When it comes to your website, good design isn’t just about looks. It’s also about how easily people can find you online. This is where Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) comes in.
SEO is the practice of optimising your website to rank higher on search engines like Google. The better your SEO, the more visible your site is to potential customers.
Whether you’re building a new website or redesigning an existing one, the decisions you make in the design process can significantly impact your SEO. This guide will walk you through how web design affects SEO and provide practical tips to ensure your site is both beautiful and easy to find.
Mobile-friendly design
Why it matters:
More people are browsing the internet on their phones than ever before. Google now uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily looks at the mobile version of your site when determining rankings.
What you can do:
- Use responsive design: This ensures your site adapts to different screen sizes. Popular website builders like WordPress, Wix and Squarespace offer responsive templates.
- Test mobile usability: Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check how well your site performs on mobile devices. If there are issues, it provides suggestions for improvement.
Page speed
Why it matters:
Nobody likes a slow website. In fact, users often leave if a page takes more than a few seconds to load. Page speed is also a ranking factor for Google.
What you can do:
- Optimise images: Large images can slow down your site. Compress them using tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim.
- Leverage browser caching: This stores some elements of your website on a visitor’s device so pages load faster the next time they visit.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN): CDNs like Cloudflare help deliver your site’s content quickly by using servers closer to the user’s location.
Clear navigation
Why it matters:
Search engines need to understand the structure of your website to rank it effectively. If your site is hard to navigate, both users and search engines will struggle to find the most important content.
What you can do:
- Create a logical menu structure: Organise your pages in a way that makes sense. For example, group similar topics together under a clear menu heading.
- Use descriptive titles: Ensure your menu items and page titles accurately describe the content. This helps both users and search engines understand your site’s purpose.
- Include a sitemap: A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site. Submit it to Google through Google Search Console to help search engines index your site more efficiently.
Quality content
Why it matters:
Good design alone won’t boost your SEO. Your content must be relevant, useful and engaging to rank well. Search engines prioritise websites that offer value to users.
What you can do:
- Focus on keywords: Research the terms your target audience is searching for using tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest. Naturally, incorporate these keywords into your content.
- Create fresh content regularly: Keep your site updated with new blog posts, articles or product pages. This signals to search engines that your site is active and relevant.
- Avoid duplicate content: Ensure that each page on your site is unique. Duplicate content can confuse search engines and harm your rankings.
URL structure
Why it matters:
The way your URLs are structured can impact how easily search engines can crawl your site. Clean, descriptive URLs help both users and search engines understand what a page is about.
What you can do:
- Keep URLs short and simple: Use hyphens to separate words and avoid long strings of numbers or irrelevant characters. For example, use
yourwebsite.com/seo-tipsinstead ofyourwebsite.com/p=123456. - Use keywords in URLs: Include relevant keywords in your URLs where possible but don’t overdo it. Make sure the URL still makes sense to a human reader.
- Avoid changing URLs: Once a page is live, avoid changing its URL unless necessary. If you must change it, use a 301 redirect to guide users and search engines from the old URL to the new one.
Meta tags and descriptions
Why it matters:
Meta tags and descriptions provide search engines with information about your site’s content. They also appear in search results, influencing whether someone clicks on your link.
What you can do:
- Craft compelling meta descriptions: These should be concise (around 150-160 characters) and include a call to action. Think of it as your elevator pitch to searchers.
- Use title tags effectively: Each page should have a unique title tag that includes relevant keywords and clearly describes the page content.
- Don’t forget alt text: Use alt text for images. This is a brief description that helps search engines understand the content of your images, which is especially important for image search results.
User experience (UX)
Why it matters:
Good user experience keeps visitors on your site longer, which can improve your rankings. If users find your site difficult to use or navigate, they’re likely to leave quickly, increasing your bounce rate.
What you can do:
- Prioritise easy navigation: Make sure visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly. Use clear headings, well-organised content and obvious calls to action.
- Make content readable: Break up text with headings, bullet points and images. Use a legible font size and style.
- Test with real users: Get feedback from actual users to identify areas where your site’s design might be causing frustration.
Conclusion
Web design is about more than just making your site look good. It plays a critical role in how easily your audience can find you online. By focusing on mobile-friendly design, page speed, clear navigation, quality content, URL structure, meta tags and user experience, you’ll set the foundation for strong SEO.
Remember, you don’t have to do everything at once. Start with the basics and improve your site step by step. As you make these changes, you’ll not only create a better experience for your users but also improve your chances of ranking higher on search engines.
Final tip
Consider using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your progress. These tools offer valuable insights into how well your site is performing and where there’s room for improvement.
Good luck with your web design and SEO journey!