How Does Web Design Affect SEO?

How often do you resort to Google to answer life’s most pressing questions? Be honest! Well, considering there are approximately 63,000 search queries every second (or 5.6 billion searches per day), it’s safe to assume that you and your preferred customers are probably using Google to solve life’s quandaries on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

But while people resort to Google every day to find restaurants near them or the name of that one movie that had that one actor in it, what people most likely aren’t resorting to is anything after the first page of their search engine results. In fact, 92% of Google users don’t even go past the first page of the results they’re provided with.

So what does that have to do with your website? Well, if your website isn’t showing up on the first page of local, relevant Google searches, you can rest assured that your competitors are and that your target audience is probably clicking elsewhere.

The relationship between Professional Web Design and search Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial to how well your website ranks. And if your website isn’t properly designed with specific SEO strategies in mind, then it’s safe to assume that your site is having a hard time cracking that sacred first page of the searches your preferred customers are conducting.

So how exactly does web design impact your SEO rankings? Let’s break down the primary ways web design affects your SEO performance.

Website Performance

A poorly designed website doesn’t just mean a poor user experience for all who click upon it. Insufficient web design will significantly harm your SEO rankings as well.

Google’s algorithms crawl through every website and assess a variety of performance analytics, such as page speeds and other web maintenance features. If they deem a website slow or find other flaws in its design, it’ll suppress its SEO potential, as it values sites that offer a more positive user experience.

The primary departments of website performance that impact SEO rankings include:

Responsive design for all devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.)
Loading times and page speeds
Conversion optimization (contact forms, call-to-action buttons, etc.)
Custom brand identity and images
Secure, high-quality website hosting

The better your website performs in these areas, the better it will rank in local, relevant search engine results.

Site Navigation

Navigating one’s way throughout your website should be a carefree, seamless experience. Unorganized, faulty site navigation is more than just a pain in the neck for your users; it’s also a surefire way to diminish your SEO rankings.

Inefficient navigation affects various digital marketing metrics related to SEO, such as session times, page views, bounce rates, engagement, and lead conversion rates. That’s why taking the time to create accessible and simple navigation features for your site is so crucial.

Some navigational tips to keep in mind when designing your website can include:

Installing menu bars that are easy to read, easy to navigate through, and easy to click
Keeping web page layout consistent throughout all your website’s pages
Breaking up large blocks of text to ensure visual clarity for the reader
Adding a search bar to each web page so readers can look for things specifically if they can’t immediately find them
Using consistent colors and text that are strictly related or applicable to your company’s brand

Visual Integrity

This might go without saying, but it’s surprising how many websites you come across that are simply a headache to read or look at. From the fonts you choose to the colors you incorporate and the graphics you design, all visual elements are essential for helping visitors consume and retain your content.

The user experience also significantly impacts the performance metrics that contribute to SEO rankings. The easier it is for users to read, intemperate, and engage with the visual layout of your graphics and content, the longer they’re going to stay on your web pages and click around on your website, which plays a pivotal role in your search engine rankings.

Here are some readability and branded web design tips to consider:

Keep background colors as light as possible
Always consider larger font sizes or smaller ones
Don’t get too cute when it comes to choosing fonts; keep them legible and easy to read
Spread out content evenly and elegantly, with headings, subheadings, or bullet points occasionally breaking up blocks of text
Imagery should complement or break up blocks of text – never combine or complicate them
Shorter sentences and white spaces only work to promote readability

Custom Content & Imagery

Stock photography and cliche sentences aren’t just a guaranteed turnoff for your website visitors; they’ll also damage your site’s SEO performance. Another task of Google’s algorithms is to crawl through websites and evaluate how much originality goes into a website’s content management and imagery.

Any content that’s considered irrelevant to your brand or is possibly used by other websites will be flagged for contributing to a poor user experience. That’s why custom photography or videos will do wonders for increasing your SEO scores while adding more credibility and authenticity to your website.

Low-quality or pixelated images will also hinder your SEO potential, as will using excessive imagery in place of text. The same can be said for any compressed images that impact the loading speeds of your web pages.

Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Design

Last but certainly not least, your web design needs to be proficient with your customers accessing your website via smartphone or other mobile devices. The majority of internet traffic today is through mobile devices, and if your website isn’t adequately optimized for responsive web design, your SEO rankings will diminish as a direct result.

Responsive web design means your mobile website needs to be as accessible and high-performing as it is on any average computer desktop or laptop. A website that’s easy for smartphone users to navigate their way through while never testing their patience will do wonders for boosting your SEO performance.

Rank Higher With Professional Web Design Services

So what are the advantages of skimping on Web Design? Is it worth cutting corners and saving a few bucks to have a website that’s frustrating for visitors and has no chance of showing up on relevant Google search results?

At Triton Commerce, we create websites that are specifically engineered to generate leads and improve your SEO rankings. Start ranking higher in searches: Contact us today to start designing your brand-new website!