Building a website that is all aesthetics but does not rank is no longer acceptable. On one hand, an SEO-friendly website works towards bringing you to the top during Google searches. On the other hand, a user-friendly website is one where users can easily navigate through your products and services, thus getting a positive brand experience. But combining the two is easier said than done.
To add to this, the web development and SEO teams of most brands often have different aims and workflows. The former continues to accumulate content to improve the website’s ranking, while the latter polishes the visual aspects to make it more appealing.
So, how do you find a middle ground between SEO and web design? Many brands rely on a trusted digital marketing agency in London for the answer. This is exactly what this article will explore as we trace the key elements of SEO web development that can make your website both user-friendly and SEO-friendly.
Understanding SEO and Web Design Combined
As the name suggests, it is the combination of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and website design.
Being a household name in the world of marketing, SEO is the practice of applying different tactics and techniques such as keyword research, meta descriptions, and more to optimise a website. An optimised website ranks better on Search Engine Results Pages (better known as SERPs), which gets you more clicks and paves the way for future conversions. This is the ultimate aim of SEO.
Meanwhile, website design usually involves creating elements that make up the skeleton of your website and other pages. This skeleton is responsible for upholding the appearance and frictionless user functionality.
When these two are combined, we get SEO web design – an approach to creating a website that is both user-friendly and SEO-friendly. For years, marketing teams across brands have been treating the two separately. Then, why has the need to combine them arisen? Thanks to these bagful of benefits, it is considered crucial:
Incoming organic traffic
Nothing beats incoming organic traffic, and marketing professionals know this well. Any kind of unpaid traffic becomes organic traffic. Users find your website through a Google search result and hop directly to your website from the search engine, thus generating organic traffic.
Generally, the top search result on the first page gets a major chunk of organic traffic, which drops significantly as one scrolls down to the last search result on the page. Any search result lying past the first page gets negligible traffic. This is why you want your website to be optimised for both humans and search engines, and SEO web design does exactly that.
Increases conversions
If someone runs a Google search and your website pops up on the first page for the exact query, they will click on it. This gives them easy and quick access to your page and hence brings them closer to getting converted. Optimising your website to rank better can certainly give you an edge, and our web development company in Birmingham can help you with just that.
Ultimate low-cost marketing strategy
A well-charted-out SEO strategy coupled with solid website design can pave the way for an SEO-friendly website. This allows you to make the most of your marketing budget without spending thousands on paid ads. Brands operating in and out of London, Manchester and Esex can now reach their marketing goals swiftly and in a more economical way with SEO and web design combined.
Enhance user experience
It is well known that every pound that goes into UX is followed by an ROI of 100 pounds. But what if you wanted to go beyond this monetary validation? For that to happen, you need to make sure that you have an SEO-friendly web design – one that works smoothly, lets customers navigate easily, and fetch whatever information they are looking for. This will make its SERP position better in accordance with Google’s algorithms. While these search-result ranking algorithms keep on changing, they usually include multiple-device responsiveness, high-speed performance, internal linking, and so on.
Businesses collaborating with professionals offering web development in Essex have found that an optimised website which ranks better is considered more credible by users.
Top Elements to Optimise for SEO Web Design
Now that we know how important SEO and web design combined are, let’s explore what elements need to be optimised to ensure that your website aligns perfectly with both SEO practices and web development.
Cross-platform responsiveness
The desktop page of your website may not look as phenomenal as it does when viewed on mobile. Your mobile-friendly page may not load as smoothly as it does on your iPad. This is enough to make a customer walk away from your website unhappily.
Having a website that has cross-platform responsiveness enhances your SEO and provides a smooth user experience – a win-win for the web development and SEO teams.
Loading speed
If loading a website takes forever, there is no point in staying on the page. As per experts in web development in Manchester, this makes website speed a key element to cracking Google’s SEO algorithm. Keep an eye on the host, uploaded file size, plug-ins, etc., to enhance your web performance.
An easy sitemap for SEO and web design
Your web pages and all the other content combined are called the sitemap of your website. A well-organised sitemap lets Google find information and rank each of the pages without any hassle. This can boost your organic traffic immensely.
If you are looking for a web development company that takes into account all of the above factors when developing a website for you, Digitex Technologies is one of the best choices in the UK. We cover Birmingham, London, Manchester, Essex, and surrounding areas, delivering websites and SEO strategies that can help you rank on Google easily. For more information or a quote, get in touch with us today.
FAQs
How to create content for a good-ranking website?
By following Google’s EEAT (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust) guidelines. Ensure that the content actually answers search queries.
How to get different pages of my website noticed?
Through the SEO practice of internal linking, you can link different pages, thus bringing in traffic.
How important are alt tags?
It is through alt tags that Google understands what an image is about. If a similar query arises, it may direct the user to that image, ultimately landing them on your website.
Is it important to use the right keywords on a webpage?
An apt keyword is the actual key to a great SERP ranking. Use different keyword tools to extract the most appropriate keywords for your business.
I have already designed my website. Can I apply SEO practices to it?
Yes, you can. However, they won’t be as effective as SEO practices integrated during the design stage of a website.