It is important to include search engine optimization (SEO) in the design of your website. When SEO is part of the planning process, you ensure that the site has the correct elements in it to attract search engine activity. Without search engines finding your website and visiting it frequently to learn more about what your website features, it’s harder to rank well in online searches. SEO helps you gain visibility, which increases traffic and results in more sales of your product or interest in your service. Here’s how to factor SEO into your build.
Step 1 – Page Layout/Format
The size of text, the font, the background color, the location of text and images, and the page loading speed are elements of web page design to consider. You want your pages to be inviting, with easy-to-read and understandable content. It is always a good idea to visit a few other websites to carefully look over how they have laid out their pages. Once you get some ideas, adapt them to fit your concept of what you want your website to look like.
Step 2 – Keyword Research
The most important SEO factor in any website is the keywords it contains. Keywords help search engines determine how to index pages. With pages properly indexed, search engines can better match online searches. Keywords bring your website visibility and traffic. However, it is important to not overuse them. A simple SEO formula is to use one keyword per 100 words, or in one percent of your content. Overusing keywords negatively impacts ranking.
Step 3 – Relevant Content Creation
The next most important SEO factor in building a website is content. It has to be relevant to what your website is about. For example, if your website is for your chainsaw business, all information throughout your website should relate to chainsaws in one way or another. The home page is much like an introduction to a book – it explains what visitors can expect if they explore further. The more relevant your content marketing is to your niche, the better your SEO results.
Step 4 – Site Structure Planning
Another important SEO consideration in the building of a website is the site structure. This is where you decide what the main features of your website will be and where they will be located. While planning the structure, you should have an idea of what each page is going to look like, and where text, images, buttons, links, etc. will be located. You have to plan to ensure users have a positive experience on your site, so a simple, effective site structure would be best.
Step 5 – Navigation
The usability of a website is another important SEO factor. You want to make your website inviting to visitors, and you want them to be able to find their way around once they step inside. Website visitors that cannot find what they are looking for quickly and easily on a website will leave and often never return. That is considered a bad user experience. Making your site easy to navigate in and around creates a good user experience.
Step 6 – Use Analytics Tools
When you implement analytics tools before your website goes live, you will have access to valuable data. These tools are easy to integrate into your website and will provide you with data and statistics explaining how your website is performing. For example, if users are leaving your website because of something on a particular page that does not function properly, you will learn this early enough to go in and correct the problem, saving you a loss in future traffic.
Step 7 – Title Tag Optimization
Title tags are the title or heading of each of your web pages. These tags are what show up in search results and typically entice a user to click to visit your page. If the title tags you use are not relevant to the purpose and niche of your website, they may not appear correctly in online searches, because search engines will not see them as correct matches for queries. Optimizing title tags improves your SEO.
Step 8 – Leveraging Social Media
Although social media likes and follows have no impact on website rankings, they can help your website in a big way. By utilizing business pages on all the popular social media platforms, you can share links to newly published blog posts on your website. When they are shared by followers, you increase your reach. In other words, social media channels give you access to a larger audience that you can attract to your website, provided you use it in a positive way.
Step 9 – Use The One Topic Per Page Rule
Some websites have content that is a jumbled mess. The pages don’t make sense and blog posts appear to ramble on and never seem to get to the point, even when the digital nomad in you knows there’s a theme in there somewhere. You want to avoid these mistakes by sticking to a single topic on each of your web pages. Your home page is the exception, because it introduces visitors to what your site is about. Beyond that, each page should have a single focus that is clearly explained and understood.
Step 10 – The Call To Action
As reported by Marina Turea of Digital Authority Partners, the goal of your website should be to gain conversions. A conversion is when a visitor becomes a customer. The best way to encourage this to happen is through a call to action. It can be as simple as “Click Here To Buy,” or “Order Yours Today.” Whatever you use as your call to action, it must be clear in intention and very easy for a website visitor to see. Your content should entice them to buy; the call to action button is how they do it.
Final Thoughts
Building a website today requires you to include SEO in the design. SEO strategies ensure that search engines find your site, and you don’t have to make major changes after you launch it to incorporate SEO factors because they’ll already be in place. SEO is what brings your website visitors; the content on your website is what keeps them interested and convinces them to purchase your product or service.