** Add social media sharing buttons and connect to your social media profiles. **
Connecting your website to social media is important for many reasons, but we won't go into further detail here.
But one important reason is that Google values this connection. Make sure you add visible share buttons and connect your website to the social media profiles you use.
Other topics that are less interesting for your customers, but are perceived as really important by Google. Many of these factors influence Google's ability to crawl your website. Here are some of them:
1: Domains
The name of your domain is important. Make a connection to your business. So if you sell shoes, your domain should not be called: Baloons.com.
Make sure that all subdomains are redirected to your main URL using a 301 redirect.
2: Hosting.
However, you should invest a little in your hosting platform. It needs to be fast, secure, and located where your customers are. Kinsta.com, Bluehost and WP Engine are some good examples, but there are many options here.
Do your research and choose the best platform for your region, your website type and your goals.
3: Accessibility:
In order to understand your website, Google robots must be able to crawl and read it. Your website should be text-based. Robots cannot see videos, Flash or images.
This is where the alt text (description text) comes into play. Make sure that the alt text is present on all images, this gives Google a clear picture of what these images are about.
If your image is about a weight loss program, simply add: "weight loss guide" as an alt attribute. This will show Google the topic of your image or video.
4: Good website structure:
The purpose of a website should be clearly defined. According to Google, high-quality websites should have an about us and a contact page. Navigation should be as easy for Google's crawlers as it is for your customers.
Link the relevant pages to each other and structure the website in a detailed and clear way. Add visible menus and define the hierarchy of the website.
5: URLs:
URLs are the first thing Google sees when indexing a new page. They should be short, clear and user-friendly. Try to keep them under 100 characters and include the keywords of the website.
Users should be able to read URLs as they are often shared without the anchor text. Below you will find an example of a good and a bad URL.
Good URL example: https://www.shoes.com/addidas-for-sale/
Bad URL example: https://www.shoes.com/15124/af2423/
You can see the difference between the two. Always select the human-readable format.
6: Note the changes to the algorithm.
Algorithm changes at Google usually bring a lot of hustle and bustle into the SEO world. Stay up to date and follow the recommendations given on an ongoing basis.
7: Be careful when redesigning your website.
Many companies do not take SEO into account when redesigning their website. Make sure that your high-quality content remains available on the new version of the website, as this is crucial for your existing ranking.
So, to summarize: Website design and SEO are best viewed as a related topic.
- Design for a good user experience.
- Know your usability factors.
- Make your content accessible and findable.
- Be aware of new trends.
- Be vigilant with redesigns.
We are happy to provide the necessary support for all these issues.
