SEO is a necessity for building visibility in front of an online audience. Unfortunately, while many businesses realize the importance of search engine optimization, they fail to understand the significance of SEO in web design. Your website is hands down the most important tool you have for building the type of online presence you need for conversion optimization.
Web design that has been built with SEO in mind will generate traffic, greet every new visitor and nurture them along the path to conversion. What businesses would benefit from learning is that SEO is something that should be built into website design from the start, rather than going back and tweaking it for search engine optimization as an afterthought.
Many businesses turn to professional web design services to create a site that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional, but what happens if a less than stellar showing in search engine results makes it difficult for your target audience to find you? Hiring a web designer that also provides SEO services is an easy solution to this problem. In case you need further convincing, here are a few more reasons why your web designer should also be an expert in search engine optimization.
How Web Design Plays an Important Role in SEO
As a business, there are certain things that you’re expecting from a professionally designed website. For instance, you might tell your web designer that you’re looking to generate more traffic, improve the number of leads that you’re bringing in or to see improved results in your conversion tracking. These are reasonable expectations, but they don’t automatically come with standard web design, no matter how much you’re paying for it or how beautiful the results.
Quality design, on-site optimization and user experience are all critically important to SEO. A web designer that understands this will build a site that’s easy for search engines to crawl and index, while also appealing to important usability factors that play a role in SEO – like page speed, streamlined navigation and clean design.
Web designers that know SEO also understand how design elements can influence SEO, even though they’re not a distinct ranking factor. For example, search engines might not be able to pick up on how easily your average visitor can navigate through your site, but they can pick up on subtle cues like exit rates that might skyrocket in response to frustrated visitors that can’t find their way around. Web design that helps encourage visitors to stick around is just as important for establishing authority as it is for moving the customer along on their journey.
There is so much that is built into a website’s architecture that can affect SEO. Everything from link structure and information architecture to design elements that can affect site speed can make or break your SEO results. A web designer that understands this is an important player to have on your team.
Ft Lauderdale Web Design and Local SEO
Having a website that has been built to support SEO is important for any business. Still, it can be argued that for local businesses, web design that maximizes their visibility online is a necessity. Community-based businesses depend on local traffic, which means that they’re also depending on search engine optimization to direct a specific, targeted market in their direction. A web designer that understands the elements of local SEO can make this happen.
Something as simple as anchor text that’s been optimized for a local market can provide a significant boost in visibility, but there are other important factors like mobile optimization and speed that are non-negotiable for appealing to a locally based audience.
To understand how important web design that’s optimized for mobile devices is for SEO, we only have to look at a few numbers. We know that since 2015, mobile searches for “where to buy” have jumped by 85%, and it’s estimated that by 2021, mobile devices will be the influential force behind $1.4 trillion in local sales.
While we’re on the topic of mobile, let’s talk for a minute about speed. It’s been established that the ability to connect with the mobile consumer is key for small businesses, and now speed is a key factor in making this happen. Site speed has been a ranking consideration for desktop sites for a while now, but this past summer, Google made it so that it officially matters for the mobile version of your site as well.
Search engine users are notorious for their lack of patience. We’ve become accustomed to Google responding to any search query with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of results in a blink of an eye. We like instant gratification, which is why many search engine users aren’t willing to wait more than a few seconds for a site to load after clicking a search result. Speed is important to the user experience, which is why Google has now made it a priority for mobile devices.
If your mobile site isn’t designed to meet the speed demands of your local audience, it’s sure to hurt your SEO and lead customers right to your competitor’s doorstep.
Realizing the potential impact of professional SEO web design is especially important for a smaller business that might initially rely on a do-it-yourself web design platform due to budget constrictions. While some of these platforms offer a few great tools that help to increase visibility and generate traffic within a local market, the truth is that the process of stomping out the competition online is far more complex than most novice web builder sites can handle.
Fort Lauderdale Responsive Website Design & SEO
You shouldn’t assume that every web designer knows the intricacies of search engine optimization. The two skills go hand in hand, but that doesn’t mean that someone who is an expert in one is necessarily an expert in the other. It’s up to you to do the research and ask the questions.
We can make this process easier for you. We’re one of the best responsive web design companies in Fort Lauderdale that’s also dedicated to creating effective SEO campaigns. Contact JLB Florida today and let us help you grow your businesses with professional web design.
