Mention the term Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the first thing that comes into the minds of people is keywords and keyword density. Indeed, keywords play a big role in boosting the SEO quality of a blog or a website but they can only ameliorate the SEO standing of a website prior to the impact of keywords.
The fact is that SEO has to be an integral part of the very design of a website. Only then, will it achieve the prime position in the search rankings that you want? However, most people don’t realise that SEO is not limited to just keywords.
SEO is as much needed as a component of the basic design of the website as it is in the form of keywords. By incorporating organic search engine optimisation techniques and elements into the design and structure of the website, you would be boosting its visibility and popularity.
So, what exactly is the relation between web design and SEO? Let’s explore it in greater detail.
SEO As Part of Website Design
Most people don’t realize but prepping up a website with SEO features starts well before any kind of keywords come into play. The very design of the website affects how it works with the search engine and how high it’s ranking would be when searches related to its topics take place.
So, what are the aspects of the website that need to be given attention for it to respond favorably to the search engine mechanism? There are many. Let’s list them out one by one:
Page Loading Speed
The speed at which a page loads plays a highly crucial role in determining its response to the search engine results. If a site takes a long time to load, the search engine would pass it over and therefore, rank it well below its deserved position.
What this implies is that websites should keep their pages light. Otherwise, the content would take so much time to load that the search engine would simply pass over it. So, don’t use heavy picture or graphics, instead employ a lightweight material that would appear easily, not just on the screen but also in searches.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate simply means the amount of time a person stays on your website after reaching it. If people leave your website quickly after arriving there, it would be noticed by the search engine and therefore would lead to the conclusion that it does not contain relevant information and hence, would not feature in the top results of the search engine.
So, it is important for you to design your website in such a way that when people arrive on your site, they stay there. It should straight away pique their interest or at least, give information that is relevant. Otherwise, the high bounce rate would be harmful to the website. Clearly, this is another important organic search engine optimisation SEO technique.
CMS
The content management system CMS that you choose for your website should also be appropriate. Some CMS are easy to understand for the search engines while some are way too complicated. By ensuring that your website uses the appropriate CMS, you can further incorporate SEO features in your website.
Easy Navigation
Another feature that you need to incorporate in your website while building it is ease of navigation. The users and visitors to the site should be able to find their way easily through the site to the relevant portion. This would also be identified by the search engine and hence, when that relevant topic is searched for, your website’s name would appear prominently.
Make sure the links are easy to understand and a new arrival on the site does not lose their way due to confusing links.
Choose Graphics Correctly
The web designers you have must be aware of the correct graphics and media players to be installed in the site. This matters as Java and Flash-using content is not recognized by the search engines. The content in them, therefore, would be irrelevant. It stands to reason, then, that the web designers use those graphic and media players that are fully intelligible to the search engines.
Use of Images
Images also play a key role in determining the status of pages and websites in search engine results. While we have already discussed how heavy images are a hindrance in the loading of the website and hence, an impediment to its popularity in search results. But the importance of images goes even further.
The process of Image Optimization comes in really handy in these situations. It involves giving a clear name to the image and providing an equally precise alt text. This would lead to searches related to the topic displayed in the picture showing your website and its pictures as one of the prime results.
Also, make the images amenable to sharing on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This would increase the picture’s visibility on the social media sector and therefore improve it’s potential for showing up in results at a higher place.
Meta Description Tags
Meta description tags don’t directly help your page’s visibility on the search engine results but do have a bearing in an indirect way. Meta descriptions advertise your site and if they are impressive and attractive enough to draw the attention and the curiosity of the reader, would lead to greater number of visits which would eventually make your page more popular and more visible on social media platforms.
HTML Title
The HTML title is an extremely important tool for the purpose of boosting your site’s visibility as it is the only meta-tag that directly affects its standings. You need to incorporate keywords into your meta tag to boost its search engine performance.
With all the above-mentioned steps, you should easily be able to make your website more search-engine friendly and therefore, more popular. Remember, if you use these elements in your web designing process, you won’t have to make too many alterations later. Therefore, get it done at the earliest instance to avoid complete dependence on keywords.
