How Does Website Design Affect Your SEO Rankings?
Years ago, SEO was quite straightforward; it didn't need any complex marketing practices to boost a website's ranking. But now, with a change in technologies and user's rising demands, the new world of SEO has been built. The result? Google and many other popular search engines such as yahoo changed their indexing algorithms to a great extent.
Nowadays, Google ranks a more user-oriented website, especially designed to enhance their experience only. This is the primary reason why website development services are in great demand because everyone, whether stakeholder or designer, needs a site that Google can rank easily.
If you want to design an SEO-friendly website, then it would be better to consult the best web development company! Although, to help you understand clearly the importance of designing a user-friendly website and how it can affect your SEO ranking, we've come up with this article. Read it till the end and make the most of your website.
Mentioned below are the ways through which website design can affect your SEO ranking. Let's get started!
Websites with Good Navigation can Enhance the Usability and Experience for the User
The structure is the foundation of any website. If the website's structure is user-friendly and easy to navigate, good conversion rates and leads are guaranteed! However, if the structure is bad, then there are less chances for your website to get a boost in the rankings and top spot in the SERPs.
You may also know structure impacts many parameters of your website, such as time on-page, bounce rate and visitor engagement. These factors play a crucial role in improving the SEO ranking.
For example: If the navigation of your website is simple and users can easily browse everything on it, such as internal pages, information, images and everything related to your business, the more chances are users will stay longer on your site.
However, if you've got a high bounce rate, the only reason is that users don't like your website's navigation, and they turn to another website. This is why a user-friendly navigation of the website has more ability to enhance time on-page and the site's SEO ranking than any other technique.
If you are experiencing a higher than average bounce rate, then here are some tips that you can implement to create a simple and highly navigable structure.
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Keep the main menu as simple as possible.
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Don't use any technical jargon in the main menu; use familiar terms.
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Be sure that the main menu is easily accessible from all of the internal pages so that users can direct to it quickly.
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Don't avoid adding a search bar on the main menu. Users can type their search query and reach directly to the page where they want to go.
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Try to make precise and concise URLs of each webs page so that the user won't get confused.
High-Quality Visuals Skyrocket Overall On-Site Time
You might know this, but visuals skyrocket on-site time and we have stats that can validate this claim. According to the visual content marketing statistics by Venngage, around 25% of the marketers anticipated spending 10 to 20% of their total budgets on visual content creation.
Not just this, nearly 41% think that around 70% of businesses will rely heavily on visuals as part of a marketing strategy in 2021. So, you can see how important high-quality visuals would be, as millions of marketers and website designers are using them for their websites.
If your website is not designed with high-quality visuals, then don't expect your site to get a top spot in Google. Nowadays, users leave a site if it has a slow loading time due to poor visuals and Google also doesn't give it more importance. It further drove a great drop in conversions, page views, sales, and revenue. So, considering all these factors, it is to be said that if you want more visitors, sales, and massive hits in your SEO ranking, then give visuals top-notch importance.
If you've already designed your site with high-quality visuals and want to check out its speed, then you can use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights. Apart from that, it is also advisable to monitor your site's graphics regularly to analyze organic search performance.
Source: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
Here, we have also listed down some of the best tips that you can follow to design high-quality visuals.
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Align your visual's story with content strategy.
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Do your homework and understand the requirements of good design thoroughly.
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Don't put stock images.
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Try to design information and insights into high-quality visuals.
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Use your valuable customer's content and create visuals.
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Use tools to design quality visuals.
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Create visuals that can speak about your brand.
Mobile Friendly Websites have More Reach Because of Usability
Doesn't everyone use computers or laptops to access a specific website? A big NO! Many users still want to access it from their mobile phones. It means that a website needs to be mobile responsive if it wants more traffic and good ranking results. According to Search Engine Watch, 72% of users want a mobile-friendly website. So, it would be disheartening to hear that your site is not mobile-friendly.
Though mobile phones have a comparatively smaller viewport and adjusting everything according to them, such as the depreciation of graphics, visuals, UI and UX, might be tricky. But the best way to ensure good results is to hire an experienced website designer that can sort out your problem and deliver you a mobile-friendly website. The more mobile-friendly your site is, the more you are likely to attract visitors as web traffic.
If we dive deep into Google's mobile-first indexing algorithms, it also follows mobile-first indexing practices, which means it gives more weightage to sites, which are mobile friendly. In short, it indexes and ranks the site more efficiently if it's mobile responsive.
If your site is not mobile-responsive and you're dreaming about excellent web traffic ad ranking, then by following these tips, you can ensure success.
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Use website builders that offer mobile-friendly or responsive templates.
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Ditch pop-ups.
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Give the site's speed top-notch priority.
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Focus on creating simple web designs.
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Make large-sized buttons that easily open on mobile devices.
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Don't forget to allow a way to switch to desktop view.
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Do testing regularly.
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Avoid using flash.
Website Optimization Decreases Loading Speed and Boosts Performance
When it comes to attracting more customers, loading speed comes into the game and matters a lot. Your website must have a fast loading speed to reduce bounce rate so users can stay for longer. In fact, according to Semrush, the average time a website takes for a desktop to load the webpage is 2-3 seconds. So, to boost performance, your site must have excellent loading speed.
There are many benefits of having superior site speed. For example, it strongly influences a user's perception towards your brand and helps them know what your business is all about. As a result, you can receive more requests from the target audience and eventually expand your business reach, which is the core objective of SEO.
If you are facing slow site speed and less consumer engagement, here are some tips that can turn the tables. Let's have a look.
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You should minimize HTTP requests.
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Reduce the time to the first byte.
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Try combining files.
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Prefer using asynchronous loading for JavaScript and CSS files.
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Decrease server response time.
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Choose the right hosting solution.
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Allow compression and browser caching.
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You can use CDN.
The Layout Consistency Enhances User Engagement and Experience
The layout of the website is another important factor that affects your SEO ranking. Suppose the layout of your site, including blog posts and other informative elements present there, is well-structured and easy to understand. In that case, the more chances there are for search engine spiders to crawl your content faster than ever.
Another factor is that a layout shift occurs when a visible element on your page changes position or size, affecting the position of content around it. Sometimes the shift is intended, such as when a container expands as a result of a user action. However, the shift has a negative effect on the user experience and can cause serious usability problems.
Also, it has to be considered that having a consistent and engaging website draws more customers. If your website has this capability, users will not just stay on it but also explore, interact, and make purchases more often.
That will eventually lead to improved user experiences and better revenue. So, you can see how having a consistent layout on your website can help you get a lot of visitors along with an opportunity to turn them into paying customers.
If you want to take your business to the next level where it can scale heights and ensure trust among more customers, then here are some tips that you must follow to assure consistency in your website.
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Use the same colour throughout your website designing.
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Give uniformity equal importance.
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Try to keep content cohesive.
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Simplify your website as much as you can.
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Focus on internal consistency and functional consistency as well.
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Define the visuals clearly.
Key Takeaways
Website design doesn’t only affect user experience but it also boosts SEO ranking. Poor website design practices can give you a lower SEO ranking, lowering your site down in the top search engine results. In short, website designing has a great impact on your business, as it can retain customers, generate better leads, and boost conversions.
This is why it is advisable to invest in SEO-focused website designing practices that can take your business to the next level.
Don’t have any idea about how to design a website SEO-friendly? Consult the best website development firm that has an expert team of designers to design robust, scalable, and SEO-friendly website designs. If you have any queries or want to share your viewpoints on this post, you're most welcome! Feel free to comment.