Every business needs a great website. But what good is a website if no one knows it exists?
There are an estimated 1.5 billion websites out in the cyber world. Although the vast majority is not actual live websites, businesses still need a plan. You have to get your site in front of internet users.
This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. SEO is what businesses use to draw organic traffic to their website. Having an SEO friendly web design can help businesses accomplish that goal.
It’s not enough to simply drive users to your site. Those users need to be of high quality. They need to be consumers interested in your product or service, or at the least, open to conversion.
In this article, we are sharing 9 tips for creating an SEO friendly website. Read on to see what you can do to improve your placement on search engine result pages (SERPs).
1. Your Website Needs to Be User-Friendly
Have you ever visited a site and found it difficult to navigate? What about clicking on a link and receiving the error “404 – Page Not Found.” It can be extremely frustrating.
The ultimate goal of getting visitors to your site is enticing them to stay and see what you have to offer. The bonus is converting the visitor into a customer.
Getting multiple clicks on your site can raise your ranking. This is often done by internal linking. By strategically placing links in your SEO friendly web design, you increase traffic to other pages on your site.
If using external links, make sure they are set to open in a new window. However, note that if you redirect users to another site, they may not return to your site. This is especially true if the link leads to a dead page!
2. Have a Visually Pleasing Website
Let’s face it, we are visual beings. If we venture to a website and it is boring, has too much flash or lacks substance, we will exit quickly.
Users are more interested in sites that are easy to navigate and allow them to find the information they need. Numerous pop-ups, music on autoplay and the overuse of ads are a turn-off.
The goal is to keep your visitors engaged and make them return users. An SEO friendly web design will do just that.
Focusing on more infrastructure-related SEO will go a long way in improving your site’s ranking. Pay close attention to the aesthetics and make sure they speak to the clientele you want to attract.
3. Stay Current
One area a lot of websites fail is having current content. All too often people think that having a website is all they need. This is not true.
If you create a website and never update its content your ranking will drop like a brick into the cyber abyss.
The internet is constantly evolving and so should your website. This doesn’t mean you fill your pages with random content, though. You will need to be strategic and stay relevant.
A website on beauty trends should seek out stories and information that is popular in the beauty industry. Placing a story about sports on your site would be misleading to visitors.
Placing content on an SEO friendly web design does not mean updating your site every day. Generally, once a week or a few times a month is enough.
4. Placement of Keywords
An SEO friendly web design will make use of keywords associated with your site. Or better put, placement of accurate key phrases.
Keyword generation is not that hard. It is simply choosing words that apply to your service or product. You then incorporate them into the content on your site.
You may consider using a keyword generator. An App that produces the top-rated keywords based on your search. Use these words throughout the pages on your site to increase your ranking.
If you offer a service or product that is widely sought after, the goal is to be more specific with your keywords. For example, if your site is about tennis, you may want to use “tennis rackets, tennis outfits or tennis lessons.”
Doing so will better define your rank in the user’s search.
Keywords will also be beneficial in increasing your rank in the city where your physical store or office is located.
5. URL Links that Include Key Phrases
Have you ever noticed what happens when you enter a word or phrase in a search engine?
First, you get a list of keywords in a drop down menu to narrow your search. Once you make your selection, lists of websites appear.
Pay close attention and you will notice that the first results are popular sites that include your keyword in their web address. Next, you will see webpages with your keyword search in their webpage URL address.
Creating keywords on the URL’s of your SEO friendly web design can produce the traffic you’re looking for.
Another good use of URL’s with keywords is bookmarks. When users have multiple website windows open your URL serves as a reminder. A quick glance reminds them of which site is about your product.
Now may be a good time to do a comprehensive SEO audit of your website. Check for keyword usage in your content and URLs.
6. Speed Is Good for an SEO Friendly Web Design
When you’re doing your SEO audit, check for transition times. Are you able to get from one page to the next, quickly?
Internet users do not like waiting for websites. A slow site can cost you placement in rankings. If people are leaving your site because they can’t maneuver around, it can hurt you.
Your website should load quickly. If not, several things could be going on.
- Too many graphics or large graphic files
- Too many plug-ins
- Outdated CMS
- Poor server performance
If you are doing everything right and you’ve raised to the top of the search engines a trending topic could cause issues.
Most will say too much traffic is a good thing. That’s if you can handle the flow of traffic coming to your site. Make sure when you post that blow-out sale you’re ready for the influx of visitors to your webpage.
7. Mobile Optimization Is a Big Deal
The SEO friendly web design isn’t created just to exist among the millions of other websites. It has a true purpose. Visitor conversion should be number one.
People have found your site through a search engine. They click on the link from a mobile device and it isn’t user-friendly. In some instances it doesn’t load at all.
If you don’t think this makes a difference think again. Google reports that internet usage via mobile devices now tops computers.
Users want information at their fingertips. They are more likely to abandon a website if it isn’t mobile-friendly.
Companies looking to boast their SEO rankings should make optimizing their website for mobile use a top priority. Even if a customer is still connected to their laptop there will be times when they rely on mobile capabilities.
Also factor in the way mobile providers are promoting unlimited data for smartphones and tablets. This is an added push to get users onto their mobile devices.
8. Incorporate a Blog
We’ve mentioned content several times. You may be wondering how to keep your content fresh if your product or service rarely changes. Simple. Create a blog and center it on your product.
If you are not a writer, there are plenty of services available that will write for you. All you need is a topic and an angle. Drop in keywords and a couple of links to your product page.
The SEO friendly web design will utilize blogs as a means to establish the business owner as an expert in their field. It also adds a personal touch when visitors can leave comments and get a response in return.
Blogs are also a good way to build on personal branding, which is another great SEO booster.
9. Use Social Media
Social media done right can give a huge boost to your SEO strategy. With an SEO Friendly web design, you can guide your social media audience to your website.
There are ways to get traffic from your website to your social media platforms. Most offer plug-ins that you embed on the homepage. Plug-ins create a graphic of your social media page, show latest posts, and the number of page likes.
The reverse action is to optimize your website with blog content and sharing the links on your social media page.
Full optimization will pull the title, image and a brief excerpt into your social media posts. Some email hosts use optimization when a link from your website is dropped into the body of an email. Make sure you are using high-resolution images and relevant titles for your content.
We hope you enjoyed our 9 SEO tips for your website.
If you are ready to create your SEO Friendly web design, connect with Digital Neighbor today. We are here to help take your website to the next level.
